Fresh out of college, a lost American despairs of his new career, chaotic life, and diseased family. When an invitation to Scotland falls into the depths of a New York winter, he grabs at the chance to renew himself. On a whim, he decides to save money, fly to Europe, and travel east to the ends of the earth, on $10 a day for a year or more. Here is the story of his odyssey: staying at German castles; losing not one but two passports to thieves; disastrous brushes with lost bags, malicious customs officials, Cairo scam artists, and Thai police; dogged much of the time by illness. It is a tale of a young man losing his innocence, awakening politically, falling in love, and finding the support, and resourcefulness, to pull through the most dangerous miles of his life.