The Red Rucksack

How a burnt-out pharmacist escaped his stagnant life to search for joy. Deeply disillusioned with life, Ben sells his share of a profitable pharmacy, puts his house on the market and casts off to find happiness. A love of mountains leads him to tackle the Himalayas where he saves an ill-balanced Sherpa before he strikes out to explore the Gobi desert in a rattly, old Russian van. Ben's next stop is South America where he falls in love with both paragliding and one very fetching Danish lawyer. Ben's knack for following remote, rocky paths, and befriending the quirky characters on the way, often leads to comical misadventure, but also to moments of breathtaking wonderment and awe. Ben's journey does not involve meditating with orange-robed monks, burning incense or banging gongs. Rather, Peruvian bandits, wired Amazonian shamans, wrestling midget bikers and paintball paragliding insanity all help Ben answer one question: Am I running from my problems or towards a life truly lived?