Christophersen describes what it was like to travel the world cheaply in the 1960s and 70s, with an emphasis on getting from one place to another. Modes of transport include sailing around the Pacific on copra boats serving isolated islands, riding into Afghanistan on an oil truck and flying over the Himalayas in a battered DC-3. Christophersen visits islands ranging from Tahiti to Yap, sails down the Amazon and journeys for six months, mostly overland, from Beirut to Tokyo. He also takes the reader through youth hostels, where bunks rent for 50 cents a night, and relates notable hitchhiking experiences in Europe, North Africa and Japan. The book includes travel articles written in the early 70s.