Author: F.T.Burke with Steve Heifman

Publisher: Purple Whale Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-7336246-4-0


A Hippie Travelogue

The sixties was a decade which saw the beginning of the hippie movement. It was a time of emancipation, where hallucinatory drugs and free sex came together in a fever of the recognition of the universality of human existence. Fuelled by a craze for rock music, the lifestyle involved a breaking down of old, obsolete societal structures and an active search to  find a more satisfying, interactive form of living to replace the old, on the platform of universal transcendental spirituality. This period is epitomized by the famous Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. It signaled the advent of a new humanitarian perspective to the human existence based on spiritual grounds. It is in this context that this book should be read.

The curtains go up when the protagonist, Steve is seen talking to his mother about his desire to experience the world through the instrument of rock music and his plans to go to the famous Woodstock festival in August 1969. On the way to the festival, he meets a friend called Larry, who has traveled the land route from Europe to India and Nepal. This was the trigger for the germination of an idea that fructified with rapidity. Thirteen months later, Steve sets out on a similar journey to search for his own unique identity and the purpose of his existence.

“I’m a world wanderer amongst the world’s people. My aim is to spark a universal connection with my internal spiritual nature…. I’m seeking out a unique wandering experience to enrich my soul.”

Landing in Luxembourg from New York city, he hitches a ride to the Sin City, Amsterdam. Having to stay in hostels in order to save money, he makes many friends with similar inclinations. There are a lot of hippies to hang out with and together, they enjoy smoking hash, sightseeing and of course, sampling the varieties of cheeses and meats that were available. What follows is an account of his adventures as he travels through England, France and Spain, having great sex with available female hippies and getting stoned as well. There are also encounters with the legal system and brushes with the police, all this interspersed with a longing for home as well.

Steve continues on his journey from Spain to Morocco, then to Israel  through Algeria and Tunisia, hitching rides as often as he could. There were many invitations along on the way and a few let downs as well. Smoking hashish was high on the agenda, so was the sex in Sicily. Steve also stayed at a Kibbutz in Israel and the hallucinatory drugs that he imbibed led him onto some semblance of the divine energy that he actually embodies. He also makes contact with the spirit that propels rock music stars to make their contribution to society. On the hippie trail, he meets several buddies that  he had made earlier on and of course, rmakes many new ones.

After visiting several countries in the Middle East, Steve journeys on to Afghanistan and to India and Nepal, through Pakistan. Highlights of this journey are a visit  to Benares and a meeting headed by the Dalai Lama..After this, he returns to Europe via the land route before flying back to his own country..

“I’ve seen God everywhere, in all lands- especially in the eyes of all the people around  the globe I’ve come into contact with. God shines through the eyes of his blessed creation. I sense it, see it, feel it, know it”. 


This travelogue describes a journey undertaken in 1971. At that time there was very little terror activity except in a few isolated pockets worldwide. So we don’t get to read about the resultant effect of the terror in Kashmir, Afghanistan and Pakistan, nor the devastation carried out in Syria due to the civil war going on there. This book is about one man’s journey to find and access his own authenticity and power through the hippie movement of the late sixties.

One noteworthy aspect of this journey is that the protagonist learns through experience that help is always at hand, even though it might appear differently in some cases. The author’s boundaries were pushed, but he emerged from the experience, a different man.

This book is well written and  easily read. It contains within its pages, an authentic account of the hippie movement and would appeal to anyone who has lived during the late sixties and early seventies .This book also has historical value, people born later could learn about the way people perceived, thought and reasoned at that time.

I recommend this book warmly.