How to Barter for Paradise [electronic resource] : My Journey through 14 Countries, Trading Up from an Apple to a House in Hawaii

Join Wigge on a wild ride as he trades an apple for a house in forty/two steps. Most people like to travel in comfort: they stay in fancy hotels, never leave tourist spots, and stay away from the locals. Michael Wigge isn't like most people, though. After travelling the world without money for 150 days while writing How to Travel the World for Free, his next challenge: turn an apple into a house in Hawaii. Wigge goes around fourteen countries and six continents exchanging goods for more valuable ones, and he meets an array of good/humored people who take his deals. Taking on his Barterman persona, he trades the apple for sixteen cigarettes in Germany; a couple of trades later in India, he fixes up a motorized rickshaw and trades it for silk; in Australia, a millionaire amuses himself by offering him an art piece for the silk if Wigge feeds a wild crocodile. Finally, he arrives in Hawaii armed with two bicycles, a surfboard, Portuguese porcelain, three solid/gold coins, a Porsche wristwatch, a record by musician Coati Mundi and accompanying contract for 25 percent of the proceeds from his next single, a voucher for a two/night stay in a mansion in L.A., and a piece of original artwork by painter Alex Stenzel--now he just has to find someone to give him a house in exchange. On the 200/day journey around the world, Wigge makes forty/two trades and meets strange, kind, funny, friendly, eccentric, and good/natured people who help him in his quest. It's a journey you won't want to miss!16 color photographs Most people like to travel in comfort: they stay in fancy hotels, never leave tourist spots, and stay away from the locals. Michael Wigge isn't like most people, though. After traveling the world without money for 150 days, he faced his next challenge: to turn an apple into a house in Hawaii. Wigge visits fourteen countries and six continents exchanging goods for more valuable ones, and he meets an array of good-humored people who take his deals. Taking on his Barterman persona, he trades the apple for sixteen cigarettes in Germany; a couple of trades later in India, he fixes up a motorized ri Prologue: Hawaii, here I come! Germany: Bitten by the bug Austria: My first no Switzerland: Help, the Pleiadians Are Coming! India: Sled Masala Australia: Parasite exchange New Zealand: Help at the end of the world Singapore: My first billionaire buddy Thailand: The great trade-out Tanzania: Africa till you drop Kenya: A world-class runner among peers Germany: Home sweet home Ukraine: Illusory beauty Portugal: Bartering by a thread Brazil: Lederhosen and folk music under the palm trees USA: A microcosm of the world Hawaii: The showdown Epilogue. Most people like to travel in comfort: they stay in fancy hotels, never leave tourist spots, and stay away from the locals. Michael Wigge isn't like most people, though. After traveling the world without money for 150 days, he faced his next challenge: to turn an apple into a house in Hawaii. Wigge visits fourteen countries and six continents exchanging goods for more valuable ones, and he meets an array of good-humored people who take his deals.-- from publisher's description. The author describes his journey without money, during which he managed to visit fourteen countries and six continents, all while bartering more than forty times, beginning with a simple apple and ending with a house in Hawaii