DISCOVERING THAT YOU’RE NOT AS CHARMING AS YOU THINK -- PRICELESS

A British man who had started a pilgrimage from Bristol, England to Porbander, India (the birthplace of Gandhi) while relying entirely on the kindness of strangers for the journey was forced to end his trip as soon as he ran into France. Mark Boyle, 28, a member of a “Freeconomy” movement which wants to rid society of money, left Bristol four weeks ago with no cash and nothing but his faith in human nature to successfully complete his mission. Instead, the French simply assumed he was a low-life hoodlum and he was unable to find free food or lodging. In one of the last journal entires of his trip, Boyle wrote: “Not only did no one not speak the language, they had also seen us as just a bunch of freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about... That really scared us and given that we now were pretty much out of food, hadn't slept in days and were really cold, we had to reassess the whole situation." He now plans to walk around the coast of Britain instead while learning French so he can try again next year. (BBC)