(from the western daily press)
A year without any money
Friday, November 21, 2008, 14:58
While most people are trying to find ways of cutting down their spending as the credit crunch continues to bite, one man is to embark on the extreme step of surviving for 12 months without any money.
Mark Boyle, an economics graduate and former businessman, hit the headlines earlier this year after he attempted to walk 9,000 miles from Bristol to India relying entirely people's goodwill and generosity.
The 29-year-old took no money or credit cards with him on what he hoped would be a two-year pilgrimage to Gandhi's birthplace of Porbandar.
He began the trip to spread the message of the Freeconomy movement but a month into the trip, he announced he was giving up the challenge after he started to face difficulties as soon as he arrived in France.
At the time he wrote in his internet blog: "Not only did no one speak the language, they also saw us as a bunch of freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about.
"We spoke to a few people who were willing to talk and they said that France would not go for this unless we could speak fluent French, which none of us could."
Eight months after returning home, a suitably refreshed Mr Boyle is gearing up to begin his latest challenge of surviving an entire year without the use of cash.
Mr Boyle is the founder of the Freeconomist movement, a group that works on the principle that people should help each other by sharing their physical and emotional skills, without demanding any payment.
He will begin his year-long social experiment on Saturday, November 29, which is also national Buy Nothing Day.
The challenge will be launched with a day of free food in Bristol, with chefs including the BBC's Roadkill chef Fergus the Forager Drennan and the authors of The Self Sufficient-ish Bible, Dave and Andy Hamilton, among those helping out.
Mr Boyle dreams of becoming the ultimate Freeconomist by living completely without money for a year. He aims to achieve this by living off the land and using products that are thrown away by society, and by building relationships with people in his local community and trading skills.
He said: "I've been preparing a lot over the past couple of months, but the challenge will be the things I can't plan for; a broken arm, exhaustion or the worst case scenario, a family bereavement.
"I suspect the most difficult thing will be socialising in a world that revolves around money. I'll be living on a day-to-day basis, hand to mouth, which means I'll never really know where my next meal comes from."
To kick off his year of cash-free living, Mr Boyle is organising a Food for Free Feast will be made completely from foraged, skipped and donated food.
It is free and takes place at Cafe Midnimo, Ashley Road, Bristol, from 4.30pm on Saturday, November 29.
