A Hitchhiker's Triptych -bookcover

By: John Gardiner

A Hitchhiker's Triptych

Pages: 576 Ratings: 5.0
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John Gardiner worked as a journalist and media advisor for more than 40 years. He has travelled extensively across the world throughout his life. His book A Hitchhiker’s Triptych covers six months of his first journey into England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland during the turbulent days of the early 1970s. It was the time of the Troubles in Ireland. The Arabs also were holding the West to ransom with oil embargoes. John wanders head-on into these and other major world issues during his hitchhiking adventures.

His book is a superb exploration of life on the road during the 1970s. How easy it was to hitchhike in those days. Stick out a thumb and land a ride. A Hitchhiker’s Triptych is intriguing. It explores a wanderer’s life during far simpler times. Decades before the internet and instant news feeds. This is a journey pre-digital. A step back in time where adventure is achieved simply by standing beside a highway and sticking out a thumb. Wonders and wisdom found over that next hill.

John Gardiner has enjoyed a lifetime of travel and adventure. He has worked as a journalist and media adviser for more than 40 years, now dabbling as an author and screen writer. His book A Hitchhiker’s Triptych sets out the genesis of his wandering life. It explores in detail six months of hitchhiking through England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland during the early years of the 1970s. That journey set the scene for more than five decades of adventure across the globe.


John’s life has been shaped by the journey he so brilliantly, and simply, outlines in his first major work, A Hitchhiker’s Triptych. It is a book that will appeal to all ages. To everyone with a yearning for adventure, an open mind, and a desire to learn.


John, as well as being a writer, has been a committed surfer all his life. He currently lives in the pretty seaside village of Pottsville, in northern New South Wales, in Australia. He tells us he will never lose his love of the ocean.


“Life is special. I am surrounded by love. Yet that insistent urge to explore is strong within. All travellers will know what I’m talking about. Even now, the call of the road remains ever so strong.”


Customer Reviews
5.0
6 reviews
6 reviews
  • Tyler Watkins

    A friend recommended this book. I loved it from the moment I started reading it. I travelled through the UK during the early 1970s. So many of our generation did. This book brings back a flood of memories. I loved John's adventures. They so mirrored my own on the road. We weren't hitch hiking, instead travelling together as a small group in a beat-up old car we'd all pooled in to buy. The 1970s and my memories all came flooding back through this book. John has such an ability to create word pictures that recreate those times. I laughed, cried, allowed old memories to flood over me. I was taken back to 1974, immersed in wonderful times, surrounded by my memories. This is a powerful book. It beautifully captures an era. A moment in time. I was so affected by this book I have convinced my husband and my children to travel to the UK with me next holiday. Our road trip is slowly taking shape. Thanks John for the memories - of a beautiful time in my life. Time now to share with my children.

  • David

    Excellent book! One thousand little stories in one big story. Inciteful. The author takes people back to the 1970s. We join a hitchhiking tribe of wanderers and share their fascinating world. No computers. No internet. Brilliantly done. A book you can pick up and read for an hour or two, put it down, then come back to, time and time again. This book is a wonderful read. And it will still be a good read 50 years from now. Brilliant. Captures life on the road in the 1970s from a traveler who was there and lived that journey.. More from this author please. Exceptionally well done.

  • Wayne Gaddes

    I’ve only just begun reading this book after not reading many books at all in the past few years to my shame. I love the way it’s written in the really easy and honest language. I’m particularly interested in the back story of the many locations he visited, it is engaging and eye-opening. Can’t wait to pick up from where I left it to continue on the author's ( and mine ) journey.

  • Jan C

    Terrific book! Couldn’t put it down once I started reading it. And it’s a big book too! Very candid.

  • Charlotte Black

    A great read! A trip back in time - a journey through history and a reminder of the freedom of a time without 24/7 connectivity. An excellent book for adventurers!

  • Robyn F

    For anyone who has a love of the UK, this book of John Gardiner’s adventures as a hitchhiker in the late 1970s is a treat.
    His writing style and words, which paint vivid pictures of the places seen and the characters he met along the way, make for interesting and always entertaining reading.
    An extra bonus and another layer in the writing was the in-depth history, both of the 70s and going back through the ages to the earliest inhabitants of these lands.
    So very hard to put down. Loved it!

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