mattersmagazine.com 35 Journey of a Lifetime World traveler and editor Mark Mooney’s new memoir BY EDIE SACHS Between 1978 and 1980, Mark Mooney did something that seems virtually inconceivable in this day and age: He hitchhiked around the world. To be more precise, he covered more than 41,000 miles of it, making stops throughout Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, Morocco, the Middle East, India, and finally Thailand, which so enchanted him that he stayed a whole year. Compared with almost 40 years ago, our planet now seems much smaller, with borders and boundaries continually dissolving with the assistance of technology. Yet it also seems a much scarier place, where adventure seekers could plausibly pay a harsh price. Mooney, a Maplewood resident and longtime journalist who is currently an editor with CNNMoney, is very aware of this. “Many of the places I visited you can’t even go to anymore because it’s just too dangerous,” he says. “I was lucky enough to be able to do what I did in one of the last great moments where you really could just go around the world without too many resources.” Fortunately, Mooney – after years of repeating his travel stories to fascinated listeners –has recorded his adventures in a new audiobook, Three Cents a Mile, available on Audible.com and as an eBook on Amazon, BookTango, and Barnes & Noble. The title comes from a rough calculation by Mooney of what the trip cost him, based on the $1400 he had in his bank account prior to departing on his 41,000-mile journey. Mooney was determined to tell his story himself, in the first person. He recounts how he made his way across three continents, with “the adventure of cheap travel and the random instant friendships [enticing] me to just keep going, until I had circled the globe.” Paris was the city that he couldn’t leave; he tried three times, but kept coming back. In Northern Ireland, he had a gun pointed at him by an annoyed British soldier who didn’t want his picture taken. In Rotterdam, he earned a little money as a day laborer in a carbon factory, which he calls “the dirtiest place in the world.” 80 Play.Imagine.Discover. 2017-18 SchoolYear Registration Saturday, January 7th Doors to public open 10:45am. Lottery begins 11am. Call Alethea Randazza, Director at 973-376-9303 for a tour. opendoornurseryschool.com Open DOOr nursery schOOl WyOming presbyterian church • 432WyOming ave,millburn Pediatric Therapy Center Helping children reach their maximum potential, one step at a time. Speech Therapy Occupational Therapy * Feeding Therapy Social Groups Creative Speech Solutions, LLC Cynthia Marrapodi, M.S., CCC-SLP, Director License # 41YS00205300 151 Summit Avenue Summit, NJ 07091 (908) 598-0228 www.creativespeechsolutions.com * Does your child need occupational therapy? “Occupations” are kids’ daily activities—tying shoes, using a fork, writing their name, stacking blocks, catching a ball, or navigating a playground. View the questionnaire on our website to see if your child could benefit from receiving OT (in our newly built state-of-the-art sensory gym). Call our office for a FREE screening! Literary Instruction with Reading Specialist Peace, joy, butter.