Abstract
When David Robbins traverses the continents from his mother country in South Africa to his autistic grandson’s home in Australia, he imagines himself tracing humanity’s first and greatest migration, a 20 000 year journey that took place 85 000 years ago. Travelling by modern means, sleeping in hotels and dining in restaurants, he certainly does not replicate the journey on foot, but relies on eight years of intermittent excursions to key locations along the route, although he is not granted access to all. His informants on the way are mainly tourist guides who accompany him to musea and historical sites, but whose personas, personal stories and insights nevertheless come alive. The book is a journey of a man looking for roots and connections, as he is longing to find a safe place, a home in the turbulent world...