Acknowledgements

Walking around the Mediterranean is a gas and I owe a huge debt to the gods, earth shifts and other natural and supernatural forces that combined to create and nurture the still-glorious sea. My project would have not been launched without ongoing inspiration from Homer and Robert Fitzgerald's inspiring translation of The Odyssey, which I bought when I was in college for $6.95. That was a very small price to pay for a lifelong muse.

I certainly would not have fully appreciated my hiking adventure without meeting hundreds of people on the shores of the sea and being accompanied by a score of companions on the MedTrek path. Each of them, from cantankerous Delphyne to my blossoming son Luke, from the nurse who bandaged my wounds in Morocco to the French woman who gave me a lift near Narbonne, are gods in his or her own right. I still have an issue with arrogant security officials but it would be unreasonable to think that anyone can achieve nirvana after walking less than 5000 kilometres.

A number of publications - including Boston Magazine, France Guide, San Francisco Books & Travel, Time, The Times of London, and Fast Thinking in Australia - helped defray the costs of this caper by printing various versions of my Mediterranean tale. I also want to thank Russ Collins for posting the French chapters of Walking the Mediterranean on his excellent Beyond the French Riviera website (www.provencebeyond.com). And I was delighted to learn that California college student Jamie Coskun got an A for his description of my project.

My octogenarian mother, the indefatigable Helen Stratte, proved to be my most fastidious copyreader and my wife, ace Los Angeles Times blogger/journalist Elizabeth Snead (who gets credit for coming up with the The Idiot and the Odyssey title), and daughter Sonia have been extremely patient with my persistence.

Among the many people who read, commented on and critiqued the manuscript at various stages are (and I apologise to anyone I've forgotten) Armando Arorizo, Helen Blythe, Taylor Chambers, Felicia Eth, Melanie Fleishman, Sam Fleishman, Lex Hames, Barry Holmes, Lucienne Joy, Marion Kaplan, Michael Knipe, Andrew Lownie, Ilene Medecin, Francis O'Hara, Alison Prideaux, Deborah Ritchken, Peter Rubie, Mira and Tony Rocca, Gerald Rodgers, Elizabeth Snead, Harry Stein, Jimmy Stewart, Kip Stratte-McClure, Luke Stratte-McClure, Robin and Elliott Thompson, Craig Unger, Vince Tomasso, Jeff Wheelwright and Tara Wigley.

Most importantly, continual encouragement from my publishing team in Australia helped me shape this opus for publication Down Under. Editor, publisher, longtime colleague, friend and fellow-hiker John Keeney provided tremendous insight even before he took the foolhardy financial risk to shepherd the project to fruition. I've invited John, editor Tim Mendham and designer Nick Dale to walk with me in Algeria in return for their invaluable assistance and contributions.

Ever walk onward!

Antibes, France, September 1, 2008