Ben Campbell

TRAVELS with TOM Ben Campbell

Gritty, textured, different, irresistibly terrific, the summer of 1976 aboard a sexy racing yacht was needed. For six weeks Tom Moskal and Ben Campbell labored, sweated and hustled in 100-degree Fahrenheit weather, staging the yacht for sailing the Adriatic Sea, into the Mediterranean Sea and across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. Constant pressure by the OCD mechanic was nonstop. The schizophrenic cook wanted devilish sex. Six more weeks driving a Volkswagen Beetle, Tom and Ben navigate big cities and small villages. Ben is solicited to commit murder. A mugged American kid needs help. Police hassles, hitchhikers picked up, stoned in Istanbul, hustled by Greek teenage girls, a fender-bender in Athens and much more. Life is captured in moments and with a blink of the eyes the world around Tom and Ben inflates. Tom Moskal and Ben Campbell crash in youth hostels, camp on beaches, drink with strangers, argue with locals, smoke whatever and drive their car in skivvies. This adventure is different from today because money is limited, cellphones, Internet and global credit cards are nonexistent. Tom and Ben spontaneously travel by reading maps, asking directions and relying on instincts. TRAVELS with TOM comes with this warning label: The writing is direct, lean and precise, and dripping with details. Dialogue reveals everything.