The Travelling Ape: What Travelling (Nearly) Everywhere Taught Me about Humanity, Geopolitics, and Happiness

What’s our planet really like? Are humans mostly good or bad? Is civilization heading in the right or wrong direction? How many rhetorical questions can you ask before it gets boring?

One bewildered, insignificant ape believes he has answers to these questions. Michael Mackay Richards is one of around 400 Homo sapiens—0.000000001% of people who’ve ever lived—to have visited over 150 of the world’s 195 countries. Which last time he checked, was officially quite a lot of countries.

The Travelling Ape is an award-winning book that explores what travelling the world taught him about life, humanity, and the geopolitical turmoil that so defines us. And how exploring the world changed him as a person, too. A journey infused with sharp insights and equally entertaining anecdotes of personal humiliation from when travel goes wrong. From the streets of Pyongyang and street food in Bangkok to silent meditation retreats in India to a ride on an abandoned roller coaster in Iraq for some reason, no stone is left unturned on this epic (and sometimes weird) global odyssey. Throughout The Travelling Ape, Richards highlights key insights and personal growth through travel, such as:

Travel renews your spirit and curiosity in the planet.

Humanity and the world are in much better shape than the media makes out.

People of different cultures and religions are all essentially the same.

Over 99% of people are good people.

Travel can change you as a person and help you fall in love with humanity.

With a unique voice, one of the best-travelled apes in history offers you a fresh take on the world. It’s one that just might help you fall back in love with it.

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Hljóðbók: 6 maj 2025