inquisitive explorer

Inquisitive explorer

Alfred Vogel was never content with second hand information.
If he wanted to know something he looked for the relevant
information at source � whether he was visiting a bakery or a
manufacturer of medicinal remedies (�in order to obtain sound
information from experts�).
This also gave him a deeper motivation to travel amongst
indigenous people. He wanted to know about the plant worlds
in foreign continents, the lifestyle and the healing methods of
indigenous people in situ. He investigated whether these
simple living people would cope with the so-called diseases of
civilisation. He said, �I wanted to learn about their healthcare,
what they ate and how they spent their days.�

The most important journeys
In 1920, at 18 years of age, Alfred Vogel sat alone without a
coin to his name in a cheap Italian hotel, unable to pay for his
return ticket in the fourth class rail compartment. There was
no response from any of the friends who owed him money.
There was nothing left for him to do but ask his parents for a
loan. Of this episode he reported: �I wrote, giving the reason
that I needed money to buy something as a souvenir and,
instead of money, I received a reply from my sister telling me to come home without buying any souvenir.� Curiosity and wanderlust remained. At least when he did travel at a later date he did so in more comfort, by ship to the USA and South Africa and by air round the globe.