São Paulo – In September, Charles Zimmermann should be leaving on an adventure trip that should grant him greater knowledge of the Arab people and of the world as a whole. Charles, aged 35, who is a business administrator and a lawyer, has already made three great trips around the globe and should start his fourth adventure this year. This should practically be a trip around the world as the route includes all five continents and a total of 57 countries. The passage through the Arab countries, in North Africa and in the Middle East is being programmed.
In reality, he already has ample contact with people throughout the Arab world as during his previous trips he visited 12 countries in the region: Djibouti, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Somalia and Tunisia. The route that he should start in September should include some countries and also another four Arab nations: Yemen, Oman, Algeria and Libya. With this, Charles should have included 16 Arab nations in his trips. A detail: this time he is going to travel by bicycle.
Charles explains that he started getting interested in visiting the region when he worked for an export company, between 2002 and 2004. His interest was such that when scheduling the trips, he always included Arab countries. He explains that he feels very secure travelling the sites of the region as he sees no violence, and also due to the respect he sees when meeting people. "They receive you well, invite you to stay at their homes," he says. He points out among their characteristics the feeling of brotherhood. "They treat you like a brother." Charles believes that this behaviour has much to do with Islam.
Charles works in foreign trade and is also a university professor in the foreign trade and foreign relations courses. He is currently working on his master’s degree and should make use of the opportunity to do research during the trip. The theme should be the influence of the globalise world on Islam. The trip should last two and a half years and he should report his experiences on his site. The idea is also to shoot some footage to make into a movie, a book of pictures and maybe even a conventional book.
He has already published three books from the trips he made. One is called “Nos Confins do Oriente” (In the Confines of the East) and was written based on a nine-month trip to Europe and the Far East, and the other is “Estrada para o Grande Deserto” (Road to the Great Desert), which tells the story of his travels to 13 countries, among them Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania and Morocco, and the third, “Terra Estrangeira” (Foreign Land), where he tells the story of people he met with during his trips. Charles also has a book of short stories, “Deserto Feliz” (Happy Desert).
Contact
Charles Zimmermann
Site: http://www.charlespelomundo.com.br/cms/
E-mail: charlesautor@gmail.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
