ALBERT CASALS

Round the world in a wheelchair By: thinkSPAIN , Sunday, March 29, 2009

A TEENAGER left crippled by childhood Leukaemia intends to tour the world in a wheelchair. Albert Casals, 18, has no money with him and is making the journey in his chair – and by hitch-hiking. The Barcelona-born student has already spent four years travelling the globe in this way. Albert says the purpose of his life is ‘the search for happiness’ and that he likes nothing better than travelling and meeting different people. He spends several months of each year on his journey and has already seen most of Europe, South-East Asia, Latin America and Japan. In fact, he has already written a book about his adventures, in catalán, titled El món sobre rodes (‘The world on wheels’), which is soon to be published again in Castilian Spanish. Albert initially made his journeys with his parents in tow – on a budget of just three euros a day – to avoid problems with customs because of being underage. His mum and dad are now happy for him to go off on his own “because they know it makes me happy.” He has dedicated his book to them, and keeps in touch with them by email when he is away. Albert’s first trip was to Brussels. He says he has never been scared because “everyone you meet has something good about them.” “I’ve lived with thieves and drug-dealers, and nothing bad has ever happened to me,” he reveals. “If I’m staying with a fisherman, I’ll go sea-fishing with him, and so on.” He has travelled Perú and Colombia by hitch-hiking, and the Greek islands by convincing ferry crew to let him on for free. He has even crossed the Latin American rainforests in a raft, and was rescued by the drug-dealers he travelled with when he fell in the river. Meeting so many people means he has around 900 emails a day to read and answer. But Albert has done less sight-seeing close to home. “I’ve seen the Sagrada Familia cathedral in my home city for the first time today,” he reveals. Albert speaks English as well as his two native languages, and can also get by in French, Italian and Japanese. His next hitch-hiking trip will be around Africa this May, as far as the island of Madagascar. Albert reveals that although he has just finished his bachillerato (Spain’s answer to A-levels) he does not yet know what he wants to do as a career.   Món petit film, my little world, is the story of Albert Casals, a 22 year old guy that travels alone with no money or as little as 20 euros with his wheelchair around the world. He has been travelling since he was 15 years old, he leaves the house with his wheelchair and a little bag with some clothes and hits the road. He goes hitch hiking from one place to another. When Albert was a child with five years of age, he ended up in a wheelchair as a consequence of the medication that cured him of an illness but inevitably left him with no mobility in his legs. He is an example for everyone, not only for being brave on his situation but also to do what he wants no matter what. The wheelchair is not something that prevents him from doing anything at all. As he says in the film ” you wear glasses, I have a wheelchair, what is the difference?”. He says, I am happy when I travel so why I shouldn’t do that, life is very simple, travelling makes me happy so this is what I do. The film is about his last travel a route from Barcelona to the opposite place on earth from his home, East Cape in New Zealand, where there is a lighthouse. He will do that hitch hiking, by road, by boat, who knows all the adventures he will live…But this time he is not going alone, he is going with his girlfirend Anna. They will live loads of adventures that deserve to be told. Totally recommended!! I enjoyed a lot in the cinema. I loved the film, he wrote two books already about his anecdotes all over the globe, he has been travelling alone with his wheelchair since he was 15. On his first travel alone, he had money with him but at some point he run out of money. He explains in the film that at that time, he had to make a choice, keep on travelling or stop because of the lack of money. So he decided to keep on travelling, and the fact that he had no money helped him discover the world with a new pair of eyes. He says that travelling with no money is an opportunity for people to invite you and know the local people of a place, eating with them, travelling with them and mingle with the society of a place. Albert is no tourist, he is a traveller, he loves travelling for the sake of travelling and if he has to sleep on a couch, on a park, in the beach or in a train station, this is what it takes to fullfil his dreams. This film received these Awards - Doc U & 3r audience awards at IDFA (Amsterdam), Youth Award at Zagreb international fest (Croatia), Best Documentary BIFF at Colorado, and oficial selection at Palm Springs, Los Ángeles (EEUU). A story of love, travel, adventures but also about values that are very hidden in our society: goodness, respect, share and help others on the way. Keep in eye as very soon will be in European cinemas and worldwide distributed by PBS International. You can’t miss it! tourismwithme.com/‎