Jack's world

I wrote the piece below over a week ago. I wasn't going to post it because I don't want to upset the man who features in it. I have a lot of respect for him. But I spoke to a friend who said I should post it because this man is fascinating. And his story should be told.

So here it is (his name changed):

* * *

Yesterday, on a flight to New York, I sat next to a man called Jack.

Jack is an adventurer. There’s nowhere in the world he hasn’t been. And no woman he hasn’t slept with.

I sat in awe of this man for the first seven hours of the flight. He told me about the time he drove through Africa (through Turkey, Syria, down to Ethiopia, then further, further). And how he leads adventure groups through North America. And how, this summer, he’ll backpack through central America. And next year drive from Europe to Asia.

He’s been arrested and locked up in Zimbabwe for letting one of his tour groups photograph Mugabe’s mansion (‘We thought it was a golf club’). And they’ve shot at him across Africa.

Jack’s a rugged man – a mix between Jason Statham and Daniel Craig. The sort of man you look at and think, Women must love you. And, from the stories he told, they do. Never bragging, Jack told me about his girlfriend in London. She’s beautiful, exotic. They get on so well. And his girlfriend in New York. A millionaire, and again beautiful. And his girlfriend in Columbia. Fiery woman.

They all know each other exists. And they’ve all tried to get Jack to settle – offered him their lives, their bodies, their homes.

But Jack’s addicted to travel. Ever since leaving Croydon and joining an 18-30s group, he’s challenged himself. He climbs mountains, kite surfs, bungee jumps. He even became an air steward for Virgin so he could see the world, and share hotels with 18 beautiful women (and gay men – ‘Mum just thinks I’m gay,’ he told me, half-smiling).

So for seven hours I heard his stories and thought, Wow, I wish I could do that. It sounded perfect. Here, opposite me, sat the opposite of me: a man who didn’t plan life (just let it happen), who committed to no-one, who doesn’t own a mobile phone, never checks email, sleeps with anyone for the experience (unless they’re in a relationship).

‘Never going to settle then?’ I asked as we were landing.

His handsome grin dropped. ‘Everyone asks me that.’ But he still had to think about his response. ‘I don’t know. I doubt it. Though I’m turning 40 in a month and…’ For the first time he looked in my eyes for longer than a second. ‘My friends have all settled, they’re married, got children.’

He didn’t have to say what he couldn’t say. His eyes had told me.