I'm usually more interested in the reasons people have for doing out-of-the-ordinary things than on what the actual activities are. Here's what his details page has to say:
Once when Doc was at the University of Chicago he had love trouble and he had worked too hard. He thought it would be nice to take a very long walk. He put on a little knapsack and he walked through Indiana and Kentucky and North Carolina and Georgia clear to Florida. He walked among farmers and mountain people, among the swamp people and fishermen. And everywhere people asked him why he was walking through the country.
Because he loved true things he tried to explain. He said he was nervous and besides he wanted to see the country, smell the ground and look at grass and birds and trees, to savor the country, and there was no other way to do it save on foot. And people didn’t like him for telling the truth. They scowled, or shook and tapped their heads, they laughed as though they knew it was a lie and they appreciated a liar. And some, afraid for their daughters or their pigs, told him to move on, to get going, just not to stop near their place if he knew what was good for him.
And so he stopped trying to tell the truth. He said he was doing it on a bet - that he stood to win a hundred dollars. Everyone liked him then and believed him. They asked him in to dinner and gave him a bed and they put lunches up for him and wished him good luck and thought he was a hell of a fine fellow. Doc still loved true things but he knew it was not a general love and it could be a very dangerous mistress.
I’m not walking because of love trouble. And lord knows I haven’t worked too hard. But the rest is right on. I’m anxious. I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life. I need an adventure. And I do want to smell the ground and look at grass and birds and trees. I want to savor the country. And there’s no other way to do it save on foot."
But, Wow, what a cultural indicator the way this guy travels is! i remember reading Peter Jenkins's book A Walk Across America as a kid (highly recommended) and he just had a backpack and a dog. this guy has a cart with a rubbermaid box full of stuff. It captures something about our culture that 'savoring the country' now requires a shopping cart.
In one of his early entries, he explains that he made a conscious decision not to wear a backpack to save his knees and feet, it adds weight to every step. He's an engineer; if you read some of the posts he mentions researching different ways to take care of his needs while on this trip.
Although he seems to have spent enough time thinking everything through, I do think you have a point, I wonder if he will post later that he is getting rid of some stuff. He hasn't hit the Rockies yet (will he go through South Pass? I don't know).
This guy will end up making a ton of money in donations, eat a lot of great food, become super fit, write a book or two or three, get a ton of television interviews, perform a cameo or two in some low and mid grade movies, and then have a super healthy network of people to write, visit, and call upon for the rest of his life.
I think my favorite character of this variety is John Francis, dubbed planet walker. [http://www.planetwalker.org/]
That he spent years under a vow of silence never once setting foot in a motor vehicle and still managed to get a PhD and actually teach in that time is just awe-inspiring.
I have two family friends who are recently retired and are currently about 2 months into their walk. The American Discovery Trail is actually a partially-marked cross country trail. The thing I take away from their trail journal is how many great people they've met along the way. http://www.discoverytrail.org/
This guy ran (north-south) across Europe last summer. He'd average a marathon or more every day and some days he would run the equivalent of two marathons.
I spent many hours reading http://walkingtom.com/ about 10 years ago. He got three quarters of the way across, found a wife, and stopped where he was! It's cool to see how improved technology is having an effect on journals like these.
Not really. The fact that there's a trail system doesn't mean people do it.
Driving across the country is a pretty huge undertaking, much less walking across it.
The Bruce Trail essentially cuts through my back yard. It is 800km. It is a major accomplishment if, over your life, you manage to walk all of it (in intervals). Very few do it end to end.
I moved away from my hometown a few years back, but last time I went up and visited it, I just went walking. I've driven through it/around it/in it thousands of times, but this time, I slowed things down and just explored, looking at random houses and feeling trees and grass. It was the most pleasant thing I've done in a long time.
Sometimes I hate the internet, it has trained me to have multiple tabs open in life at all times. Disconnecting and just looking and touching the real world is something I, and most of us actually, rarely do anymore.
I want to ride a bike around the country, maybe I'll blog about it one day
> I moved away from my hometown a few years back, but last time I went up and visited it, I just went walking. I've driven through it/around it/in it thousands of times, but this time, I slowed things down and just explored, looking at random houses and feeling trees and grass. It was the most pleasant thing I've done in a long time.
I think this is a beautiful idea. It doesn't need to be limited to vacations, either; since about 5 years ago, I've been working on transitioning to an appreciation of this sort of thing. I now walk wherever I can (rough guideline: If it's within 4 miles, and I don't have anything heavy to carry, I'll walk there regularly; if it's within 10 miles, I'll walk there occasionally), and I try to take the train when I travel rather than flying. They're both great ways to get in touch with the terrain, as you mention; I had a colleague in Vancouver tell me that I knew my way around better after a few days than he did after staying there for weeks.
http://imjustwalkin.com/details
"From John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row:
Once when Doc was at the University of Chicago he had love trouble and he had worked too hard. He thought it would be nice to take a very long walk. He put on a little knapsack and he walked through Indiana and Kentucky and North Carolina and Georgia clear to Florida. He walked among farmers and mountain people, among the swamp people and fishermen. And everywhere people asked him why he was walking through the country.
Because he loved true things he tried to explain. He said he was nervous and besides he wanted to see the country, smell the ground and look at grass and birds and trees, to savor the country, and there was no other way to do it save on foot. And people didn’t like him for telling the truth. They scowled, or shook and tapped their heads, they laughed as though they knew it was a lie and they appreciated a liar. And some, afraid for their daughters or their pigs, told him to move on, to get going, just not to stop near their place if he knew what was good for him.
And so he stopped trying to tell the truth. He said he was doing it on a bet - that he stood to win a hundred dollars. Everyone liked him then and believed him. They asked him in to dinner and gave him a bed and they put lunches up for him and wished him good luck and thought he was a hell of a fine fellow. Doc still loved true things but he knew it was not a general love and it could be a very dangerous mistress.
I’m not walking because of love trouble. And lord knows I haven’t worked too hard. But the rest is right on. I’m anxious. I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life. I need an adventure. And I do want to smell the ground and look at grass and birds and trees. I want to savor the country. And there’s no other way to do it save on foot."