Gotta love this: New York City resident Matt Green has decided to walk across the United States over the next nine months. Unlike most adventures of this kind, Green’s not raising money for a cause; it’s strictly about walking. He has a list of the details of his trip and a Flickr account for his photos.
From the I’m Just Walkin’ web site that will document his travels, Green states the reasoning behind his trip:
There’s also no obstacle to stopping and exploring things when you’re walking. When I’m driving, I find myself saying “Oh, I should have stopped there” as I go flying by something that looks interesting. The idea of having to impede your progress, turn the car around, and find a place to park is such a mental barrier to exploring when you’re driving. Even on a bike there’s a hesitancy to stop and climb off the saddle to go check something out. But it’s easy when you’re walking. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing; you just walk in a different direction for a little and have a look around.
But perhaps the thing I find most important about walking is how connected it makes me feel to the space I’m passing through. I think it’s because walking is the way we experience our homes. We walk to the fridge, we walk to bed, we walk around the yard. We walk to the copy machine, we walk to the coffee machine, we walk around the grocery store. So this is that same familiar stride, that most basic form of locomotion we know so well, but through vast, immense, unknown places. It’s a way to live a continuous line across the country as if it were my home.
I’m very drawn to the simplicity of this whole pursuit. Each day I’ll wake up, pack all my possessions back in my cart, and walk a little farther. That’s it. That’s the extent of my world. I’m just walkin’. I think everyone dreams about such a simple existence from time to time, when the worries and pressures of modern life start to accumulate. This is my chance to live that dream for a while, and see how the reality compares to the fantasy.
photo by Matt Green
7 comments
I love it. : )
I resisted getting a bike for a long time because I liked the way I experienced the city on foot. Matt Green gets that exactly. Now on bike, my geographic range has expanded considerably, but I find myself destination-oriented and whizzing past the city on my way to my destination, rather than engaging with it on my journey as I once did.
…so he’s a slow-moving Forrest Gump? 🙂
Actually I think most adventures of this kind are done for the experience – it’s just the fundraisers you hear about because they call all the newspapers.
Melissa – you can walk your bike through the cool parts of town then ride through the boring bits.
I confess, I share Matt’s dream, though in my case it’s on a much smaller scale. I dream of some day walking right from Port Stanley to Montreal, via London, Stratford, Waterloo, Fergus, Aurora, Uxbridge, Lindsay, Peterborough, Campbellford, Perth, and Ottawa.
The last couple of years my wife and I have been going on walking vacations in Ontario. I say walking, instead of backpacking, because we take only a small pack (20 lbs including packed lunch & water). We line up B&Bs in advance, and walk door to door (and occasional ask for a lift), have our dinners at restaurants along the way. So far our longest trip has been just 6 days, but some day I hope we have the time and money to go for several weeks.
Ontario has a rapidly growing network of walking trails, including the Thames Valley/Avon Trails (Port Stanley to Waterloo), Grand Valley Trail (Dunville to Alton), the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail (Palgrave to Rice Lake), The Ganaraska Trail (Creemore to Port Hope), the Rideau Trail (Kingston to Ottawa), and of course the wonderful Bruce Trail. There also many rail trails which, while less interesting to walk on, do provide long-distance routes that go through many towns where there are supplies, dining and accommodation. Ontario still has a long way to go to catch up with Europe’s hiking infrastructure, but the growth over recent years has been phenomenal.
I say start with a walk across Toronto (ahem):
http://www.chbooks.com/catalogue/stroll
@ Norm: It’s almost as difficult to explore and meander while walking a bike. You still have to worry about locking it up if you want to deke into a shop, making it seem easier to just walk on by, and you have to worry (or you should worry) about blocking the sidewalk. If you’ve ever tried to walk a bike on a crowded sidewalk (say Queen West on a sunny day), you’ll soon realize that leisurely exploration is all but impossible.
you go man, like Christ and the apostles just got up and walked,but minus speakin the word and truth everywhere you go..Your doin what you love brother and bein free,keep on brother.