Amanda H joins me for a few minutes…

Sweetheart student Amanda, whose school I’d spoken to earlier in the week, saw me walking the final few of yesterday’s dozen miles as she drove by. She parked far ahead of me, and ventured out to walk a few minutes with me. (I love it when they do that!)

“Do you ever get bored walking?” Amanda asked me.

“Stop right here,” I told her. “Do you hear the wind whittling its way through the branches above?”
I don’t remember every exact word I said to Amanda, but my basic message it that despite the many ongoing challenges, I actually love walking across America. I get to hear & feel the wind around me, the birds singing, the deer staring, the squirrels running and the turtles splashing.

Blacktop loneliness definitely has become a factor at times– including during my second month on the road, in northern Cali. I also felt ready for additional companionship after several hundred miles of rural west Texas; I believe this played a major role in adopting Rusty, in Goldthwaite (before finding him an ultra-loving home with Mr. & Mrs. Williams, of Burnet).

All that said, I consistently tell people that walking across America is about 99% mental. While it’s true that I need legs & arms that work to walk the Walk, the greatest challenge is enduring night after night on the road– never in a familiar home environment– never getting to hang out with the familiar friends & family I grew up with, nor shop at my local grocery stores, travel familiar roads, or (especially) sleep in my own bed. Unlike Dorothy, my words could be described as, “there’s no place that’s home.”

Of course, vital to a successful Walk to me is remaining positive– seeing the glass at least half full (even 99% full)– therefore: “every place is home.”

Before beginning the Walk, I ventured out on a number of silent, ten-day meditation courses, each of which is far more mentally challenging than any ten days of walking across America. These ten-day meditation courses were the best possible preparation for the road: mental preparation– for the greatest strength comes from within.
Nowadays, as much as I love it whenever anyone stops to walk with me, I also enjoy any solitude I experience on the road (in fact, I need it).

All that said, by far the greatest reward of all my miles though has been the wonderful pleasure of meeting so many sweet souls across America– Amanda + everyone else– people whose smiles brighten our world