For sprains, especially in the ankle, immediately stop walking and rest. If ice is available, apply it to the area for a few minutes. Otherwise, find a way to reduce the inflammation cold water, cold sand, etc. For example, if you fractured your finger, you can immobilize it using another finger. If you fractured your forearm, you can strap it against your chest or create a sling for it.
A simple cold will eventually go away, whereas something like pneumonia will require antibiotic treatment, and potentially hospitalization. I carry a barrage of antibiotics with me; I haven't used any of them, but they are there in case of emergencies. Be knowledgeable of common illnesses and their treatments.
Sunburns should be prevented with proper cover, such as a hat, and high SPF-rating sunscreen. For current burns, you can apply aloe vera to the area, which works wonders. Repeated burns may result in skin cancers down the line, so be cautious of sunny days. Fungal infections are a pain to treat, and require long-period applications of antifungal creams designed for athlete's foot and jock itch.
You'll be able to find them at any drug or grocery store. You'll just have to clean the area and apply the cream twice a day for a few weeks. Sleeping: You will need a decent amount of sleep to keep walking each day. Walking is exhausting work, and you can tire quickly if you walk for more than you need to.
My friend and I had one instance where we had to walk all through the night and into the next day to avoid on-coming traffic, and our energy was completely shot for a week. By that time, I'm pretty much wide awake, but I stay in my sleeping bag and meditate to avoid the cold mornings.
Now, I'm going to talk about where to sleep for the most part. One of the great beauties of walking the country is that you get to see the stars. When I look up at the sky right before sunset, its like a dance of light washing through the backdrop of the cosmic void. First, the brightest stars and planets will shine through, then little by little, constellations will arise like glittering gems.
Then suddenly, the whole sky will erupt in fire as the entire cosmos reveals itself, with the Milky Way holding the entire galaxy in its bosom. It's really quite a sight. But, on with it. I've found that camping through the country can bring a myriad of experiences, as well as challenges, along the way. Sometimes it's quite a search to find the right place to sleep, as you want to avoid heavy traffic or groups of people. If you're in a city, it'll take a bit of ingenuity to keep out of sight from the police and potential hooligans.
And of course, there's physical considerations, like terrain, wildlife, rain, and wind. The land is already leveled and weeded for you, and proximity to the road keeps most wildlife at bay.
However, be aware that camping in the road shoulder can lead to potential accidents with cars if your camp site doesn't have significant reflection. And then there's always the increased risk of someone spotting you and deciding to do you harm. Personally, I haven't had any trouble on a road shoulder.
Gary Rutherford, the man who's been walking across America for 7 years, told me he's been sleeping next to highways for years and never had an incident. But there's always the risk. They provide cover from cars and people, while creating a natural crevice to stick in your sleeping bag, if not your entire tent as well. You can also hide your cart in a ditch and settle down for a few days while you hit the town. The down side is that, if it rains, that ditch was designed to let the water flow.
So you'll want to watch out for the potential for flash flooding. I think of them as the Rolls Royce of sleeping places; I'm not so much thinking of in the city as much as in the country-side. They provide rain cover, wind cover, sun cover, a place to hide your stuff, and hard ground.
I choose underpasses over anything else, if I have the chance. However, you do get a lot of noise from the cars driving over, so you'll either need to learn to be a heavy sleeper or hope that the road quiets down during the night. There are far fewer bridges, and a good number of them are inaccessible to pedestrians. But they can be even better than an underpass because the traffic is much more elevated above your head, so noise is reduced. They're rather quiet and spacious, and you could do some fun exploring through them if you've got the energy.
It may be difficult to get a clearing to pitch a tent, and you'll run into far more wildlife than closer to the roads. But its a great place to sleep; I always feel more rejuvenated when I'm with trees than along the roadways. Your best bet is to just go far off into the distance if you feel uncomfortable sleeping where people can find you. Otherwise, it's quite thrilling to see practically nothing in every direction, except mountains and the occasional brush. It's easy to find level ground, and predators tend to avoid large open spaces because they can't hide well.
But they're next to the best thing besides actual residences themselves. Some abandoned buildings still have owners who hold rights to the land, so by law you will still be trespassing, even if the insides look completely trashed.
I made friends with a guy in Bouse, Arizona who got two months in prison for sleeping in an abandoned house. Apparently, a tourist saw him break into the place, so he called the owner. The owner came in a few hours later and a put a gun to my friend, then proceeded to call the cops. Rough stuff out here in the desert. You're still pitching your tent and doing all the odds and ends of setting camp. And campsites tend to be much safer place to stay, presumably. I also meet some great folk at campsites, so its not all bad.
Most of them I've met through my friends and acquaintances; occasionally, I luck out and meet someone trustworthy at a gas station or shop. I've learned to trust my gut through the experience, and I'm getting better at distinguishing between someone who means me harm and someone who's out to give me a hand.
Staying at a home not only rejuvenates your physical energy, but you also get to meet someone new, perhaps someone who will become a good friend down the road. I can always appreciate a home-cooked meal and a chance to hang out with someone. Unless you have a family from Hell, you probably have an aunt or cousin who lives out along your road that you can call up and have yourself a place to stay.
If you're a recent college graduate, you can be sure that your friends are networked with other folks at other colleges. I avoid telegraphing that I need a place to stay; usually, I just let that happen naturally.
If the other person is pushing for your to stay much more than you're comfortable with, you might be dealing with someone who has sinister intentions. There was a woman who was driving down the highway and pulled over to the shoulder where I was walking. Being a friendly guy, I start chit-chatting with her.
After I told her about my walk, she told me that she could give me a ride to the next town, where she lived, and get a warm shower and clean my clothes at her place. I gently refused, because I don't take rides as a matter of just walking everywhere I go.
So we talked a bit more, and then she drove away. After she left, I had a weird feeling in my gut, because it was my impression that she hadn't much interest in why I was walking at all. I had told her that I was walking for my dad who passed away, and she just seemed to ignore it. And she kept talking about being the creator of the world, living as an ancient Egyptian, and being on the Titanic.
I had some suspicion, and noted her license plate. Lo and behold, after I walk a few miles more, she comes back to give me the offer again. Now, honestly, why in the world would a person drive miles out of their way to offer someone a place to sleep that they barely met? My creepy feeling was going on haywire, and quickly high-tailed out of there. Although there have been instances involving these websites, they are very few and far between.
Still, I must admit there is the inherent risk, but if you're walking across the country, you're already taking a risk anyway. The huge pluses are that they provide everything. Clean bed, bathroom, television, free breakfast, water, and safety. You'll find them practically anywhere in a town or a city. The downside, of course, is the cost.
If you're on a tight-budget, stays are motels can quickly eat up your funds in no time. I've stayed at a hostel once in San Franciso called Adelaide, and they're quite cozy even though they pack you like sardines in one room. You can meet a ton of interesting folks, mostly from other countries. And if you're lucky, you'll get some nice complementary breakfast in the morning. For the most part, you'll need a source of communication to reserve a room before you arrive.
It can be frustrating to walk 10 miles to a motel only to find out that all the rooms are booked. Weather: The weather is an unpredictable beast. Each region of the country is unique, with its own set of weather patterns and seasonal changes. Be prepared to face weather that you've never experience before. I'm listing the type of weather that I've already encountered.
I can't say much about rare sky phenomena, like lightning storms and tornadoes, but I can personally attest to the following except snow. For the most part, this should be the general weather pattern of any place you encounter.
Gorgeous as they can be, if you're unprepared, you can find yourself sunburned and dehydrated. There's nothing quite like carrying a stash of non-functioning electronics or spoiled oats. I like to bring a lot of ziplock bags and plastic bags, then wrap all my stuff in them.
I was also gifted a water-proof blanket, which I've used to cover my cart on multiple occasions. You'll also want to keep a nice waterproof raincoat to prepare for any rainstorms. Even the sturdiest raincoat won't keep you completely dry, but at least you won't be soaking to the bone. They're particularly potent during the night while you sleep. Be sure to find something to break the wind during the night. High velocity winds can also slow you down if its coming in the opposite direction.
They're not so much of a pain while you're walking as much as if you're biking or running, but depending on the girth of your cart, they can still keep you from making your miles during the day. Snow can decrease your speed as much as half, while you expend a tremendous amount of energy keeping warm and pushing through resistance. Honestly, snow isn't much fun. But you can still make snowmen. I recommend a nice down jacket to keep yourself warm during frigid temperatures.
While you're walking, you should be able to keep your temperature up, although you'll have to find a down jacket that allows your body to 'breathe' and release moisture.
Otherwise, the sweat will wet your jacket and reduce its ability to keep you warm. Unfortunately, UV rays can still penetrate through cloud cover and burn you, so keep your sun protection on and walk on.
Rest: I expressed before that spending time to rest is just as important as training. The same is true for the actual walk itself. Rest can be helpful for healing an injury, settling your mind, or just enjoying the moment.
As I've said, be kind to yourself. There are travelers out there who take their time, many years in fact, to the cross the country. Some just live for weeks, even months, in a single place before heading out again on the road.
There's really not right or wrong way to walk a journey. Understandably, some of us will have other plans for the future, and walking cross-country is less of a lifestyle than a single challenge amongst many.
Truly though, its best to let the world flow at its own pace. Even at 3 miles per hour, you can miss the magic. I usually walk 50 minutes, take a break for 10 minutes to rehydrate and stretch, then walk another 50 minutes. After that, I take a longer break for 30 minutes to snack and drink water. After 2 of these 2-hour sessions, I take 1. Then I do all over again, so I rack up about 8 hours of walking total.
It happens to be my way of doing things. And not every day will be the same; some days I'll just chill out with some people, while others I'll walk miles upon miles into the night. While I was nursing Rockwall, the baby mouse, I had to re-vamp my schedule so that I could feed him milk every 3 hours, including at night. So everything shifts according to what's needed, but overall, I like having some solidity and routine.
I also take day-long breaks every 2 to 3 days to hang out in one place, replenish my stocks, and wash my clothes. And if I feel particularly called to stay somewhere, I'll hang out for a week. Everyone will have their own way. I do some basic stretches for my ham-strings, hip flexors, calfs, ankles, and back. Sometimes I'll stretch out my arms and shoulders because they'll get mad stiff pushing the cart.
All in all, I keep it simple and quick, so I can get back to walking. I don't like to strain my stomach, so I give myself a rest to digest and let my blood flow into my gut.
I eat about 3 to 4 meals a day, depending on how hungry I get, and what's available on my cart and in the area. Pretty laissez faire about it. That's also usually the time when I get a ferocious amount of ideas running through my head, so I like to write them down in my journal.
I get to know myself pretty well during my naps; I tend to recall memories of my past during these times, usually soft and melancholic moments in time. Entertainment: Miles and miles on the road, disconnected from family, friends, television, and internet mostly.
Most of the time, you'll be occupied with walking, but that can hardly absorb your entire day. Here, I give you a few ideas of what you can do to actually enjoy the walk across the country, rather than banging your head against your cart wondering why you're walking through the middle of a cornfield grinding your teeth.
Even if you never do anything special with it, you'll always be able to reference the moments on the road in later life. I use my journal to not only write about the day, but also to write down new ideas and inventions. I could only imagine most of my thoughts falling into the netherworld of forgetfulness if I didn't have some record of them on paper.
Many times, my friends had to coax me to write in a journal, with me refusing until I realized about a month in that I could never remember everything on the road, even with the kind of memory I have. And it's always a great story to tell friends that one day when you almost got eaten by a bear.
Though I guess that sort of experience would be seared into your skull forever. I know I do. I don't find much time to read, because usually its night by the time I'm relaxed and looking for a book. But every so often, I'll break out a book that a friend has given me and run through a few pages. I've learned a lot from Brother David Steindl-Rast, and appreciate his approach towards Christianity. These books are a continuous reminder of why I'm walking the country.
Now's the time to get good at practicing the guitar, or picking up the fiddle. Perhaps you like to ho-down with a harmonica or a flute. Just remember that you'll need a place to store your instrument away from rain and heat.
I planned to bring my father's violin along the way, but couldn't figure out a sensible way to avoid damaging the wood from the elements. Plus, I haven't played the violin since grade-school. Singing and walking is hardly a difficult multi-tasking experience, and it's pretty nice to hear your own voice once in a while on the road.
Bring some sheet music and lyrics along the way. Even if you can't sing for squat, hearing a human voice can keep you from going a little crazy. I didn't have a way to look up lyrics, so I improvised a lot of the songs that I know and made up some new interesting versions. I have to figure out if they're any good, but I like them! Since I have no audience, I like to tell myself stories. It's a little bit like practice, especially when I meet new people.
I've practically rehearsed any stories about the road multiple times, some with different endings. I really enjoy playing a game with myself, where whenever a thought comes up in my head, I just gently place my focus on the feeling of my feet on the earth, each step of the way. I find myself learning more and more about myself each day on the road.
Meditation keeps my focus on my surroundings rather than off in thoughts about the past or future. Other times, I just chat it up with the cashier at Del Taco. People are pretty interesting. If you just take an interest in what other people are saying, you can practically make friends anywhere.
Plus, you can get all sorts of great information about the road ahead. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it. Or a journey can break your soul and call you into your very reason for existence.
Beyond the purpose for your walking journey, ask yourself what possibility you wish for yourself in the future. What is your dream for your human life here on Earth? You have taken a major risk in your life to spend months at a time out in the road of life, with little more than a few trinkets and tools to keep you alive.
If you bring yourself to the edge of your anxiety, that background buzzing that draws you away from taking the steps to living a full, rich existence, you may find yourself in sight of a horizon of human potential.
Your human potential. My Story: For as long as I could remember, school was rather easy for me. There was the occasional roadblock along the way, but most struggles I experienced in academia were social and emotional in nature.
So I aced through high school and college without much difficulty. My parents had big dreams for me. In kindergarten, my mother told my first teacher that I would grow up to be a doctor, just like my dad.
And so the life plan laid out for me was for me to kick ass in school and keep on rocking it into medical school. I would be rich, successful, and well-respected, just like my dad. The road was paved, all I had to do was sail along it to the finish line. Well, that made things easy for me. I didn't have to think or make any decisions in my life. I essentially went on auto-pilot, racking up awards and accolades until my CV was spilling with praiseworthy notes and words. I was a superstar. And I was unhappy.
At the end of my sophomore year in college, I'd just ended a relationship with a girl who I thought was the love of my life. I'd just won a great sum of money through a competition, and I was living in a posh condo with a professor, yet I was constantly at dis-ease with myself. I constantly asked myself if this was it, that it'd just be more sums of money, more beautiful women, and higher accolades through life.
After a few odd turns here and there, I eventually made my way to San Francisco and discovered a group of spiritual dudes and dudettes who are all about deepening the relationships with ourselves, with others, and with the world. You can find them at AuthenticWorld. Without going into any of the nitty gritty details, they helped me bring more ease into my life. For the first time in my life, I finally felt as though I was actually in relationship with myself.
I was feeling more expressive, more happy, and more generous than I'd ever been before. Life suddenly became an adventure, and I was beginning to see extraordinary changes in my being. I had an easier time in the presence of people, especially attractive women. I began speaking up and demanding excellence from myself. And most of all, I was finally making decisions about my future for my self.
I started taking of my body, eating a better diet, and exercising on a regular basis. I decided I didn't want to become a doctor. And I made a commitment to walk across the country before continuing on with school. I have a vision for my life, which may change and remold itself over time. I see myself at the intersection between science and spirituality, making hard observational evidence for spiritual phenomena such as compassion, love, and joy. I see myself taking all the learning and teachings of my life, and bringing it to the world.
When the time is ripe, I plan to walk across the world to bring awareness to the possibility of a global world awareness. That the reality is, we live here together as humanity. My walk across America is only my training ground. We will see how far I go, but the possibility excites me. Challenge: "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. You will experience what you once thought was unbearable. Each person is unique; for one person, climbing a mountain is a piece of cake, for another, speaking on stage in front of an audience.
In any case, challenges are an opportunity to grow into a newer you, one who has shed a past skin that constricts the heart and haunts the mind.
I believe that everyone's life is specially designed with all the challenges you will need to experience in a lifetime.
But it is in your own hands to make the decision to walk through them and feel the burn. My Story: Two days into our walk, my friend David and I had just climbed up the Ortega Highway lucky to still have our skin intact as car after car skidded inches away from our cart.
We both joked that the Ortega would eventually be our grave, and we'd be lauded amongst the likes of Christopher McCandless as wandering fools without an ounce of common sense. After walking out from Casper National Park and onto the road for a few miles, we came upon a bridge that crossed over into a sharp turn into the mountains.
We stared in disbelief as we saw that the bridge barely had enough space for the two cars that passed in opposite directions along the road. There was no shoulder. There was no visibility to see if there were oncoming cars in either direction; the bridge was sandwiched between two mountain peaks. So we couldn't tell if there would be a shoulder on the other side of the bridge.
For all we knew, it could have been shoulder-less like the bridge all the way up. And the bridge was a long way; it would have taken us about a minute to cross the bridge while running.
And there was no going back. Conceivably, we could have called a friend to pick us up and drop us off on the other side. We could have even gone home at that point. Someone could come in about an hour, easily. I even called the local sheriff's office to see if we could get someone to block traffic for us, though to no avail. I suppose something about that particular day, combined with the difficulty of walking uphill through brush and mud along the Ortega, shattered our wills to continue.
I felt anxious and stressed. Even if we got a friend to get us across, what's to say that there would not be more bridges, more obstacles, more challenges along the way that we would to face alone. We'd be helpless then. We would be spineless brats who once conquered the academic world, only to find that all our books and knowledge were rubbish in the real world of rocks, rivers, and road. David and I took the cart down to the side of the canyon and decided to rest our minds.
I went down to the bottom where a stream was running through, and took some time to breathe and relax. Something compelled me to explore the river bank, so I took off my shoes and climbed across the fallen boulders. As my mind loosened up, something in my brain snapped, and I realized the obvious.
I climbed up along the cliffs, barefoot and all, and made it to the other side of the bridge. I walked up the grassy path leading to the road, and lo and behold, saw that there was in fact a shoulder. As I climbed back down to tell David, I saw him on the other side of the canyon.
I told him what I saw, which he considered and decided that we should sleep until midnight to wait for traffic to die down, then pass the bridge. We ended up walking for hours through the freezing cold night, without knowing when the road would end. We were eventually pulled over by the police, who proceeded to guide us to a candy store at the top of the current hill we were on.
There, we slept until the morning and met up with a regular and the owners of the shop, who gifted me and David with the license plate saying, "I survived the 74". Every hill and every bridge thereafter has felt paltry compared to our nightly sojourn. Although I don't believe either of us will want to experience that night again, I am grateful for having experienced it.
Along the path of a journey, you will find that what you were first looking for was just the tip of the iceberg of what life has to offer you. Sometimes the world will conspire to line the path with gold for your arrival. Unfortunately, you can't go looking for the gold-lined path; what you find will never quite be what you were first looking for. You will just simply have to trust, let the world take your hand, and relax in the dance.
The moment will meet you when you are ready. It was evening, and I was getting hungry for something cooked. When I had made it to the main center of the city, I found a Vietnamese restaurant with a great big line to the front.
Apparently, they were having their grand opening, and the place was completely packed. Being Vietnamese, I was craving some pho Vietnamese chicken noodle soup and I was absolutely curious about this new restaurant. My thoughts were, "Who the Hell lives out here that's Vietnamese?
I chat with him in Vietnamese, telling him that I had walked here from Los Angeles and would like to store my cart in the back while I eat at the restaurant.
He's down for it, so I park the cart, take my backpack, and set myself in line. At that moment, I was feeling particularly shy. To my left was a group of eight, presumably marines from the Marine Corp Base in Twentynine Palms with their dates. To my right was a group of nine, a family celebrating someone's birthday by the looks of a birthday cake held by someone in their party.
I hadn't seen myself in a mirror for days, and I assumed that I looked rather shabby and poor carrying a dusty backpack, wearing dirty clothes. So I kept to myself and shuffled around quietly while everyone else seemed to be engaged in conversation. The wait was long, even for a single table, and so the marines and their dates left, leaving me with the family. Something suddenly clicked in my mind, like an impulse to speak, and I asked the family whose birthday it was.
One of the guys tells me that its the birthday of both father and son; they happened to share the same birthday. So I ask the older man of the group, presumably the father, how old he was. Well, that was about the same age as my dad. So I talked to him about my dad, and how he should look out for his health. The conversation flows easily, and we eventually get to talking about Vietnam. The man had been in the service during the war, and so we get to talking about how it was back then and how he'd like to travel back to Vietnam some day.
The conversation eventually gets to where I'm from and why I'm in Twentynine Palms. Secret's out. I walked. This guy just starts going wild. He tells his entire family, then he introduces me to his wife and his friends.
Everyone's asking me questions and telling me about the road ahead. By that time, my shyness is completely gone and I'm feeling good just chatting it up with anyone in the group. About an hour goes by since I got to the restaurant, and they eventually call my name for my table. During that time, there had been another man who was waiting on a table for one, although I didn't quite notice him until I'm in the restaurant.
He asks, "So, you're walking across the country? I figure that I basically took the only table for one until I finish eating, so I look straight into this guy's eyes and say, "Yeah, you want to join me for dinner? He accepts, and we go on ahead to our table. He sits down, and says to me, "I happen to be cycling. I came here from Florida. When David and I planned the route back at home, we had noticed the stretch between Twentynine Palms and the next city east. The distance measured out to be 70 miles, which would be easily crossed with three days worth of water.
The cart was only able to that weight of water, which was about 10 gallons for two people. At this point in time, David and I had separated to walk at our own pace, and planned to meet up in Twentynine Palms. Others stretch it out, with breaks, into years. Keep costs in mind. The route can be a loose collection of connecting trail sections or a point to point plan with designated stops for camping and supplies.
A few east-west highways make ideal routes for thru-hikers. But, the route crosses the Great Plains at their broadest and climbs into the Rocky Mountains. The American Discovery Trail, open to hiking, biking and horseback riding, is the only coast-to-coast nonmotorized trail. For the least elevation gain, choose a southern route. You will still have to hike through the Appalachians, unless you begin your trek with a leg that heads south before turning west.
The weather on this route is moderate in the winter. Endurance is a major factor when training for a long-distance hike. Set a goal of how many hours a day you plan to walk, and work up to that goal in practice hikes before you set off. Plan on eating nuts and nut butters, beans, cheese and rice. You can probably pack more in a cart, but you might tire of pushing or dragging it around. Keep weight in mind when packing.
When choosing a tent or camping hammock, sleeping bag, clothing to layer, rain gear, cook set and camp stove, go as lightweight and minimalist as possible. How long does it take to travel to the Moon?
It takes about 3 days for a spacecraft to reach the Moon. During that time a spacecraft travels at least , miles , kilometers which is the distance between Earth and the Moon.
Walking Across America 5,, steps. How long does it take to walk across the USA? Category: sports walking. Don't expect to match this world record feat.
Depending on the route you choose, plan on walking the 2,plus miles at a rate of 15 to 30 miles a day. Some walkers take as little as four months.
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How far is a day's walk? How long does it take to walk miles? How many miles is the Coast to Coast Walk? How many miles is the United States from coast to coast? How many steps are in a mile? Can you walk from South America to North America? How long does it take to do the Coast to Coast Walk? How does Cooper die in a walk across America? Has anyone walked around the world? How long would it take to walk from LA to New York?
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