PDY

How far is it? How long is it going to take? Where are you going to sleep? (That’s the top 3 Q’s all in one!)

So I will be leaving Austin the morning of August 11, 2019, taking the approximate route shown above, graciously provided by Google Maps. The distance shown is approximately 1700 miles (2,720km). My plan is to walk roughly 20 miles a day from town to town and stay in hotels or motels. I will rest days as needed. I will carry all I need in a backpack, with support from home as needed. I may need help with rides, but otherwise plan on being pretty independent.

Who are you walking with? Do you want company?

I am starting off alone. Handful of family and friends may join me the first few miles, after which I will basically be on my own, HOWEVER…

I would love company and anyone is more than welcome to join me. My whereabouts will be known - I am working on a tracker to post on this website, and will periodically provide some guidance on the easiest way to meet. The one thing I cannot do however is make your arrangements. We can walk part of the day, the whole day, a few days, whatever, but plan on walking for about 6 hours a day, unless you make arrangements to be picked up before then… you can wait for me at the hotel!

What are you going to eat? Where?

This is perhaps one of my biggest concerns, proper nutrition being a cornerstone to my well being. It wasn’t always that way (and it showed!) but over the last few years I have become very conscious and careful about what I eat. I avoid heavily processed foods or preserved foods. I try to eat as much fresh food as possible. I cook very healthily and know I am going to miss my kitchen. I will eat along the way, restaurants, hotels, wherever, and really hope that the food is healthy. I’ll keep you posted.

What will you carry?

A backpack. If I follow the rules, I have 10% of my body weight to play with, somewhere between 16 and 17 pounds. I need to carry this laptop, cords, chargers etc. Couple of shorts, couple of shirts, toiletries, a mini drone, Rain jacket.. final list TBD, but the backpack I bought a week ago and have already logged 50 miles carrying a bunch of cans and dirty clothes around Austin! Feels pretty good. Throws my center of balance off and the first outing was a challenging 10 miles. Yesterday’s 10 were a breeze.

When will you arrive in NYC?

Very hard to say for sure, but I estimate sometime between the last week of October and the first week of November, perhaps into the second or third… this is not like stepping in a car, setting the cruise control and following Waze… If I indeed average 20 miles a day, that’s 85 days of walking. I’ll need a few rest days, I may want to stay someplace a little longer. The only real consideration is the weather as we enter late fall and early winter. I am trusting I won’t get sick, or have an orthopedic problem that’ll slow me down!