walking across the country | Squat the Planet

walking across the country

pheeb

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this spring im planning to walk the width of the united states. i dont have much planned out yet but the general route will be a semi-straight shot from northern florida to SoCal. since im still pretty new adventures such as these i was wondering if you guys would have any advice for me. anything will be appreciated.
 

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If i were doing this, I would first lease some land or buy some land and grow enough food to last me the entire time and do the walking in the fall. as far as transporting the food goes, I don't know. You could always send money on planting an apple tree or a blackberry tree every 30 miles. I always thought that would be a good idea if I had money, but then you have the problem that someone might cut it down. the cost of a blackberry plant is about $2 and you would only need 100 to cover 3000 miles. It would be interesting to see if the rainbow family did something like that
 

pheeb

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for food i was thinking more along the lines of carrying back up rations and acquiring food as i go through towns.
would you do it in the fall just for the harvest opportunities or are there other reasons?
 

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im a farmer. 1 acre of beans only takes about 70 lbs of beans to plant and harvest is about 1500 lbs thats enough food for one person for 12 years. 50 lbs of corn is enough to plant over 2 acres of corn and harvest is about 20,000 lbs. but my favorite is tobacco with the seeds from one plant able to grow over 20 acres with each acre producing 2000lbs. retail price of tobacco is about $100 per lb.
 

dprogram

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this spring im planning to walk the width of the united states. i dont have much planned out yet but the general route will be a semi-straight shot from northern florida to SoCal. since im still pretty new adventures such as these i was wondering if you guys would have any advice for me. anything will be appreciated.


Are you serious? That walk is going to take you forever. You're talking over 2000 miles. Average walking speed is going to be what like 3-4 mph. Then you can only walk so many hours in a day. Plus you want to begin in the spring. All I can say is good luck!
 

pheeb

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Are you serious? That walk is going to take you forever. You're talking over 2000 miles. Average walking speed is going to be what like 3-4 mph. Then you can only walk so many hours in a day. Plus you want to begin in the spring. All I can say is good luck!
itll take 4 months tops. walking 8-12hrs per day is a realistic goal.
i might hitch across deserts if the environment proves too hostile.
 

ped

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As was said take a cart/buggy for long dry stretches to carry water.
I would plan for at least one day a week of rest. 15 miles a day/100mi a week. So figure more like 5-6 months.
 

urbanflow

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way the fuck out there
itll take 4 months tops. walking 8-12hrs per day is a realistic goal.
i might hitch across deserts if the environment proves too hostile.
hahaha, 8-12 hours EVERY DAY? thats not realistic at all man, gotta factor in terrible sleep, rain and severe weather, running into crazy people, cops, terrain being inhospitable for walking (let alone temperature and wild life).

i thought about doing the same thing, then i discovered freight hopping and said "fuck THAT".
 

pheeb

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hahaha, 8-12 hours EVERY DAY? thats not realistic at all man, gotta factor in terrible sleep, rain and severe weather, running into crazy people, cops, terrain being inhospitable for walking (let alone temperature and wild life).

i thought about doing the same thing, then i discovered freight hopping and said "fuck THAT".

mark baumer did it 81 days so four months is definitely possible. i think i will allow more time for adventuring and sight-seeing.
 

pheeb

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Google "walk across america" for books and blogs... I'd say walk around barefoot as much as you can before you go to toughen up your feet... use google maps and hit the walking tab to give ya an idea for a route and distance...
ive had a google maps tab open perpetually since the inception of this trip.
the barefoot thing is a great idea, dont know why i didnt thiink of it since i was born and raised in kentucky.
 

pheeb

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ill be starting around jacksonville, fl nad cutting pretty much straight across to san diego. if you find yourself along that route, youre welcome to travel with me for a while.
 

Ekstasis

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I met a man that was doing this in support of our military in 2009.

His name is Sinh Nguyen.

There are lots of articles about him online.

Oddly, there is a old good book called "A Walk across America" by Peter Jenkins and I had finished it a week before I met Sinh.

Peter Jenkins has also walked across other countries and has books about those trips also.

Sinh had a friend driving a car across the country with him and they camped out or got cheap hotels.

Sinh carried an American flag across the country so he had lots of support and donations along his trip.

Good luck in the spring!
 

pheeb

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starting this spring. whenever the weather gets decently survivable.

im not currently affiliated with any causes but i am going to try to promote this trip and get as much attention and support as possible. anything to help with the expenses.
 
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