Walk across America

Its a dream. Will it come true? Only time can tell. I want to walk (or possibly even run) across the US. When will it happen? Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been wanting to do this for about four years (traveling across the US, that is). Initially, I wanted complete it by biking. However, I think that a lot of the experiences would be lost if I did it by bike. Walking is a slow process, but you see things that you wouldn’t have noticed if you were in a car or moving quickly by bicycle.
If I would had known that the economy would be in this shattered state like it is, I would have saved money and taken the trip now. I didn’t, so I guess that I can’t dwell on it. I am glad, though, that there is (or are) other people out there doing the same march across the States. For example, if you go to Walk America 2008 you can see some people in action. One of the guys, BJ Hill is even taking notes from people to give to the next president.
Matt Gregory (look up his story online) is an inspiration to me. The reason he decided on his journey was in memory of his mother who died several years back due to cancer. It was also a campaign and fundraiser for cancer research. I decided that before I will do this journey, I need to have a goal. Why am I doing this? What will I achieve?
My goal in life used to be about making money. Now, although I really haven’t abandoned that goal, I have learned a few things since 2006. Within a little more than a year, three people that were close to me have passed away. I’ve learned that this life is the only one I’ve got, so I may as well enjoy it and do what I want while I still can.
Death doesn’t frighten me as much as it motivates me. I need to find a reason as to why I will be doing all this. I already know it is because of self-exploration, but what will be my cause? What cause will make people sympathize with my goal? One cause would be for diabetes research. It runs in my family. My mother has it and I am highly prone to having it as well. Also, the rate of diabetes is increasing drastically in the United States, something that the government is trying to address, but I personally don’t view it as the government’s responsibility to watch over the Peoples’ diets and exercise.
What if there was someone who could be an inspiration? Maybe I am not the right person, but should that stop me from at least trying? Maybe other people would join with me (I’m suddenly reminded of Forrest Gump…LOL) and we’d get media coverage. What if? What if….I guess I won’t know until I just do it!

I tend to be a very wish-washy type of person (not flaky, though!) who moves from one project to the next… I decided that to make myself serious about this goal, I need to find the point in all this, the real reason why I want to do it. Will I do it to learn more about myself? The country? To meet more people? To prove a point? Maybe it is a little bit of everything, but I need to figure it out. Also, I need to set a goal as to how I will do this. For example, how much money I will need to save up ahead a time, what I will bring, how long I will do it for, where I will stay, etc.

The idea of traveling across the US of A almost seems insane, but then I realized that people have done it in the past. Some have walked, some have biked, and more have taken transportation. The reason I would like to do this is because it is a challenge. I have to plan, prepare, and then learn how to improvise. It may make it more interesting if someone decided to go with me but traveling by oneself is a spiritual experience.