End to End

On December 30th, 2007, at approximately 9:45 am, i finished walking. For sixteen months, i wore a pedometer on my belt that counted every step i took, from my bedroom to the kitchen to eat keebler elves, (in 3 apartments) every step of the stairs at work, on moving sidewalks in various airports, and across the endless proverbial sidewalk of the contiguous United States. Well, almost endless. One step at a time, i managed to walk across the whole (darned) thing.


About a month ago, i came to the realization that this project was about to end. It must have felt similar to what people experienced in 1979, knowing that the 80's were about to happen. I didn't know what to focus on in closing out this project, because its become such a regular part of my routine that i've reached for the pedometer a hundred times since i've stopped wearing it, and something most certainly feels missing without it. I've had a lot of people suggest that i just keep wearing it, or extend the trip all the way across the Atlantic and clear around the world. But come on, that would take years, and i would undoubtedly become "that guy" along the way.


If there is anything i've really learned, it's that this country is nothing short of enormous. There were so many moments that i found myself walking in mundane situations and meaningless patterns, every footstep counting due east, but never "getting there." I got to know my habits, became very aware of my averages, and the distances we never realize we travel every single day that we step outside. Having read the blog from start to finish now, i can make a few observations of my own:

1. We started small. The early entries are small and frequent, you can sense my undirected excitement and bewilderment as to what might become of the project.

2. For the first 8 weeks, i couldn't keep the damn thing on. In the first 500 miles, i lost 5 pedometers. The sixth pedometer lasted near 1,000 miles. The last pedometer lasted over 1,300 miles. I spent roughly 50 bucks at Rite Aid on pedometers.

3. Dedication to the construction of meaningful entries along with sarcasm in general made a wild leap in the year 2007. And things became much better for everyone.

4. Cameron Turner, by far, paid the most attention. And was successfully baited time and time again for comments by incorporating references to 1990's basketball.


I have a few personal favorites, including "Old Man Thompson's Tree" from January 28, 2007 and "Praise ogALLAH" from April 27, 2007. I'm a little upset that i didn't end up catching Barry Bonds' controversial million-dollar baseball as predicted in May 2007's "Coming to Decisions" but perhaps that's for the best. The entry that earned the most commentary was an exploration of diaper-wearing "furries" in St. Peters, Missouri. Go figure. I also apparently referred to Betsy Ross as a "ho" on the 4th of July, and took no flak for it.


Here are some more fun stats to consider:

* I walked 2,570 miles in 478 days. That's an average of 5.37 miles a day.

* That's 13 and a half million feet.

* My foot is actually a few millimeters larger than an actual foot, (12 inches)

* I checked in 104 times- approximately every 27 miles along the way.

* We passed through a total of 15 states.

* Most amazingly, the first and second thousand miles were each walked within the same frame of time, within a week of each other.


It was fun to watch this project grow from seedling to sprig to mutant baseball junkie over the course of a year and a half, and i'm genuinely sad to see it go. The only thing that could possibly lift me from the gutter would be to announce an even larger, far superior project.

So, without further ado, i would like to announce that this summer (of 2008) i will quit my job, sublease my apartment, and travel across the United States by greyhound, train, and two-seated bicycle. Over the course of at least eight weeks, i intend to make it from west to east and back by ground, visiting friends in every imaginable city and town, and catching baseball games in every stadium along the way. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there i'm going to write my masters thesis. I certainly can't come home until i finish that. That said, i want and need to see (and use) every single one of you out there this summer. Where are you going to be? Really? Me too. I need to stay with you. Lets catch a bus. I'll be contacting everyone i know individually in attempts to put together a rough-draft itinerary, and i look forward to improvising the better part of it.


So let's put the lid on averylongwalk here and now, and cheers to the next big thing. Thank you all for reading along, and lets do it again sometime soon.

Go Royals,

W.Weston


Two Days Distance: 10 miles

Total Distance Covered: 2,570 miles

Brooklyn, New York