FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why don't you ride a bike?

Because bikes break down. They are extremely difficult to rough camp with. This blog is about the things discovered while walking (implied by the name).

2) Why don't you use homeless shelters and hostels?

Because I don't need to. Camping outside has been highly successful, private and comfortable. I refuse to take the space away from someone who really does need a shelter. People have the impression that hostels are cheap. They aren't. The hostel in Sausalito (for example) charges $75 a night, to sleep in a room with five other guys and share a bathroom. They are trendy, and nice for rich college students on summer break, but highly impractical, lack privacy and only occur few and far between.

3) Why don't you go see all the towns and attractions that I (the reader) suggest?

Because I follow a schedule based on my final destination. To go backwards is not realistic. To go 20 miles sideways and then return 20 miles back to my original route (over a 4,000 mile journey) would require more time and energy than I can handle. I would be willing to diverge 10 miles in (either direction) off-track IF I have extra money to do so. To do so without money means I could be stuck somewhere for days, unable to post (and therefore earn money) and would be sacrificing energy that would be needed to reach my goal.

4) Why don't you hitchhike?

Hitchhiking requires that one walk backwards in the wrong lane and ride with people one doesn't know the intentions of. It is illegal, dangerous and stupid. In 9 months of extensive travel around this nation, not one single time did I see a hitchhiker. The concept is left over from a different era. Why anyone would ask me to hitchhike is unfathomable. I do take rides when they are offered, and have many times.

5) Why don't you get "jobs" along the way?

This IS my job. Next question?

6) Why do you ask for donations?

Because I feel that my blog has monetary value, in addition to cultural value. In order to keep it free for everyone to read, I ask those who appreciate it and can afford to contribute to do so. Do you work for free?

7) Why don't you only eat health food all the time?

Because I am not always near a Whole Foods Market (or other similar store) when I need to eat, and that kind of food is 5 times more expensive, without being 5 times more nutritious. If the choice is to spend the only $5 I have on a burger, fries and a juice, rather than on.......Well, there is no similar-quantity meal at Whole Foods Market that costs $5. I burn up to 2500 calories a day. Salads and rice cakes just won't do it for me. As for avoiding GMO's and Monsanto, etc? Impossible, in my situation. If you think otherwise, I encourage you to spend one month Iwallking and then get back to me.

8) Why don't you use a sleeping mat?

Because I don't mind sleeping on just about any surface. I have slept in swamps, woods, ledge sides, fields, desserts, pavement and sand. I also want to carry everything inside the backpack and it is already stuffed to bulging. Yes, it would be nice to have a pad, but it isn't important enough to me to look into it.  

9) Why don't you get a better backpack?

This is a good question. I used the backpack I do, because it works. It is an LLBean, and except for my own blunder of accidentally cutting partially through the straps 5 years ago, it has held up remarkably. In fact, I just repaired those straps. Yes, an aluminum support would be better. And, a shape that has less space behind and more above and below would be better. But, I know this pack. Everything is organized in the optimum way. The set up is excellent, and the lower pocket fits the entire sleeping bag. It is my "lucky pack," and unless something drastic makes it unusable, it will stick with me (probably) well after I return to Maine in 2016. 

[Questions with be added and answered as they occur.]