walking man

As I type this, my dad is most likely lacing up his boots and getting ready to leave our home in New Jersey. For the next month, he's going to be on the road, making his way north and west until he reaches my brother's house in Toronto, four hundred and thirty miles away. He's going to walk, and while I think he might be partly crazy for even attempting it, the rest of me is jealous of the adventure he's about to experience. Society these days moves at such a frantic pace, and I can't think of anyone else I know who's taken the time to slow down this drastically and intentionally. He's a deep thinker, my dad, and I'm sure the long miles will provide him with plenty of time for it. (That, and math; I'm pretty certain he'll be doing a lot of mental math while he walks.)

I love that he's doing this in an era where technology will allow him to share photos and stories from his journey in real time; the internet becomes more precious to me with every day that I live thousands of miles away from my family. He's going to be blogging along his journey; check it out here.

He's taking camping gear with him, but if anyone out there in internet land lives along his route I know he'd welcome a roof over his head and a couch to curl up on, so leave him a comment if you're on that blue line and you wouldn't mind opening your door to a wandering traveller. If you're lucky, maybe he'll even do some math tricks for you.



(This is how he looked setting out from our flat here in England on Monday; he'll be a little more road-ready when he's actually walking.)

Off you go, Pa-dukes; we'll see you on the other side.