Episode 38 - Steven M. Newman

We've been living in it since so long.

All

Welcome to episode 38

of Let's Talk Claremont. I am your host, Patrick, and thank you for tuning in. I'm happy you're here. I'm happy you're listening.

And I hope you had a good election day. I'd I have to admit I'd I kinda really like election day. It seems like,

honestly, I think we should all get off work for election day. That's just me. But it's just, I don't know, just a really nice American day.

So I hope you had a good good election day, and I hope you're having a good fall. I'm still having a good fall. Getting excited for Christmas. I know it's I know it's early, but

I don't know. Ever since having kids, I'm just a I'm a sucker for Christmas.

But we have some things to talk about today. And if you're new, because we've been getting new people, this is we are back to regularly scheduled programming.

And we're gonna start off with a little bit of news, then we're gonna go into our interview, and then we will wrap things up with some events

from around the county.

So the first thing we have to talk about are the election revolt results.

And we are going to talk about candidates and ballot issues,

from around the county. But for candidates,

we're just gonna talk about the contested races. So if somebody ran unopposed

or, you know, there were a group of people and it was unopposed and it wasn't, you know, it wasn't like a a race, essentially.

I'm not gonna talk about that on the podcast. In the newsletter, I will link out to

all of the results that we currently have, which brings up

another thing.

As as of this recording, which is Wednesday,

November 5,

this is where everything stands. There were some pretty close races, and I'm still working off the unofficial results

from the board of elections, which again, I will link in the newsletter.

But I'll keep my eye on all these things. And if any of these things change, I'll be sure to update you in the next episode.

But

this is where we are as of Wednesday,

November 5, and we're gonna start with the Loveland Village Council. Now this is this is one of these that is too too close to call. It was a crazy close race.

And in some cases, the difference

between candidates is two votes.

So from my understanding,

there's gonna be a a recount, and then there might be a potential challenge.

So it might be some time until we know who's gonna be on on Loveland Village Council. But like I said, as of recording,

on Wednesday,

November 5,

here is who won,

Loveland Village Council.

John Hart, who came in at 13.6%

of the votes, Deidre Hazlebaker

with 13.5%

of the votes, Kip Ping with 12.99%

of the vote, and Jim Dahlmeyer

with 12.39%

of the vote.

Moving on, we'll look at Milford Council for a member at large.

We have Kathy Barney

with 39

or I'm sorry, with 30.94%

of the vote,

Sandy Russell with 24.14%

of the vote, and Mike Brown with 24

o 2%

of the vote. So those are your new Milford council members

as of today.

Batavia Village Council,

a a very contested race.

We have Randy Dorsey coming in with 19.95%,

Laurie Zager with 19.37%,

Tom Smith with 15.88%,

and Mike Gardner with 14.33%.

So it looks like, the gang of four,

they all got in as of today. That that one those numbers were pretty

pretty well separated, but, again, as of today.

Moving on to Owensville Village Council. We have Jerry Kuntz

with and

I'm gonna say this. I apologize to anybody's name I mispronounced. Most of these names are pretty pronounceable, but if I get it wrong, I'm sorry.

We have Jerry Coontz with 18.98%,

Mabel Shepherd with 18.45%,

Robbie Edwards with 16.84%,

and Mike Perry with 16.39%

of the vote.

Those, as of today, will be your new Owensville council,

village council members.

Batavia Township trustee.

We have Danielle Wessel

with 32.47%

of the vote and Rex Parsons with 24.49%

of the vote.

So those will be the new Batavia Township trustee. Well, I guess not new. Rex was an incumbent.

And if I say new and some of these were incumbents, I'm sorry. I just I don't know some of them. But I do know this one. Rex was an incumbent. So

as of today, those will be the new Batavia Township trustees. Moving on to Jackson Township trustees.

Joe Spegg

with 35.74%

of the vote and Robert Doyle with 23.36%

of the vote.

Those, as of today, will be the, Jackson Township trustees.

Ohio Township trustees, we have Scott Wolf with 33.03%

of the vote, and Joel Gilpin

with 27.22%

of the vote.

Next is Stone Lick Township

trustee,

Edward Cooper with 36.45%

of the vote, and Naomi Stahl with 28.5

15%

of the vote.

Washington township trustee,

Dennis Cooper with 44.05%

of the vote, and Robert

Laubach,

hope I pronounced that right, with 28.62%

of the vote.

Next is Williamsburg Township

for, township trustee Charlie Macklem

with 35.18%

of the vote and Gary Jordan with 33.93%

of the vote.

Next is the Bethel Tate Board of Education, Jason Bates with 26.78%

of the vote, William Shula with 26.04%

of the vote, and Branson Millahan

with 23.75%

of the vote.

Felicity Franklin, board of education, Joe Glassmire

with 31.73%

of the vote, and Shawana Dunaway,

Dunaway, I'm sorry, with 26.29%

of the vote.

The Little Miami Board of Education, Mandy Bullock with 33.33%

of the vote, and Dan Smith with 27.78%

of the vote.

We have the New Richmond Board of Education, Jonathan Zimmerman with 25.14%

of the vote, Amy Story with 22.64%

of the vote,

and Mindy Graser

with 22.02%

of the vote.

West Claremont Board of Education, Ryan Patton with 28.16%

of the vote, Jim Rudy with 24.81%

of the vote, and Michael Chumley

with 24.26%

of the vote.

And last but not least, Williamsburg Board of Education,

Samantha Cribbitt with 25.32%

of the vote, Jeff Cummins

with 20.92%

of the vote, and Melanie Shouse with 18.83%

of the vote. And like I said, those were the contested elections.

I didn't also read off everybody. Those are just the people that won, and those are the results as of Wednesday,

November 5. And if any of those change, I'll keep my eye on it,

and I'll be sure to update that in the next episode. But as of today,

those are all the new elected officials. Oh, at least the new elected officials from contested races. And, again, in the newsletter,

I will put a link to the board of elections results,

so you can check that yourself. And, honestly, if you just go to the board of elections website, you can find that yourself too. It's not that hard to do.

Okay. Let's move on to the ballot issues. First up, we have the mental health and recovery board levy. This was, if you remember, a renewal for alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services. It passed

with 58.33%

voting for the levy.

Next, child protection services protective services levy. This was a renewal plus an increase for children services care and placement. It failed

with 50.16%

voting against the levy.

City of Milford Charter revisions.

These were just revisions to the Milford's charter, kinda like the constitution of Milford.

It failed with 54.18

voting against the the revisions.

We have the Batavia Township zoning amendment. This was for the farmstead development.

It was to rezone approximately 119 acres of land located at 3648

State Route 222

at the northeastern corner of State Route 222 in Chapel Road, and it was gonna be rezoned from agricultural slash residential

to a planned development district. It failed

with 86.33%

of the votes in favor of keeping current zoning

the current zoning of agricultural

slash residential.

So that got that got really put down.

Batavia Township zoning resolution. This was to remove article 36 in,

the zone in the township zoning resolution, which allows a township to do planned developments.

It passed with 57.81%

of the votes, meaning planned developments

will no longer be a part of the township's zoning resolution.

Moving on, Ohio Township fire and EMS levy. This was an additional levy for, obviously, fire and EMS. It failed with 56.39%

of votes against it.

Pierce Township Police Levy, this was a new levy for police services or an additional levy for police services,

passed

with 55.48%

of the votes voting for it.

Wayne Township EMS levy. This was a replacement levy for, obviously, EMS services. It passed with 58.65%

of the votes.

Next is Wayne Township fire levy. This was a replacement levy for fire protection,

passed with 52.87%

of the votes for it.

Electric aggregation for Wayne Township. This was allowed the town this was going to allow the township to aggregate electric companies,

electric customers, and negotiate rates with suppliers.

It failed with 66.51%

of votes against.

New Richmond School District earned income tax. This failed with 66.62%

of the votes against.

And we're gonna have to keep our eye on this one.

If you recall from the last episode, New Richmond Schools were recently put on fiscal caution.

And if memory serves, and it should because I looked it up right before I started recording this, so I don't know why I said that. But,

I think this tax was supposed to be the main mechanism

to help them get out of their financial problems

and get out of this fiscal caution,

what would you call it, classification.

So we will keep our eye on New Richmond schools, and maybe we'll try to get somebody. And if you know somebody from New Richmond schools that would like to talk to me, that'd be great because, I think it'd be interesting to hear what's going on down there.

Actually, when we get to the news, there's a lot of stuff in New Richmond. I'd like to figure out what's going on.

But let's keep going on to the ballot issues here.

And this is the last one, at least the last levy issue. The CJ Fed Fire and EMS levy failed with 50.18%

of votes against it. So that was a pretty close one.

I'll tell you the

the electric aggregation. That was not a close one. That was funny too. I don't know if it's funny. Probably not funny, but,

people in,

people in Wayne Township really did not want to aggregate their electric bills for some reason.

I get that. I get it. Okay. Anyway,

moving on.

We have two boozy ballot decisions, and these are just,

questions on whether or not some places should be able to sell alcohol on Sundays.

We start with Goshen. And, man, I know I'm not gonna pronounce this right, but I'm gonna give it give it my best.

Ring call Kiana

group. Ring call Kiana group?

Yeah. We'll go with that. Anyway, it's a store located on 1415 State Route 28.

They will be able to sell wine, mixed beverages, and spiritist liquor on Sundays with 64.79%

of the votes voting yes.

And the last boozy ballot decision,

Union Township, the Wawa on 4630

Eicholts Road

will be able to sell wine and mixed beverages Sundays with 86.42%

voting

yes.

So

that is it. And, again, these are preliminary results. Some of them are probably a little more firm than others. I think that Loveland,

election was the closest. And, I mean, it was

crazy close. Like,

the point spread between the first place and last place was something like five points or something like that. It was very, very close.

So I imagine most of these results will stand. But on some of the close ones, we'll keep our eye on it. So and thank you again

to everyone that talked with me this year. And next year, we're gonna try to get even more people who are running or have issues on the ballot. Honestly, I just I was kinda one of these things this year where I thought, you know, that'd be fun. And then before you know it, I've got all these interviews and kinda run around my head cut off. So,

we'll try to have a little more structured next year if we can.

And we're going to try to do a ninety day check-in

with the newly elected candidates.

My mom always told me that it takes ninety days to get your footing with any new job. So we're gonna give them ninety days, and then we'll check-in. We'll see how it's going. You know, what ex what expectations were upheld, what expectations,

you know, were different, how they're working with other Canada, with other, officials, and things like that. So I think that'll be a fun thing to do, and that will probably,

what is it? January, February, but, like, March and April, something like that. We'll start doing that. So if you or anyone else has just been elected,

please get in in touch, and we'll try to get these set up in advance so I don't run into the the issue I had with election year,

with, you know, like, three episodes coming out a week. We might have to up the episodes for that, but but I think that'll be fun. And it'll be good just to keep hearing from these elected officials,

about what they're working on, and trying to expand,

into, you know, places like, you know, Union Township, you know, Wayne Township, New Richmond. I'd love to you'll hear in the news. I'd love to figure out what's going on. They're down by the river.

They've they've got some some stuff going on. So

with all of that said, let's talk about some news. Let's start with the county.

There is a new location for Veterans Village.

The commissioners approved a 15 acre location off of State Route 125

in Northern Monroe Township

for a development called Veterans Village that is meant to help local veterans who face homelessness

or housing instability.

Construction of the $9,700,000

development is expected to start in spring twenty twenty six and take about eighteen months to complete.

The plan calls for 19 fully furnished units. There'll be sixteen one bedrooms and three two bedrooms in a triplex quadplex

style building, plus

shared amenities like, community center with services, pickleball courts, gazebo, on-site management, and parking.

Units will be income subsidized using

HUD VASH project based vouchers,

addressing an estimated regional need of hundreds of thou of hundreds

of unhoused or precariously housed veterans.

So it's good news for, for some vets.

More veteran news. Opera from the county as a whole, Operation Greenlight for veterans.

Starting this Monday, Clermont County will illuminate county buildings green as part of Operation Greenlight for Veterans, a nationwide campaign to support military veterans. And here are the buildings in Batavia that will be let up. The heritage building slash veteran service commission at 76 South Riverside Drive, Administration Building at 101 East Main Street, court of common pleas at 270 East Main Street,

public defender's office at 302 East Main Street, and permit central, which is on 2270

Bauer Road. So get out there and check out the, the green buildings. That's that's a nice little

little campaign there.

Alright.

On to New Richmond. New Richmond is rapidly becoming my favorite place for news.

First up,

River Village Christmas will be on December 6,

and that's all they had. So if you have any more information on the River Village

Christmas, please let me know.

Also,

there might be some discolored water in New Richmond.

At first, you had that funky smell and now some discolored tap water.

So if you're in New Richmond, you may experience discolored water from your taps.

It's often caused by iron and or manganese,

which are naturally present in New Richmond's water source. It's been caused by hydrant flushing, and crews are working to resolve it, and there is no boil advisory. So as of now, nobody

seems to think it's it's a health risk, but

you might have some funny looking water.

Also, a council meeting reminder. The November council meeting will take place November 18

at 7PM.

We also have a a road closure, Robin Hill closure.

The bottom half of Robin Hill coming from Old 52

will be closed for culvert repair for the next few days.

Stay tuned.

And that's literally what it said on their website. So so stay tuned.

That's that's all we really that's all we have for New Richmond.

We need some boots on the ground reports from New Richmond.

So if we have any listeners in New Richmond, please write in and let us know what's going on with all the funky smells and weird colored water and Christmas river celebrations.

That that'd be great,

because

I'll tell you, I'd I get a kick out of it. I think it's funny. But I guess if you live into Richmond, you have funny looking water. It might not be that funny. So,

I'm sure everything will be fine. But let's keep moving.

Let's go to Loveland.

State Route 48 Slash 2nd Street will be closed to through traffic at the railroad crossing

from 11:10 at 9AM through 11:11

for railroad maintenance and repair.

Detour routes

will be posted.

And the last bit of news we have comes from Goshen.

Clermont County Public Health says cleanup has finally started at the seven acre illegal dump site on State Route 28 after seventeen years of court orders and court action. Crews will spend about three months removing

about

24,000

tons

of waste, like construction debris, tires, vehicles, and piles more than 20 feet high.

The work is being funded largely by a $2,500,000

Ohio Department of Development grant secured through the Clermont County Land Bank.

Health officials say the cleanup is needed to protect public health

and get rid of a long time eyesore. When finished, the land will go back to Goshen Township and can line up with nearby redevelopment

at Eagle's Nest. So, actually, before they do that, I might try to drive out there, and that seems like quite the sight. Piles of 20 feet high of garbage. That's crazy. But it's good news that they're cleaning it up. So good news for Goshen.

And that is all the news we have, and we have a producer to thank. Thank you to producer Karen Schwartz for a $55

donation.

She wanted to dedicate the donation to Batavia Township trustees,

fiscal officer, and staff, wishing all of Clermont County a safe and happy holiday

season,

which and I know, normally, you'd have to donate $200

to,

get your message read, but

I read that, and I thought I have an interesting idea.

So from now until January 1, we are running a half off donation special.

Producers that donate $25

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But we're gonna we're gonna run that special and see, see if anybody bites, so to speak.

And when I say short, I mean a well constructed sentence. So Karen's little note there is going to be the template. I'm not gonna read off a paragraph long sentence that because that, it just wouldn't be very fair for anybody that might donate $200 and above. But it's still a tight sentence

about what you're thankful for, wishing somebody happy holidays,

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donate today and take advantage of the half off special.

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Okay. That's all the value for value stuff we have. So let's talk about who we're talking to next Thursday.

It's gonna be Terry Casey, the owner of the Goshen Grind.

We talk a little bit about the mural

project part of America two fifteen murals that they were trying to raise money for when I interviewed him,

but they already got that done. And the ribbon cutting was yesterday.

So apologies to Terry for having to put this episode on the back burner while we did all the election interviews, But I'm really glad that they were able to get that mural done.

And, you know, if you want a cup of coffee and check it out, go go to the Goshen Grind.

But the mural isn't everything we talked about. And, actually, I think we only talked about it very briefly. We go pretty deep into coffee, and I think Terry would agree with me that he's a bit of a coffee nerd,

which is fun. I like coffee, and I honestly just like hearing passionate people talk about what they're passionate about. So I really enjoy talking to him about coffee. But we also talk about how they built the grind. He was originally from the West Coast. He moved here.

He found a building, started a coffee shop,

and I guess the rest is history.

But I really enjoyed the interview, and I enjoyed the coffee. It's really good coffee. So if you are in Goshen or even if you're not in Goshen, just go check it out. Really good coffee.

But today, we are talking with Steve Newman, the world walker.

And, again, like I said in the last episode, I didn't know anything about Steve until I interviewed the ladies at the Bethel Historical Society, which again is a fun episode.

And not to get too far off the path here, but

it is a really great museum. If you're ever in the Bethel area and the historical society is open,

go in there and check it out because those ladies do a really, really good job of curating all their exhibits. It's it's very impressive. So

check that out if you get a chance. But,

when we talk we're talking to Steve, and he grew up in Bethel

and literally decided to walk around the world. It was a childhood dream of his, but in the eighties, he actually did it. And there are some exceptions. Like, obviously, you can't walk across the ocean, and this was the eighties. So it's not like he's traipsing across the Soviet Union or Iran.

But

for the most part,

walked on foot around the world.

And like I said last week, I thought this would be a really good interview coming out of election season.

The this politics could we can really get people heated, and it can make us look at our neighbors and our our friends and family as if they're the enemy.

And it's it's really easy to forget that

we got it pretty good here. And there are lots of places that have it a heck of a lot worse than we do. It's also really too really easy to forget that the people are on balance,

pretty generous and and hospitable even even with huge ideological and cultural differences.

And I think it's really important to remind ourselves that we do live in a very special place that has some very exceptional people like Steve.

Steve grew up here, and he decided to make his home in Ripley. He probably could've lived anywhere in the world,

but there was something about this part of Ohio that made him want to come back. And we talk a little bit about that at the end of the interview.

I really enjoyed talking to Steve. I wanna thank Steve for sitting down with me and apologize to him too for having put this off for so long as we went got through the election season. But I really enjoyed it. If we get a chance, I would love to have Steve back on because he had other adventures than just walking around the world. And it's it's just really nice to have somebody with that perspective, you know, who has literally seen the whole world

and can can kinda put what we do here in Claremont

in a in a broader context. So,

alright, that's enough of me talking.

Let's get to the interview, and I hope you enjoy it.

So the way I start pretty much all of these is just tell us who you are and, I guess, what you did.

Alright.

Well,

you're talking to Steven m Newman

today,

and

I am, I think,

one of the only people to walk around the world,

solo. Solo. Alone. Yes.

All the way. So literally

walked around the world. Yes.

Well,

you can't walk across every bit of the world because of the oceans Yeah. And the rivers and stuff. But, I figured if I learn to walk on water, we this would be a much different interview.

I have too many sins to walk on water.

Me too. But,

but, but I walked as much as possible Mhmm. On land. And if you look at my route, it it goes around the world.

And I spent four years on the on the journey

and walked

over 15,000 miles between the towns and villages of the world there

and had a had a fantastic adventure.

I so I heard about you first when I was interviewing the ladies at the Bethel Historical Society, and I just I couldn't believe it. That's because you originally lived in Bethel. Right? Right. Raised in Bethel since,

well, I was born in Bethel. Mhmm.

Family family moved to Florida briefly Mhmm. To, Cape Canaveral where they launched the rockets

and then came back when when I was in the fourth grade. And so for the fourth grade

on, I lived in Bethel.

So it's definitely my hometown. Absolutely. So what what year was this that you decided

to walk across the world?

Well, I decided to walk across the world actually when I was a when I was a young boy in Bethel growing up and and hiking and fishing and hunting all the time.

I noticed how

how

how much is more you saw of people in nature

when you were walking

than with a car door between you and them. Yeah. And,

I decided as a as a elementary aged child to to take a walk around the world someday.

And, of course,

everybody thought I was the biggest fool there ever was.

The other kids would tease me and say stuff like, well, you can't speak the other languages. You don't know kung fu. You don't know kung fu. That was that was a stumbling block. How are you gonna make it around the world? How are you gonna how are you gonna defend yourself? How are you gonna pay for it? You're gonna need a million billion dollars. Yeah. And,

and and, you know, I did worry that I wouldn't be able to do it. But as I got older

and a little wiser,

I started studying maps,

topographical maps from around the world. I started,

figuring out what it would actually cost to get across many of these countries,

which which I discovered to my delight were were not that much bigger than Ohio's, many of the countries.

And, and and I figured out in the end, it's it's very possible. You can walk around the world or take us take a journey like that if you want to. If you got the will for it. If you got the will for it and the patience. Yes.

So how did you because I had lots of dreams when I was a young I was a boy in elementary school. You know,

typical dreams that you'd have as a as a young man or young child.

How did you

keep that dream alive, I guess? Like, how how did that how did it not become one of those things as an old man? You go, you know, as a kid, I wanted to do this. Well,

I tell you what kept it alive

was was,

the world itself, society.

There was so much going on back in the sixties and seventies when I was growing up as a young boy.

There was, of course, Vietnam.

There was a civil rights movement.

There was the riots.

There was a Russian American antagonism.

There was,

the the hunger in Africa.

It was a fascinating

chaotic world,

and it it intrigued me all the more. I've always had a natural curiosity.

And so the world itself helped keep that dream alive. And my dad,

my dad

had never

traveled outside of America,

very very little outside of Ohio for that matter.

And, he wanted me to to get to see the world someday, and so he would keep it alive in me and mention it up mention it every once in a while and and talk about it.

And

and,

I had a a best friend who was very adventurous,

was always getting us in trouble.

And and Everybody needs a best friend like that, I think. And

and

he he shared my love of fishing and hunting and and camping.

And so,

there were many things that kept the dream alive.

So what was the planning

like? I mean, what you said you sat down with maps, and did you card you know, sketch out your route? And Well well,

when I decided to actually do it for sure,

I was in Wyoming at the time. Okay. What were you doing out there? I was a reporter. Oh, okay. And I had just covered a triple homicide.

Okay.

And a man had murdered

his

wife

and and child

and,

and two children, in fact.

And

and I remember thinking to myself,

god. It just seems like so much is just go of this is going on in the world around us.

It seems like such a dangerous place anymore.

And I and I said to myself, you know what? I need to take that that walk I wanted to do as a child

and see if it really is that way, see it from the dirt up,

and, expose myself, be very explore it very intimately,

put myself in a situation where if it is a dangerous world, I'll know for sure. Yeah. And,

and so that's when I decided to do it for sure when I was a reporter.

Now at the time, I was,

oh, let's see,

probably

23 years old, 24 years old, just out of college

out of Ohio University. And and,

and so I spent

the next

around five years

preparing

for the walk around the world, and then that included looking at topographical maps from around the world, which which, by the way, Casper, Wyoming was a was a perfect place to do that Yeah. Because it's an energy capital. Yeah. And it has map topographical maps of all all parts of the world.

And

and I did a lot of camping out in the prairies and the deserts there and up in the mountains.

Just got used to being alone too by myself because I knew it would be a long, lonely journey Yeah. At times.

That's one of the things

learning to be alone is something people don't think about a lot, but it's Yeah. It's tough to do. That's that's the toughest part is dealing with the psychological or mental aspect of it. Yeah.

Because,

you your body can learn to overcome or deal with pain Mhmm.

As millions of people know,

and you can live with it. But but psychologically,

that can really eat at you and and undercut even the best of plans. Yeah.

So

you'd spent, you said, five years. Yeah. Around five years. And I'm assuming that, you know, like you said, you were camping and walking and making and it sounds like when we were talking earlier, you had a cross country background. So

Yes.

I had a a extensive background in running,

marathons

and,

and cross country and

and, in fact,

I'm in the

sports hall of fame for Carmont County and Oh, yeah? And, yeah, and and for Bethel.

Nice. And, our team went to the state one year, undefeated.

Unfortunately, we didn't win the state. But,

I I, I was I was in good shape. Let's put it that way. Yeah. And it had a lot of good training as far as the physical aspect goes. I imagine you can't just be sitting on the sofa for all your life and then pop up and go, I'm gonna walk around the world. No. No. No. This is just just not gonna happen. No. You you have been you have to have been building up to that Yeah. Physically and mentally. And and then there's also financially. Don't forget about that. It's gonna cost money to go around the world. And how much? Well, I didn't know. There was no guidebook for how to walk around the world. Right. And,

when I did my research, I found that there were as far as I could find, there were only two two brothers

who had tried to a similar journey and then back in the nineteen seventies, and one of them was shot by bandits and killed.

Where was that at? Afghanistan.

Oh, yeah. It's a dangerous place. Yes. And

and so,

I,

I figured on my own that it would probably cost around $25,000

That's not bad. To walk around the world. No.

I mean, that's not cheap. Yeah. But if you take cheap fare across the oceans, you know, take cargo ships and stuff like that.

And,

I,

so I had I all I had in the bank as a reporter

was $50.

It just wasn't gonna cut it. Yeah. Yeah. So what I did was I went out,

and, again, Casper was a perfect place for it. I went out and looked for jobs out in the energy field Yeah. On the on the drilling fields. Did you work on rigs? Yes. I worked on the rigs for three and a half years. Yeah. Yeah. As a as a roustabout.

USO. Okay. So I was down in,

Texas for a little bit. Yeah. And out in the Pennsylvania in the shale. Oh, sure. Sure. And I did,

mud logging. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I know. Then we got into geosteering too because now they have tools on the end of the bits that'll track the gamma Yep. And then you can tell the driller because it's all horizontal.

Yep. So, yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah. So I

did that for three and a half years and put away over $25,000,

and I figured, well, that Well, they worked you, didn't they? Yeah.

I did a lot of overtime. Yeah. A lot of,

oh, a lot of eighteen hour days. Yep. Yep. I think they worked us eighty eight hour weeks. Oh, yeah. That's seven days a week living on the rig. Exactly. Well, you know exactly what I went through then. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And that I mean, that alone is a is a study in isolation because you Yeah. You fall asleep at work, you wake up at work. Yep. And you're out on the and it's hard work. I mean, I was in a Yeah. In a trailer most of the day looking at rocks, but Yeah. Those roughnecks, man. That is I know.

Not a job for the faint of heart. No. It's not. But that was good, though, because they helped to build me up physically because I'm actually a skinny skinny type of person. Yeah. Or I used to be at least. Yeah.

And,

and I needed that extra muscle. Yeah. Well, lifting pipe up will do that for you. The pipes. Yes. The pipe. Every all that stuff. Everything was heavy. Yeah. Everything The mud did you the heavy The mud. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The drilling mud,

the hoses. Yeah. Oh, there was nothing light. The tools, the the tools, the tar Everything super exciting. Was was heavy.

But that was good for me. Yeah. It made me tough.

It I worked under every kind of condition out there that there is from a 110

above to to

90 below. Yeah. Or at least it seemed like that in North Dakota. Yeah. There was oh, man. There were times out on the rig where it'd be snowing and freezing. It'd be snowing. And then there's other times, like you said, it was 90 to like, a 110 degrees in Texas, and you got you have about all your Yep. FRCs on, like, big jumpsuits, and you're just Well,

it was it was it was a perfect training. It it really was for what I was gonna be doing.

Because,

walking around the world is

is, like,

90%

mental and 10% physical. Yeah. And but that physical is

is really the real tough type of physical work. Well, if your physical isn't up there, then the mental is gonna be Yeah. 10 times as hard.

Yeah. But I,

but I I

got through five years of of prepping and preparing and saving up the money and studying topographical

maps from all over the world.

And,

and

the the more the more I did it, the more I was convinced that that I could do this,

especially studying maps. When I looked at the topographical maps, you know, we're it was we're, like, one inch equals 10 miles. Oh, yeah.

I could see that

that most of the countries around the world were very

walkable. They were they weren't that much wider than Ohio. Yeah. And, and I knew I could walk across Ohio. Yeah.

What I worried about, though, was things like the the political aspects

Yeah. Wars.

Because this was also in the eighties. Right? So this is the Cold War was not over. Oh, the Cold War was at it was At a peak. At its peak. Yeah. And there were millions marching in in places like Europe against America

Mhmm. And and against Russia too. They were so afraid that The United States and The USSR were gonna were gonna have a a nuclear war and involve them.

And,

there was,

the the terrorism aspect too. Terrorists were very much active at that period. There were Americans being,

kidnapped in the Middle East and and executed.

There were cruise ships being taken over by terrorists,

bombing everywhere.

It was a it was a a if I may say so, it was a much more dangerous time than than right now. Yeah.

And Oh, when you've got two countries with, you know, tens of thousands of nuclear warheads pointed at each other.

And and within inches of launching them. Yeah.

But I,

I was patient, kept my kept kept my focus

on prepping.

And finally, I decided

in 1983

that it was time to take the journey.

And so I started my journey on 04/01/1983.

April Fool's Day? April Fool's Day. And the reason I did it on April Fool's Day was because

everyone had said I was a fool.

Everyone said I was crazy to try they

everyone said this could only lead to a nightmare, that that I would die for sure,

that that that the rest of the world hated Americans.

And,

but I had

a I had a suspicion, though, a feeling

that most people in the world weren't like what we thought Mhmm. Or or that the dangers were greatly exaggerated.

And,

but I didn't know for sure, but but this walk would tell me once and for all. Yeah.

So where did where did you actually start the walk? I started to walk on my on my

parents' front porch Okay. Which was on North Charity Street in Bethel. So you started out in Bethel and Yep. Headed out? Headed headed to the East, headed towards Williamsburg,

and

headed to the East. And, eventually, I made it to to Washington DC following US 50,

which which some of your listeners will know goes through,

Milford and and Fayetteville

and places like Chillicothe,

places like that. Yeah. 50, I found go go took me all the way to Washington, DC. So you can on I didn't even know that that if so if I drove on 50, I would eventually get to DC. Eventually ended up in DC. Okay. Or somewhere very close to it. And,

and then then from there, I headed north on foot.

Again, on foot. Headed north to,

to to Boston.

And I ended up walking through

some major metropolitan

areas like Baltimore,

New York City.

I in New York City, I I paused in Manhattan, stayed with a young writer there for a couple weeks, went out each evening on the subways,

explored the the different boroughs and neighborhoods,

like the Bronx, for instance.

And,

then after I had thoroughly explored Manhattan,

I walked on a,

through the Hudson River Valley and on up to Boston.

And from Boston,

I would fly

over to my first foreign country that I

that I'd ever been to,

and that was,

London.

And from London, I took a took a a, a bus and a ferry boat to to Ireland, to Dublin, Ireland. Mhmm. Dublin, Ireland was where I actually started walking again. I would see I would come back to London later, but on foot.

And and I ended up walking all of Ireland

and Northern Ireland. And Ireland, that was during the troubles. Right? That was during the troubles. Very good. You have a good memory. Oh, thank you. Yes.

Yeah. That was that was at at at the height of the troubles. Well, people, you know, they they think about terrorism, and they think Middle East or third world countries, and they don't realize that Ireland during that time was very, very dangerous. Yeah. I mean, I ended up walking across,

probably five regions of the world where they were having wars. Really?

And and Northern Ireland was the first of them.

And it it was kinda culture shock for me as an American

to,

to

walk down the street and walk past machine gun nests Yeah. And tanks

and soldiers that were nervous

and, had

automatic rifles.

And,

and while I was there,

I can remember

I had a big pack on my back, and I can remember as I walked across Northern Ireland,

the,

and and Ireland itself too.

I was always being checked out just to make sure I wasn't a terrorist. Yeah. Yeah. And so so I was always Imagine some guy walking through a, you know, essentially, it's a war zone with a big backpack. Big backpack. Yeah. And seemingly

seemingly unafraid to go Right. To any neighborhood.

And, You probably stick out. Yeah. I really stuck out. And and so,

I had my first encounter with, an Apache helicopter that that,

flew that flew right beside me and with a machine gun pointing at me. In Ireland? Yes. In Northern Ireland. Really? I had to walk around a village where they were defusing a bomb in a children's playground. Oh, man. And as I walked around the village, I had to go up to the mountains.

And on the side of one of the mountains, I was there by my trail self on a trail, and Apache helicopter rose out of the valley and came came to check me out. I mean, just

just a few yards away from me with this machine gun pointing right at me. And what was that like? I bet. Oh, that was

scary. Did you have to change your pants?

Yeah. Yeah. I probably would've. Oh,

you you know,

I can remember,

for instance, when I was in Northern Ireland,

I was invited.

Someone came and told me that the mayor wanted to meet me. He had heard that I was walking around the world,

and it was a journalist. Mhmm. And that the mayor of this town

wanted wanted to see I think it was Larn, l a r n e. Mhmm. And,

and so I went to see the lord mayor, and I I took my dirty laundry out of my backpack and stuck it on a windowsill downstairs

outside

in a white sack with a white white string. I remember going up to see the lord mayor.

And while we were talking,

the doorman the old doorman from downstairs came running up and said, lord mayor,

there there's a bomb downstairs on the window.

We've got to evacuate the building.

And at first, it didn't occur to me that it was my laundry. Yeah. Yeah. You know? But then it did after a few minutes. And I was so embarrassed. I had to go down there, and I had to tell the bomb squad that it's not a bomb. Just my laundry.

Yeah. And I remember the mayor the mayor when the doorman came upstairs,

the lord mayor looked at me and said,

oh, don't worry. This happens all the time around here. And here, he just spent spent half an hour, forty five minutes trying to tell me how safe it actually was Yeah. Out of town.

Yeah.

And I

I couldn't imagine what that would be like. Oh. Living in a country that just is torn apart. Well, you know what? That's the that's the sort of thing I wanted to to,

see. Mhmm. That's why I walked. Because I wanted to see that the everyday people, their their lives

what their lives are like from day to day in under their particular government or or

or economic situation

or or whatever or war. Yeah. And, and what I discovered

by staying with several Amish families

not Amish. Irish. Yeah. Several Irish families

was that,

they they were used to it. Yeah. I mean, I had I remember staying with a 89 year old lady,

who talked about bombs going off in their neighborhood,

as calmly as you and I would talk about,

a fire truck going to a going to a local fire in a bar in a barn or something.

They

they they just came to accept it. I found I found early on, especially in Ireland, in Northern Northern Ireland, I found that the human

being is a very,

well, she can adjust it just about Adaptable. Adaptable. That's the word I'm looking for. Yeah. Is it a very adaptable,

creature? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you think about all the you know, we talked about the cold war a little bit, and people

at least this is the way I think of it. It's like people think that it it was a and it is because it's nuclear warheads,

but that core

emotion of fear,

that's something that humans have felt for. That's the way you'd feel if the Mongols were outside Yes. The gates. Exactly. No. It's that same fear that everybody feels. I

speaking of fear, you you bring up an interesting point. That was

sometimes people ask me, what was one of the most prevalent things you've you saw or noticed in humans around the world?

And I have to say that up there ranking in the top two was fear. Yeah.

I I I walked across several countries where fear was used by the government

to intimidate and control the population.

I found that being a dictator was one of the actually,

if you if you know how to do it, being a dictator is one of the easiest things in the world. Yeah. All you have to do is is

is threaten to take away people's livelihood or their freedom or their

or especially their children Yeah. Which which I

saw very common.

And people fall right in line. Yeah.

And and, they don't want to. They they despise it. They hate it. But if your kids are on the line But if your kids are on the line,

you really have little choice. Yeah. And I I imagine it's an incremental thing too. It's not like suddenly you wake up and there's a dictator.

No. No. No. No.

See, the places I as I walked around the world, the places I was visiting had been there. People had been there for thousands of years.

These these were situations

that they had had for a long time or had take taken the,

centuries to build up to. Yeah. And and,

and once in power,

those who would abuse it,

didn't didn't hesitate to abuse it. Yeah.

I I met people who had been tortured.

I I met

people who took me to mass graves,

where where people from an earlier conflict were buried. I mean, it was no secret. Yeah. It it was a mass grave.

And,

I mean,

fear was everywhere. Yeah. And and, especially,

I had to deal with it a lot because,

people were constantly telling me, you know, if you go this way, the the gypsies are gonna cut your head off at night. If you go this way,

such and such is gonna rob you and and torture you. Yeah. If you go this way, there's a war going on. Yeah. And I constantly

looked over my shoulders. Yeah. I it got to the point where I,

in a sense,

grew eyes in the back of my head. You'd almost have to. Yeah. I was constantly

alert. Always alert. I guess you couldn't even they probably wouldn't let you be too armed to go in. Or if you would, that caused a problem. That's

I don't know if that's good or bad, but but but,

one thing that I had to deal with was the fact that I was not allowed to carry any kind of weapons. I was gonna say, like Yeah. You know, they probably they almost would probably be bad for you if you were caught with a rifle in some of the I do remember, though, in North Africa when I was crossing,

to Morocco and Algeria,

especially,

which was,

Is Algeria under French rule at the time? They No. They had just they had they had not long before

free freed themselves from the French Okay. After a horrible, horrible Yeah. Like, twenty twenty five year long,

war.

And,

oh, that's where I was taking the mass graves, for instance.

And

and I do remember,

somebody giving me a

a fake pistol.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like a starter pistol. Yeah. Like a starter pistol. It's a carry.

And I do remember the police finding it on me at one point, but they let me go because it wasn't a real pistol. Right. Yeah. But,

but it just it just

seemed that fear

was as common among the world as as,

as anything. Right. And I think people, especially people who live in America, they don't

they don't understand that thousand years of

I mean, it's

We we like a thousand years of kings and dictators, and it's just the way people live.

So much of the world that I walked across

had formerly been part of a empire. Yeah.

And had had been conquered at one time or another by Probably all the way back to Greece at at certain point. Exactly. Yeah. And,

and the the people,

I mean, talked about it

as normally as we talk about, you know, dinner Yeah. Or or reading the newspaper or watching TV.

And,

and I got to thinking, you know, how

incredibly

good Americans have it. Oh, yeah. I mean, they had

I mean I mean,

we have no idea

in America.

Most people have no idea

just how how incredibly,

I I use the word loosely blessed we are. Yeah.

You know?

I for take for instance that our house right now, we're in my home. Mhmm. And we're up on the side of a hill in the middle of 25 acres with a view Yeah. And and privacy

that is just

absolute.

Right. And I remember somebody from East Germany coming to visit me, and he asked me, are you rich?

And I said, why do you say that? He said, because to be to have this kind of privacy and this kind of beauty

and scenery

in in Europe, you have to be rich. Yeah. Yeah. Or especially in East Germany. Yeah. Especially in East Germany. Yeah. It says to be rich. And yet and yet,

this is very common Yeah. In our country along with the the peace

and the,

the hope Yeah. And

kindness.

We just take it for granted. Yeah. I mean, it's in most countries, I I think most countries,

go into the grocery. If you have a grocery store

is a

That's I mean, that's a serious thing. You're exactly right. If you if you have a grocery store Yeah. I can remember going to

a super marche

or or what we call a grocery store

in Algeria Mhmm. Which was under,

semi communist rule

and, and what had all kinds of fighting going on. And,

I can remember,

going to what they call the supermarket,

and there was one long

row aisle of

olive oils,

one long aisle of

bread,

one long aisle of sardines.

I hope you wanted a olive oil sardine sandwich. That was it. You were set. That was it. Yeah. You didn't have much choice of what you were gonna eat that night. Yeah.

So, so you came in, to Europe in

England. Yes. And then you went to Ireland. And where did you started started walking? And then where did you go after Ireland?

Well, I I I went from Ireland,

north to Northern Ireland Mhmm. And,

and eventually crossed by ferry boat over to Scotland to Western Scotland. How'd you like Scotland? I think you were talking early about Scotland. Love Scotland. Love Scotland.

It's so peaceful,

so green. I couldn't understand a word anybody said. Stop.

Especially after a couple years ago. To what I said what I went through then. I had to I had to have everybody repeat what they said. Oh, man. And, Did you start picking the accent up too? Because I went over there with a group of guys, and, eventually, we all kinda started having a Scotch accent. Oh, you you pick it up. Yeah. You can't help it. It's so catchy and so charming. Yeah. And,

and I can remember exam for example, staying with a constable,

for a couple days, and his his police post, his station was in his house. What? Yeah. And I can remember us sitting around,

in the living room drinking tea, and he would ask me about the American cops Mhmm. That he'd seen on TVs the TV shows.

You know? And,

and he'd say he'd say, is it true that the

that the coup coupes

in America

carry big goons

and have loud sirens?

I don't know. You

know? And just I think that really blows people's minds, especially in in Great Britain that our cops are armed. Oh, with shotguns. Oh, yeah. Big big cars. I think the fact that people just own guns blows their mind. It does. And he and he

I I looked at him, and I said, well, don't you have a gun?

Don't Don't you carry a gun? You've been the constable here for twenty six years. Yeah. I said, surely, you've had you have a weapon. And he goes, no. Well, he says, actually, the only weapon I have had for twenty six years is is a copper.

He said,

is

is is a truncheon

truncheon. Like a Billy Club. Like a Billy Club. Yeah. And I said, that's it?

That's all you've ever had?

He said, yeah. And he said, I've I've never had to use it once.

And I said,

oh my god. And he goes he he goes, and I hope I never have to use it because I have a ton of paperwork to fill out.

Oh, that would probably be a nightmare, filling out paperwork on a really club. I said, well, surely, you've had crime in this little village. It was a little village of about

about three or 4,000 people. Yeah. I said, surely, you've had crime here. He said, well, funny you should mention that. He said, just just a few weeks ago, the local lads,

played a prank on me. They took me me police car, which was a tiny little thing barely bigger than the standing room table we're sitting at. Uh-huh. You know? He said, they they they went they took my car and lifted it up off the ground and turned it upside down.

You wouldn't wanna do that to a police officer in America. That would get you in a lot of trouble. Oh, that gets you in big trouble.

He said he said I had to I had to go in the pub, he said, and make make the lines go back out and put it upright.

And and That's really funny. You know, it it's funny you hear about stories like that, and it brings to mind

I don't know why it brings to my mind, but, like, Tolkien and the Hobbit and how he modeled

hobbits off of kind of country folk in Yeah. England and Scotland and things like that.

So it's it's interesting to hear, like, just good natured stories like Well, see, I still see, those those are the kind of people, like, the constable.

You know? Those are the kind of people that that I was

that I was looking for. Yeah. That's why I walked around the world. Because when you're walking, you're so vulnerable. You're so accessible.

Anyone can come up to you, even someone who is who is has no legs. Yeah. They can wheel their wheelchair up to you and and talk to you. Everybody can rich and poor,

battery bad or good, can talk to you

and and hopefully invite you home. Yeah. Well, I was about to ask you because it seems like you've stayed in a couple different places. I'm assuming you didn't plan that out. Did you just No. I had I had no no,

stops preplanned

before I took off on my walk around the world. I had no

no one to stay with.

There there was a couple in Australia

that had moved there from from Bethel,

and and I plan to visit them and stay with them. I may have let them know I was coming their way, but I wouldn't be there for a few few years. Yeah. Yeah. But,

but, no, everything was

was

spontaneous

in the moment, so to speak.

Each day, I had no idea how far I was gonna get down the road. I might get one mile. I might get 15 miles,

depending on who I met and if they invited me to stay with their family.

And,

nothing was pre was was

scheduled or planned.

Well, it's it's nice to hear that too because, you know, we talked about fear and and how some places were dangerous, but then you get that other side of the coin where you see the good parts of humanity. Oh, you have no idea, Patrick.

You have

you have no idea. I mean, just to have some some crazy guy from America who's walking around. Well, they come still with me. How good how good

good people are. Yeah.

No. I

I I really doubt

that very many people know how much love is truly out there and how much kindness is truly out there.

I probably stayed with over 400 families during that four years I was gone. You still talk to any of them?

Not anymore because

thirty, forty years have passed by now, and a lot of them have passed away, have passed on. Sure.

And

some have I have learned that some in the years since have have

moved on to other places and become, you know, swallowed up by humanity. No one knows where they are

or have become divorced,

or

or or sick.

You know?

And

the world doesn't stay still. Life doesn't stay still. It's constantly changing and evolving.

And, but for a long time, though, I did stay in touch with with several of the people. And,

but,

he all I did was

all I did was I just simply walked

into an area

and

didn't tell

anybody,

for the most part, who I was or what I was doing. They they all knew I was an American. Yeah. I don't know how they know it.

Somehow they do. They always know you're an American. Yeah. Maybe it's a naive look on on my face. Just optimism. Yeah. Just optimism. Yeah. Yeah. The spunkiness in my step or whatever.

But,

I could've stayed with a lot more families

in those four years, but I but I

would never get home. Yeah. I mean, there were some times when people just wouldn't even let me go. They they they were so kind, and I'd have to be a little bit rude,

you know, to to to let them let me go. Yeah. And,

and and,

I mean,

I I read recently about a guy. I don't know if it's true or not because you don't know what to believe anymore on the Internet. There's so much stuff that's made up. You can you can find anything you wanna find on the Internet. Exactly. But I someone

emailed me a story about someone

from Chile

who's been walking around the world for twenty seven years.

And Twenty seven years. Yeah. Which makes me a little bit skeptical

about that. Well, give him the benefit of the doubt, I guess. Yeah. But,

but, I mean, my goodness gracious.

He must must must be working as he goes along or

but but, anyhow,

I found that a lot of the world, especially in Europe and North Africa,

that they they are used to the lone,

pilgrim or the lone wanderer

ever since the Like Canterbury Tales or something. Exactly.

So, like, since since the middle ages Yeah. When the the monks used to wander all over Europe

and would live from day to day from from the the hospitality

of the people. Yeah.

That's still

still alive. Is it real? It hasn't died entirely. There's still still people out there that

that,

wander around the face of the earth like the monks used to. Yeah. And

somehow people still take care of them. Yeah. It's a part of their culture.

They feel obliged to leave out food for that person Yeah. Or to give them a place to sleep at night. It's It's a shame we didn't get more of that in The United States. Oh, it's fine.

It'll be alright. It's a it's a rough podcast. It adds more flavor to it.

The I know the question I wanted to ask you.

As you got more into Europe, because that that was a a hot spot in the cold war. What was the feeling like in Europe as you were just going around? Very, very good question, and some great stories came out of that. Now now keep in mind that I I was a journalist. Mhmm. And this was actually

actually, for me, this was a journalistic project as much as anything. Sure.

I wanted to find good stories.

I wanted to to to

ask the world a lot of questions and see it up close. Yeah.

And,

so

and this is Uh-huh.

So I,

oh, I said I lost track. What did I say? Oh, that's alright. I just asked you about, the feeling in Europe during the Cold War. Oh, the feeling. Yeah.

Yeah, keep in mind that I was a journalist,

And so,

I was always asking a lot of questions and watching closely how people reacted

and how they lived and what they said.

And,

I found that

that

in in Europe,

there was there was

some anti Americanism.

Mhmm. Still is, I imagine. There's oh. Not everybody likes Americans. I always will be. Yeah. When you're number one on the block Yeah. Everybody trying to take you down. Yeah. Yeah.

Everybody's complaining about you. Yeah. And and it was true then too.

But I found that once you got

into people's homes and one on one with them inside their homes,

the the that most people, 90% of people in Europe,

had had a great respect

for the Americans. Mhmm. And Well, this is also only about forty years from World War two. Yes. And That's probably still in living memory. Well, you're you're reading my mind because I was actually gonna I was actually working my way to France. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I don't mean to jump the gun on.

And

I found that in rural France,

the the people in the little villages and towns

still remembered the Americans

coming over and and

fighting and dying

and chasing the Nazis out of their country. Yeah. And

they were

so grateful for that.

They didn't say it. They'd go around saying it out loud, but inside, they were so grateful. Yeah. And and

people fed me all the time

and talked

about when the Americans came over

and and,

even even the grandchildren of the those who were alive during World War two,

still

remember their grand their grandparents

talking all the time about the Americans and in such such optimistic

and positive,

tones. Mhmm. They love the Americans. They love the American soldiers. Yeah. They were they were a breath of fresh air. They were happy go lucky Yeah.

Fellas

and who made them smile and who danced and played music and

and,

and got the job done, so to speak. Yeah. And

and they

they they had nothing but good stuff to say about Americans. I've heard that about rural France's Yeah. Rural France. I've even heard, like, to this day. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.

When I was walking through Normandy,

one one morning, it was raining.

And,

I

I came to a little village called Gavre. Mhmm.

And,

and there was a stone building a stone building in the middle of the village,

that I darted into to get out of the rain. Well, it turns out it was the mayor's office. Yeah.

La Marie,

they called it. And

and and I was standing there dripping wet with a big pack on my back, and,

and the secretary who was probably about

55,

60 years old, quite quite

stout. Mhmm. Looked up from her paperwork and

immediately

took a deep breath and went,

And I went,

I said,

And she said she said and and I and I asked her. I said, how do you how'd you know I was American?

And she she got up and came to me and grabbed me and pulled me over to this wall where there were pictures of the village during the war. You could see it had been totally destroyed. Yeah. And,

and,

then she she motioned for me to stay. Don't don't go anywhere. And she ran off, and and you could hear her clumping across the town square Mhmm. And off into the distance into the rain. And when she came back, she was sopping wet, but she had something that she was hiding behind her back. And she started marching back and forth across the office floor.

They're going.

And she's she'd wave an imaginary little flag, and she'd yell out, hooray, Yankees. Hooray, Yankees. She was imitating what she had seen as a as a little girl

back then during the World War. Yeah. And

and

finally, she stopped in front of me,

and

she took her left hand, which was hidden behind her back. She took it out from behind her back and lifted it up to me. And there in the cradle of her palm was a candy bar.

Well, did did a GI give that to me? You know that. Yes. Very smart. Very good. You were taught well. Oh, thank you.

Yes. Because chocolate was a I mean, she Yes. Didn't get chocolate 34.

Exactly. Yeah. And and and she was paying back to me

that candy bar that an American soldier

had given to her Yeah. On that that morning. And it probably was raining just like that morning, and it a soldier was probably dripping wet like me and had a big pack on his back Yeah. And sunburnt sunburnt cheeks, you know, and the blondish red hair. Yeah. And and when I took the candy bar,

she suddenly started crying.

And she she cried so hard that she buried her face into my leather jacket

and sobbed for several minutes. Yeah. And and I tell you, it was all I could do not to cry myself. Yeah. And

and

after all these years,

she she was

still remembering

so vividly, so emotionally

that moment when she had been freed again,

and she'd been just a little girl then.

And, and

and that it was encounters like that that made the walk around the world

special, not not just another journey. Yeah. You know? But a special journey. A unique journey. A different journey. Well, that's, I think another thing that Americans,

especially today,

the last war that was on our soil was the civil war. Yes. And we've got this wonderful moat around us, and we're a pretty secure country.

It's almost impossible to imagine what something like even World War one or World War two

did to that continent and did to those people. And, it just emotions

It was just just this thing. In the American Civil War,

hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their lives. Yeah. Men and boys

lost their lives

between the North and the South.

Hundreds and hundreds of thousands. In Europe,

tens of millions. Yeah. I mean, you look at Russia alone, it was 6,000,000.

Yes. Exactly. I mean, it's incredible. Yeah. Well, you well, you know your history well. Well, thank you. Man.

It's amazing. I've I've never met an interviewer that that knew their history like you. Oh, I I I just like learning stuff. I I know a bunch of weird things. That's not weird to know that. But

Well,

but it makes you appreciate the little things like that. Knowing things like

that make you appreciate all the more Yeah. Like, what people went through. I've heard even from, like, World War one. I've heard there's places in Europe

that you still don't wanna go from World War one because there's still unexploded ordnance. Oh, yeah. Every day every day, even today as you and I speak, they're still uncovering unexploded

ordnance

ordnance,

or bombs Yeah. You know, in places like like Germany Yeah. And Italy. And people don't

I don't even like, especially I I for some reason, I just like World War one. It's an interesting war, and people don't talk about it a lot.

But

the magnitude

of ordinance that was that was shot at each side was I don't know if there was another one like it. Oh, oh,

I'm so glad to hear that because I never hear that from anybody. The amount of ordinance shot

towards the enemies in the is in the millions. Yeah. And they Can you imagine describe it like waves of Earth. Oh my god. Could you imagine that? And then the whistle goes, and you're over the top. Like,

I,

after I walked around the world,

I went on other walking adventures,

explored other parts of the world that I hadn't been to. One of them being Okinawa.

Oh.

And when I read in the museum there in Okinawa how many,

shells

the the the US Navy fired at the Japanese,

it was in the millions. When you talk about adaptability and resilience, there were still Japanese soldiers there just dug in, and they'd rained all kinds of Oh my god. And and but that was true in Europe too as you mentioned. And and,

and

and I,

well, let me let me

We kinda got Let me show you now. Let me show you how it affected me.

After I left that village, Cabaret, and that sec secretary,

and I walked further out to the countryside there in Normandy.

It was so beautiful

and,

and wet and quiet

and drizzling.

And I came to this field

that was so green, it hurts your eyes. Yeah. And stretching across it for as far as you could see

for seemingly miles

or white marble crosses. Oh. What it was and stars of David. Yeah. And what it was was an American war cemetery that we don't even talk about. Yeah. You never read about. You never hear about. Yeah. It was it was it it's called Saint James. Okay. And it's just out there in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. And probably 99.9999%

of Americans will never ever hear about Saint James during their lifetime. It's the first time I've heard about it. And and,

and and and

I couldn't help it but walk out there through the mist in into the cemetery.

As I walked among those crosses and stars of David,

I came to a

a a man by himself. He was in a dark overcoat,

and I assumed,

at first, that he was a Frenchman

Mhmm. Because of the way he was dressed.

And,

I came up behind him, and he was he and I were all alone

in in all that quietness. And he he suddenly heard my feet moving through the grass, and he turned around. And when he spoke to me, he had a southern accent. He was American. Oh, no kidding. He was from Alabama as it turned out.

And and I asked him

what he was doing, and

he said he was there to visit his brother.

Oh, man.

And and and

it it hit me with like a sledgehammer.

Yeah. You know? Because

this man from Alabama said to me said, you know, he he went away. My brother went away to fight

in in France

and never came home. Yeah. And I wanted him to know

that

That we haven't forgot him. Yeah.

I'm that man

to make that journey too.

And I,

I walked away

thinking about what

what that mother must have gone through.

I had never really

thought so hard

and so deeply about what it meant to be

an American going off to war.

And it was it as I left that cemetery,

I realized

we are a special people.

Here's a race of people who live far away from the rest of the world,

isolated almost

here on the North American continent,

and yet we're willing to go and die so that other people could be free.

I realized that

that I need to stand taller.

I need to

to be more positive

that being an American

is truly, truly something special.

And as I walked further across France,

I think people saw that in me. They saw me walking taller,

straighter.

They saw the

the hope and the the

the the pride, so to speak, in my eyes.

And I think that's one reason why

so many

reached out to me,

e even though they might have scorned or avoided an American tourist.

They saw something different in me, and and the reason they saw something different in me was because of what I'd seen back there in Gabourey in Saint James.

Those are the kind of encounters,

the kind of moments

that

you can only have when you're by yourself and when you're so intimate with the world. And that's that's what made the world walk

so important.

Yeah.

I mean

And, of course of course, I wrote about those those experiences.

I had over a million people across America reading my stories

and,

every two weeks.

And

and so,

hopefully,

I was able to share with with a lot of Americans,

you know, the the magic, so to speak, that I found out there. Well, it's good to I think as Americans, it's good to because, you know, like you said, when you're number one, everybody

kinda takes potshots at you. But as Americans too, I think we can be disparaging of ourselves. But

like you said, it's an exceptional place. I mean, there's no other place on the world like this.

No. And and we've done incredible things as a nation. We have done a good you know, sometimes you don't really realize

what you have Yeah.

Until you go away and can't have it anymore Yeah. Or can't have it for a long time.

Was it absence makes the Absence makes the heart flounder. Yes. Yes. And this is a perfect example.

And it happened so many times on my walk around the world.

And and these people I stayed with, we were total strangers to

to each other

when we met. Mhmm. But but many many were was the time

were the times

when I left the family

after

several days or a week or two and continued my journey. And I went around the next bend in the road, and I started crying. Yeah. Because it was like leaving my own family again. Yeah.

And,

I It's a special thing to share your home, especially with a stranger. Oh, oh my god. To be so trusting. Yeah. Yes. Exactly.

And

and and, I mean, a total stranger. You don't you've never met him before. Yeah. You probably will never meet him again. And,

I learned

from my walk around the world to to be more compassionate

towards towards other people,

to be more understanding,

to be more patient. Mhmm.

There's two sides to every story.

And,

and

the world showed me that,

it's important

to

not just

talk with the world, but to listen to the world. Yeah.

Well, that's also a lesson. I think it scales. Right? That's

it it can be in your homes, like, with your wife or your children. It's like there's two sides to everything. You know? Exactly. That I mean, that's a lesson that you can take out from a broad

perspective like yours and really distill it down to yourself and and incorporate that in your everyday life.

Exactly.

I,

I I actually feel that that walking around the world

was a whole another life. Yeah. Like, I've been very blessed. I've gotten to live in a sense two lives.

And and,

and I I don't regret at all walking around the world,

eve even though there were times of loneliness,

times of of fright

when I was scared. You know, I was almost killed at one point. I wanted to ask you about that because I'd heard Yeah. Well, actually, before you talk about that, can we talk because you had to take a did you take a plane into Moscow? Yeah. Because I'd love to hear about your experience of the Soviet Union. Great story.

Unfortunately,

alas, politics kept me from going some places that I wanted to go.

One of those places being the USSR. Mhmm.

I imagine they were very skeptical over the marriage Yes. With the big banks. Yes. And and and I couldn't let

a lot of places I went,

I couldn't let the, the officials, the police, or the government people know that I was a journalist. Mhmm. I had to keep that a secret.

Otherwise, they wouldn't let me in. Right.

And, Well, I'm sure it's not a a long

a long walk from journalist to undercover spy. Exactly.

Boy, boy, are you smart?

Man, you know, you should've walked around the world. I'm not I don't have the build for it. Man, I tell you what. It's a lot of people don't realize that. Well, I mean, that's how espionage works. Right? I mean, you have embassies, the state officials, and then they have assets out in the field. I mean, many was many were the times that I was hauled off to a police post or an army post and interrogated for hours. Yeah.

Sometimes very roughly, sometimes physically. Well, if you think about it, journalist is a great cover for a spy. I mean, you go in and, like, oh, I'm just reporting the news, and you meet tons of people. And They would look at they they would look at the officials

would look at my my notebooks

and

or or or my notes, and they would wanna know why I was writing down so much stuff.

Why was I going to the local post offices and mailing

mailing so many

things to America,

you know, film and stories. Yeah. Everything was written longhand. This is before

the cell phone and and

iPads and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. I had to write everything out. I think I saw your journal at the Bethel Museum and the writings. Yes. Yes.

So I could get all four years into one one notebook.

But,

any anyhow, I forget what I was gonna say now. But,

but, yeah,

I

had constantly

I was constantly under surveying surveillance.

And I remember

when I

reached the end of Turkey,

to the Iranian border there,

I couldn't continue onward because Iran at the time,

very much like today,

was,

a supposed enemy Yeah. Of The United States. When when was the hostage?

I I,

not too long before that. Okay.

So that was still, like, fresh and That was very fresh. Very fresh. And America was still the, quote, unquote, great Satan. Yeah. Yeah. And,

and so I had no choice.

I had to fly around later on. I couldn't walk around later on Yeah. Because to the north was the Soviet Union, the the soft underbelly of the Soviet Union Mhmm. Where they have all their military. I couldn't go that way. And I couldn't go to the South because there you have there was a war going on between Iran and Iraq Yeah. Yeah. And Iraq and a horrible war.

And,

so I had to fly over Iran and Afghanistan,

which was also,

fighting at the time with the Russians,

and, and they would allow me in. Oh, I didn't even think about that. That was right at the time when Russia invaded Afghanistan. Yeah.

And,

and so,

I remember

hitchhiking

all the way back to to Greece.

And From From from from from the eastern border of, Turkey and Iran. From the border of Iran and Turkey. That's a far way to Asia. Thousand miles I had to hitchhike back,

to to Greece. I'd already walked across Greece Yeah. Months earlier, but now I had to go back there because it's because I need to catch a flight, an airplane

around,

Afghanistan and Iran.

And

I remember,

I've the plane I flew on, the jet I flew on

was going to Moscow

and then from Moscow

to Pakistan.

And

and and,

as I was flying from Greece to to

Moscow,

I was the only person on this

jet airliner. And it was, like, the size of a seven thirty seven. Yeah. Yeah. And I was the only passenger.

And,

and I remember the the

the stewardesses

trying to sell me all these cheap cheap trinkets and stuff. They wanted to any American dollars I had on me. Yeah. And,

I wouldn't buy any of it. I wouldn't fall for it. And they were so insulted that when it came time to feed me, they gave me a baloney sandwich

and and a glass of water.

That's funny. That's funny too that the plane was empty because I can't imagine there's a lot of people knocking down the door to get into the Soviet Union. Well, you see, the way that the I I figure I guess the way it worked back then was because it was it was communist Yeah.

Was everything is has a schedule, and it has to be followed. It has to be inflexible. Yeah.

And I guess every everything

that flew anywhere

on a Moscow airliner had the first stop in Moscow.

Oh.

For whatever reason Yeah. That's just how you had to do it. The way it was. Yeah. Yeah. And

and,

when I landed in Moscow, I wasn't allowed to leave the airport.

So I I ended up staying there overnight sleeping on the floor and then flying,

on another jet Russian jet to Pakistan.

And, but but the

the oh, the airport was very modern. Yeah. Very I mean, were they skeptical about you? I imagine they wouldn't let you leave the airport. No. They wouldn't let me leave the airport. Yeah. No. Not at all. And, I had to stay there. I didn't for starters, I didn't,

I don't think I had a visa. I'm not sure I had a visa to so, you know, if I did, it was a temporary one. Yeah. Yeah. It was just for a few days. They probably wanted you out as quick as possible. They probably wanted me out as quickly as possible.

And,

and and,

I I remember,

flying flying,

down to Pakistan and and getting off the airliner there.

And, but on the way to Pakistan,

the jet from Moscow stopped in Afghanistan.

Really? Yes. It had a it was carrying Russian soldiers. Oh, sure. Okay. All these soldiers.

And so so

on the way to Moscow, in other words, I was the only person on the plane besides the stewardesses.

And but on the way to Pakistan,

I was crowded in with all these soldiers. Did you talk to any of them, or was it I mean, did you even lecture? Actually actually, I knew Russian. Oh, you did? Yes. I I had had two and a half years of Russian language training. Oh, that must be the Cyrillic.

Yeah. Man, I don't know how you did that. When I was at Ohio University. Oh, okay. I was about the only person in the program.

I can imagine. My my professor who was from Russia wanted me to go to Russia. Yeah. Yeah. He see he said I was very good, and he wanted me to go to Russia.

But, but I didn't.

Anyhow so, yeah, I did chaos of conversations and was able to make myself understood, and I understood some of what they were saying.

So that was kind of an interesting time too. I remember all the soldiers with their trench coats and their their long rifles

and the machine guns and everything. But,

anyhow,

anyhow, I ended up in Pakistan

and,

in Southern Pakistan

in,

I think Karachi. Yeah. Karachi.

And but I wanted to go back

to the north, to the Himalayas, to the Afghan border, and resume my walking there Yeah. Which which would make sense.

And,

and so I took a train the length of Pakistan

all the way up to to the Himalayas,

and it was an old fashioned

train with a smokestack.

Oh, really? Like, like, coal. You have a coal coal fed Really? And everything and and

wooden wooden car cars, a caboose and stuff. And by the time I got to to the Himalayas, I was black with

coal coal soot.

Yeah. And everything. And so if I learned that if If you ever wondered whatever happened to all the old American trains from the Wild West Yeah. They're in Pakistan. Pakistan.

Well, at least somebody's using them. And,

but,

any anyhow,

I ended up then walking

from from west to east,

in Pakistan, Northern Pakistan, which is the wildest, craziest part of the world. It's like the Wild West up there. It's unbelievable.

And,

and but

that brings back a memory, something that,

that I should mention.

As part of my preparation before I walked around the world, I spent a couple weeks in Washington, DC at all the consulates and embassies

for these various countries I was gonna be crossing

to find out which ones I could walk across Right. Where I could get permission to do it and not do it. And I remember when I went to the Pakistan,

embassy,

the

the or whatever you call them that I that I talked with

got very, very, very angry at me. He he said that I would die in Pakistan,

and, he said it was it was forbidden for me to walk across Pakistan.

And and, he got so mad, he took his eyeglasses off at one point and threw him across the room and broke them

and, and screamed at me. And Was that the only kind of experience you had in these consulates? Somebody getting that mad at you? That was the that was the baddest anybody ever got at me. Well, I guess you're probably gonna tell me why he was getting mad. And and and and the reason he was mad at me was because Northern Pakistan is is basically controlled

by,

warlords and bandits. Okay. And he said they would kill me for sure, that I would never make it even halfway across.

So in the end,

just to calm him down

and to to,

to,

assure that he that he did didn't,

have me hold off to jail right then and there,

I promised him that I would that I would take a train across Pakistan Mhmm. Which which I didn't. Right. You know? I ended up Did he ever find out that you didn't? Did you get an angry call from No. I never get any of your calls, but but but I ended up,

breaking my promise, of course. But whatever whatever it took to do it. And,

as it turned out,

one of the local warlords,

he

ended up having his men

watch me and protect me as I cross Northern Pakistan. Really? So so instead of trying to kill me,

these warlords this warlord So you even found generosity in warlords?

Yes. He actually tried to protect me. Yeah.

And that wasn't the only time such a thing happened. On a much smaller scale, such a thing happened to me at one point in New York City.

And, real quickly, I'll explain.

While I was in Manhattan,

staying in Manhattan with this young rider,

I would go out each evening and explore the different boroughs and neighborhoods.

And one night, I went out to explore

the, The Bronx. Mhmm. And I took a subway from from Downtown Manhattan to The Bronx.

And at the time, The Bronx was supposed to be the most dangerous neighborhood in the world or at least in America.

And, so I wanted to see what that was all about.

And I got I got in The Bronx, and I'm leaving the subway station. And I was the only one on the subway, and everything was covered in graffiti. Mhmm. It was, it was so surreal.

And and leaving the subway, it's dark,

and

this,

what I assume was a gang gang gang leader,

stopped me at one point and said he go he goes

he goes, what are you doing?

He says, I've been watching you walk walking around the neighborhood.

Just what are you up to?

And I said,

I said, well, I I I'm I'm from Ohio.

And he looked at me, and he goes,

Ohio?

Where's that at?

And and he says he says he says, no. Well well, really, why are you walking around?

And I I didn't wanna tell him I was walking around the world. Right. And he probably thought you'd be a loon or something. He thought I was a loon. So so I said to him, I said, well, I'm

I'm walking across America.

And he said, you walked all the way from Ohio to here,

and nobody tried to kill you?

And and and and and and I looked at him, you know, kinda shyly, and I said, well, not yet.

It's bound to happen, I suppose. But And and he said he said, prove prove to you proved to me you walked here from Ohio. Tell tell me something that happened to you. And I told him about this little old lady back in the Shenandoah Valley who had to come up and eat breakfast with her one morning because she thought that I was an angel Yeah. Testing her. Did she really? Yeah. Her name was Esteline.

And,

she was about a 100 years old and frail little thing with blue eyes. And,

and he goes he goes,

I like that. He said, nobody ever thought I was an angel.

And I'm thinking to myself, hey. I wonder why. Yes.

And what he ended up doing was he he had,

all these other guys come and join join us in the alleyway there.

And,

the other guys were I assume were gang members. They all look like it at least. And,

and I'm telling my story, and one of the guys got up. It was this I mean, it was a real small guy. He got up and ran off,

and it was about ten ten, fifteen minutes before he came back.

And he had something big and metallic in his arms. And what it was was a big bowling trophy.

And and the guy said the guy said, Steve,

we were sit we we're sitting here listening to you talking about walking across America, and, man, that takes guts. You're really brave because it's so mean out there.

You know? And and so we

we decided that you should get something

for doing that.

And so he held out that metal thing, that silver metal thing to me, and he goes, so I went down the street, and I broke into the store and sold this bowling trophy for you.

Did you keep the bowling trophy? I got rid of it after after a day after a day Yeah. Because I couldn't carry it with me. Yeah. After I got back to Manhattan, I gave it away to somebody. I imagine a bowling trophy is Yeah. Because you probably have to be very economical with that. Was another example, an early on example

of of a group that was supposed supposed to kill me Yeah. Or should've killed me,

but instead

took me under their wings and was protecting me.

And that's another, I think, good

because people really get behind things like that. You know? It it doesn't matter if you're a warlord or a gang member. When you see somebody doing something incredible It it you wanna be a part of it. It's called respect. Yeah. Yeah. You know? And even even

even gang members and warlords, and

they they can show respect at times Yeah.

To to to particular people.

And and

so my walk around the world

gained me a lot of respect I otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Yeah. And, actually,

probably

helped give me extra protection at times that I wouldn't have otherwise had if I was just traveling on a bus or a car Yeah. In a car or something.

And,

that's that's why I kinda call it another another life of its own.

At times, things were upside down, so to speak. Yeah.

But,

but I,

I I somehow,

someway

survived

all these bad place supposedly bad places,

all these dangerous encounters,

even being attacked by two guys with machetes in in the jungle in Thailand

at night.

I was walking I was walking I was walking at night because it was so hot right today. Yeah. I couldn't take it and make me sick.

And sure enough,

the road I was following, for once, people were accurate. It was dangerous. Yeah. And two guys with machetes

jumped up out of a ditch at me, but a truck came along. A A little Toyota pickup truck came along and scared them away. They ran back into the jungle. But if that pickup truck had been

fifteen, twenty seconds later Yeah. I might it might have been too late. They might have cut my head off. Yeah. And,

so

I eventually made my way to

across India

and Southeast Asia

and and

found myself in Australia,

Northern Australia.

And Did you walk across the Outback?

So I'm getting to. Okay. I'm sorry. I keep Oh, no. That's that's step one. No. No. No. That's that's

I understand your question, and I understand your skepticism too. Yeah. I mean, that's that's because country. Because that same skepticism

that was prevalent in everybody I met in Australia. Yeah. Be

before I walked to I did walk across the Outback. In fact, I walked across the the most dangerous part of the Outback, the hardest part Yeah. From north to south. You walk from north to south across Where where where there's nobody. Nothing. Nothing but aborigines and lizards. And heat. And heat. Yeah. Yes. Out there. And sky Yeah. And sandstorms.

What was what did that look like? I mean, just to be out there all alone and Oh, man. See this. It's unbelievable, the sandstorms that I encountered out there. They would come rolling across the desert like like

a, 500 foot tidal wave Oh, man. And just like in the movies. Yeah. And I'd I'd have to lie on the ground with my my face buried in my arms,

so that I could breathe, and it would turn dark like night. Yeah. And, It's all red too. Red. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Red. In fact, I in fact, the the desert I walked across, I think, a desert that was called the Red Desert.

Sounds like an apt name for it.

But but but I the reason I took that that route

was

because other people who have walked across Australia

almost always walked

from west to east

along the Southern Coastline Yeah. Where there are a few resorts and beaches and stuff like that. There's there's some civilization.

Yeah. But in the outback from north to south, there was only one road. Yeah. And it was mostly dirt at that time. I don't know. When people go out there, you see them they got cans all over. They got gas cans all over. Like, they prepare in their I had to do the same thing. I had to give up my backpack

for the first time. I had to give up my backpack, which I call clinger. Yeah. I had to give up your backpack. Yeah. Well, I had to give up clinger, and I had to construct a,

a cart

Okay. To pull across the the the sand dunes in the desert. Sure. And I loaded the cart with cans of water, with big jerry cans of water and canvas bags and food.

And mostly what I had in the cart was baked bean canned beans Yeah. And water. Yeah. And

so I mean, you have to pack. I mean, you can't, like, bring bring a grocery Can't bring anything fresh. Beans and water. Can't bring it has beans and water. You can't bring anything fresh. And, and I spent,

almost an entire year in Australia. Wow.

And, How long did it take you to get through the Outback? Was it was that a year?

No. I spent two months

in the North in Darwin, the city of Darwin, which has about 50,000 people.

I I probably the most isolated city in the world.

I spent two months there preparing

for the walk.

That's one reason why I think I succeeded

in this, whereas other people have tried and failed

was because I did my work. I did my preparation. I did my prep.

I I had to there were, like, there were guys that delivered,

goods,

from south to north and north to south,

on that one road,

the occasional trucker. And they and they didn't go with one semi trailer. They had four or five semi trailers. Train. Yeah. Yeah. They call it road trains. Yeah. And,

I talked to those guys, and they they would draw on the map for me,

where there was water. Yeah. You know? I imagine they probably all stopped thinking that you were in some kind of distress or something like that.

I think word got around. This is just crazy. There's a nut ball

in there. There's some nut in the in the back. I think the word got around. Yeah. And they they stopped they they stopped stopping. Yeah.

He's on his own. He yeah. He's

he's crazy enough to do this. That bloke's on his own. Yeah.

I remember more than once somebody saying to me, you're mad as a kookaburro.

Did you meet any Aborigines out there? Yes. I did. How was that? And,

you know, it's They have a very similar story to Native Americans. Yeah. It's so it's so

some things when you look back on it, you just have to chuckle and shake your head.

Like, so many of the white average well, white Australians, the European Australians Mhmm. As they call them, would say, oh, the Aborigines will kill you Yeah. In each of, you know, or something like that. And all these horror tales.

Every Aborigine I met was was

was was the kindest Yeah. Person I ever They were either kind or drunk. One of the one of the two. You know? Yeah. And,

they were harmless. They'd be sitting out there in the shade of a big rock or something. Mhmm. And,

they'd have funny names like diesel. Yeah. Yeah. And

and I remember

It's called mobs. Right? Like, they run with mobs? Is that how they describe it? Yes. Yes. More than three is a mob. Yeah. Yeah. And,

and,

they would,

sometimes they come across them, and they'd be cooking like an Aborigine or excuse me.

Not an Aborigine. They'd they'd be cooking like a a Goanna lizard. No. Okay. So Did you eat lizard? Five four foot five foot long lizard.

Yes. I would eat with them. I would eat the lizard. It was it was like eating lizard y chicken.

Lizard y chicken.

They would throw it on a fire, just a reg regular campfire. They throw it on the fire till the skin turned black and curled up. And Yeah. Then they would pull it out, and they would they would eat the meat. Sometimes they eat some of the organs. Mhmm. And, and I did the same. I ate whatever the just like everywhere else around the world, I ate whatever the people were eating. I didn't have any kind of specialty food or packaged food

and, except the canned beans. Yeah. And,

and the only reason I had the canned beans is because they're the only thing that would last in that heat out there. Yeah. But, but, anyhow,

they

they they helped me out

and,

more than once

went to their,

encampment and got water for me

and filled up my water bags and cans,

told me lots of good stories.

I can remember one time sitting sitting by a campfire in the outback under that that starry sky,

and I saw a log on the other side of the campfire

moving.

The log was moving. Yeah. And I, I what the and one of the one of the,

this I was actually with some gold prospectors at the time. One of the gold prospectors said, oh, don't don't worry, lad. He said, that's our pet. That's a bone constrictor.

Yeah.

Oh. That thing thing must have been 20 feet long.

Oh, man. That would creep me out. Oh my god. It was as big around as their arms.

Oh, man. But,

the the

in in all reality,

from a writer's perspective,

the trip across Australia was a book in itself. Yeah.

It was so full of

oddities and and

hilarious moments and scary moments, and and it was it was a it was another life of its own.

And,

and but somehow, I made it across Australia. And I decided after

Australia I've been gone now for almost four years.

And I decided

that,

it was time time to go back home. Yeah. It was time I I'm trying to look at it from the perspective of my my readers too. You know?

They've read enough adventures and crazy stuff and Yeah. Things, you know, to to fill life a lifetime,

and it's it's time to to end the story. Yeah. So let's bring it up, wrap it up. And,

and so Well, I'll tell you, that is tough as a as a writer to know when to end. Yeah. Yeah.

And some people like Stephen King don't know when to end. When to end. Yeah. And you get thousands. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And,

but, anyhow,

so I ended up, after reaching the South Coast Of Australia,

I ended up

deciding to to

stay with

I stayed for for for a while with

an old widow

named Peg, Peg Matthews. She was reading my stories in Australia. They were sent to her by some friends in in America Mhmm. In Kansas.

And,

and she had she got ahold of me, found me out there, and and had me stay with with her family for a while. And,

and then also too while I was staying with her,

I got an invitation to run a newspaper

out in a in a country town

for for a couple months.

And,

and so I did that in a town called Warwick that built. I I put out twice In Australia? In Australia,

twice a week, we put out a newspaper,

and and I was the boss. Nice. And,

and it turns out that the the man who owned the newspaper, his family that ran it, hadn't had a vacation in years Okay. Because the the just aren't journalists popping out of the woodwork

to take cover and run the paper. Except some American who just shows up walking around America. Here I was, this crazy yank,

bossing around all these Australians.

I bet that was kinda fun.

It was fun, and it was it was oh, that would make a great TV series.

My god.

But,

but

but, eventually, I made it. What I did was I I ended up,

eventually flying from Melbourne, Australia

to Vancouver, Canada. Okay. So now I'm back in North America.

And from Vancouver, Canada, I ended up walking all the way back to Ohio

to to to to Bethel, Ohio, my hometown. So what was it like walking across The States and seeing it seeing the States? It was so it was,

oh my it was culture shock. Yeah.

Even though I was an American and had been raised in the wealth and the the the glamour of America

for for

twenty something years,

I was now 30, 32 I was now going on 30, 32 years old. Mhmm. I I had left Bethel when I was 28.

And,

and even at such such an age, mature age,

going across America was was like a like like

a like a dream, like a Alice in Wonderland. Yeah. So much wealth, so much food, so much beauty,

so much infrastructure,

so so much,

happening Yeah. So much going on.

It was truly the realm of of the twenty twentieth century twenty first century. Yeah.

And,

I

I I can remember just just the beauty alone.

The beauty of this country alone

was was mind boggling.

I can remember, for example,

reaching Yellowstone Park

in Wyoming.

Now I didn't know it, but it was wintertime. Mhmm. And it was going on Christmas.

I didn't know it, but Yellowstone Park,

I assume they still do this,

shuts down for a couple weeks,

each year during the winter to prepare for the winter season.

And and and I that's when I was at Yellowstone Park. And so I walked across Yellowstone Park

for, oh, I don't know, for two weeks or whatever. And had it all to myself.

Just just you and the Just me me and the bison and elk and snow and did you run into any bears? I never saw any bears. Thank god. Did you have bear mace with you? No. No? No. But but,

I ended up,

I didn't have a tent. I was so I was

I was, as I say, tough as a nail. Yeah.

Or if you walked across the outback, I mean I mean, I'd walked across the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain and walked through the sandstorms there. And it would get 24 below zero at night in Yellowstone Park. Yeah. And it was snow, and I'd wake up in the morning with just with just a sleeping bag. Yeah. And and I'd have to dig out of the snow,

and there'd be bison 10 feet away from me. Those things are huge too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And I'd almost be more scared of the bison than I would be of a bear.

Those things I think you can get. I'd be more scared of a bear. Well, I that's fair.

And I'm gonna divert here for a second if you don't mind. Nope. As it as fate would have it,

a couple years later,

after that fake after that walk across Yellowstone,

I ended up being approached by a by one of the biggest publishers in the world and asked to do a book about Yellowstone Park. Mhmm. And,

and so I I,

was able to see,

through their through their records. I probably shouldn't say this Wow. By by

If you shouldn't say it, then By illegal. But I was able to to see

briefly

some of the damage done to people by bears. Oh, yeah. And, and,

you don't wanna ever

There's a documentary ever see that. There's a documentary. I don't know if you've heard of it. It's called Grizzly Man. Yes. Yeah. I I really like Werner Herzog as a documentarian, but Yes. That's a tough movie to watch. Yeah. And it was tough to see,

photographic,

records of what had happened to them. I mean, they're brutal animals. Yeah.

And,

they like to to

kill you and then bury you and actually come back to you when you're Yeah. Stinky. Yeah. Yeah. And and they tear you all up and stuff. People think like, oh, bears. I don't know. Like, no. No. No. You don't want anything to do with a bear. Those things are

But, but,

anyhow,

so walking across Yellowstone

or walking across,

America,

I found that Americans, unlike, in a lot of other parts of the world,

Americans are very hard to meet. Yeah. Because they're always behind a door. Oh, sure. There's always something between them and you. Yeah. There's there's there's a sliding glass door or a car door

or office door or a plane door.

Just just doors, doors, doors, walls, walls, walls.

And and and Americans don't go

walking here and there

in.

Yeah. You know? They they they're always

doing something.

They're busy inside

most of the time doing something.

And and so I had to

to to keep meeting Americans,

I had to kinda force myself on them. Yeah. And the but but but but I had to do it in a way that was not offensive or gonna turn people off

or scare people. And so I adapted

the way of the hobos

from the, in the nineteen thirties and twenties here in America. Like the guys that would ride the rails. Yes. I used to read a lot of,

Faulkner and Sure. And,

and Hemingway and stuff like that. And I I remember things that I had read about the

the the hobos and the guys that rode the trains

and how they would look for houses that had children's toys out front, which meant that there was a a mother living there. Mhmm. Mothers have hearts. Yeah. You know? And and how you,

you know, knock on the door and you you stand back and let them have their space and you and you let them know that you want some water, which is free and it cost them nothing to get. And and I did that, and and inevitably,

Americans have great curiosities.

Mhmm. And and,

the the whole the peaceful in the house would inevitably ask me what I was doing.

They probably assumed I was selling Bibles. Right.

And if I had said that, they would slam the door. Right. Right.

But,

but, but I would tell them that I was walking across,

you know,

the world. Actually, by now, I would say the world. Yeah. I figured, well, if they think I'm crazy, okay. Because I imagine as you went across the world, it kinda picked up more publicity as you went. Well well, ninety nine point nine percent of them didn't know who I was. Yeah.

But but but when I would say I'm walking across the world, Americans being very curious with it the the people would inevitably go, the world? Mhmm. And I'd say, yes. And they'd say, oh my god. You must have seen a lot and experienced a lot. And I'd say, well, yeah. I have.

And then, inevitably,

they gotta hear a story. So so I tell them a story or two, and and they and and the

the the the the mother, the housewife

who usually answered the door

would end up saying, you you gotta stay. I'm gonna make you some some some to eat. My husband's gotta hear these stories. Yeah. And I think Americans do like a good story too. Americans love a good story. Yeah. I mean, that's why Mark Twain Yeah. Was so, so popular and such an icon because he could tell a good story. Yeah. And and people would hang on to every word. And and and and so, inevitably, I'd end up being fed Mhmm. While while we waited for their husband to come home from work.

And when he'd get home,

he would

grab a beer or a

cup of coffee and sit out on the porch on the swing and wanna listen to some of the stories.

And and and inevitably,

the afternoon would turn into the evening, would turn into dusk. Yeah. And and

Americans

inside are some of the best, most hospitable people you'll ever find. Yeah. And,

and and

something inside them would stir, and they would think, I can't send this poor guy out into the dark. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so they would a lot of times, they would have me stay Yeah. Stay with them overnight.

Now I might end up sleeping on the dog's bed. Yeah. But but at least But you had a roof? I had a roof. Yeah. You had exactly

I had a roof, and I had a breakfast too. Yeah. Yeah. And,

and, I bet you had some good just cooking. You know? Yeah. Like you think of it, middle of America, just good home cooking. Oh, yeah. And so,

Especially after a time all across the world, probably eating very strange things in strange places. Very strange. You wake up to eggs and biscuits and gravy, that was probably very welcome. God.

Some of the things I had to eat when I walked around the world, like fried cockroaches,

fried scorpions,

brains of god knows what.

What did brains taste like?

Brains is actually not not too bad. Really? It I remember having a a, having a slice of brain. Again, I don't know what it was. I just it was a pig or cow or whatever.

But, actually, I think this this was in America.

Right. Where I had the brain. That's hilarious. Yeah.

And,

I had a slice of it with

mustard.

Mustard put on it between two pieces of bread, and I remember it was pretty good. Whatever brain it was. Right. Yeah.

And,

but, but I do remember eating stuff even alive at times, like swallowing fish alive in Italy. Oh, man. Little minnows.

And, because the fishermen, they said that's how they did it there in that village. And I can remember worrying that the fish were swimming around in my stomach.

And so it was good to have some good old fashioned

American home cooking. Yeah. And, I I loved it. And it it really

got me down the road. And I can remember when I got to the border of Ohio and Indiana,

I was basically

almost home couple days from home, maybe three maybe two, three days from home. Yeah. And

and, there was a highway patrolman there,

and

on Ohio one. And,

I said,

are you waiting for me or something?

And he's standing next to his patrol car, and he said, yeah. The governor sent me.

And and I said, why what did he send you for? He said, he told me to accompany you all the way home

so that so that you get home safely. Yeah. I had I I looked at the

patrolman,

the stadium, and I said,

if you only knew what I've been doing,

I I said, I think I can make it home. I think I'll be okay. I think I'll be okay in Ohio. Yeah.

I just had warlords in Pakistan escort me across the Himalayas. I think I'll be okay.

And and, you know, the the,

as it turned out, the governor's wife the the governor was Celeste. Okay. And

and his wife,

who who is from another country, I can't I think Austria

or whatever, and I can't remember her name all of a sudden. But,

she was a huge fan of mine. She had read all my stories in the Columbus Dispatch,

the Sunday magazine for the Columbus Dispatch. And and,

I suspect it was her that sent the patrolman. Yeah.

We've gotta get this guy home safe, and

we can't have this story end tragically.

Yeah. But but but I eventually,

a few days later, made it home. Yeah. And and

and unlike when I had left Bethel when there were only maybe a dozen people who,

say goodbye,

There were thousands Yeah. Waiting, and they had a parade, and and the school kids were all out. They'd made flags,

which are in the museum now. Yeah.

And

it will I mean I mean, isn't it funny, Patrick, how you can go from being

an absolute idiot Mhmm. To a hero? Yeah.

I mean, that's it's, I think, the journey of most heroes. Yeah. You know? You start out as

idealistic and ambition ambitious

and kinda naive,

and you go out and you just Oh. Are forged by the world. You said it perfectly. I mean, you you summarized it perfectly. Kinda naive. Mhmm. Ambitious, naive.

And but that naivety

or naiveness or whatever the word is,

that,

was actually one of my stronger Yeah.

Aspects.

It actually was one of the best tools I had. Yeah. Because I walked a lot of places where had I known better, I never would have gone. Yeah. I would have been too afraid to go there. Well, I think it's the power of youth too because you were, like, 28. I mean, that's not young young, but it's still I I couldn't do it today. Yeah. If I tried to walk around the road today, I I wouldn't last a week. Yeah. And because it's you know, as as I get older, I get less

naive, I suppose. And I I think of all the things that can go wrong. Can go wrong. I it's actually like, well, I can't do that. But, you know, I'm 25, 28. What could go wrong? Let's just go ahead and have an adventure. You know? Yeah.

Yeah. It's it's it's like,

okay. If I could lose one arm, I got another one. Yeah. Yeah. Well, exactly. When you're older like me, it's like, I wanna keep with my Yeah. I know. I'm I'm pretty good. I've I don't wanna be stabbed and shot. Right. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I was thinking when you were talking about Americans outdoors,

and it's harder to get to know them. I'm wondering if that actually has something to do with

I don't know if fixation is the right word, but our country's kind of founded on private property where if you go over to Europe,

commons and, like, common gardens are very You're you're you're a 100%

right. That's something that I've rarely ever talked about because,

it's been rarely brought up. But,

one thing that that helped me a lot

and and I really enjoyed

was, like, for instance, England. Mhmm.

By English law, medieval law,

the king's law Yeah. You know, you have the right to go

from point a to point b via the shortest route. Yeah. And so you see

walkways in the fences Yeah.

Surrounding the pastures.

You,

you you can cut across in the state Mhmm. Some millionaires estate,

if need be, if that's the shortest way to to the to the point you're going to.

And, In some instances, you could even camp there, can't you? Or Yep. I think so. Yeah. I think so. And,

I'm not sure if you peace. You know? Yeah. But,

Americans

that's one thing I don't like about America is is our incredible obsession with with private property with you know, no. This is mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. You can't touch it. You can't go anywhere near. Don't you dare. Let me give you an

example.

After I crossed,

from from Canada into into United States,

South Of Vancouver there.

I came to,

my first American,

my very first American in America, and it was a guy mowing his yard. Yeah. And,

and

I I I waved at him,

and

he turned off the mower, and he looks at me. I was I was standing,

in his driveway. Yeah. And he he told me to get out of his driveway. Yeah. And he goes he goes, that damn hippies.

Damn hippies.

Well, that's you know, it's funny because even when I was coming here, I got lost and I pulled into some guy, and he was a nice fella. He wasn't mean or anything, but it's still that first encounter is kind of what are you doing on my property? Like, why are There's so much suspicion. Yeah. I had to be so careful as

as a as an American

walking across America.

Be

because I don't have a car. Yeah. And so, therefore, I'm I'm automatically branded. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that guy doesn't have a car. He that means he has no money. Right. That means he's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. He's some crazy hobo. Yeah. He's a crazy hobo. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're you're you're you're judged by what car you drive Yeah. Not by the look on your face Yeah. Or or what whatever.

And,

But I do think after you get past that initial suspicion, like you said,

I think Americans are very hospitable. Oh, once you get past that shell Yeah. That outer shell,

and and get to meet the American that's inside that body,

most of the time, you're gonna be very impressed. Yeah. You got

I can remember a a businessman, a a corporate

CEO,

coming up to me one day in his three piece business suit. He parked his his,

Mercedes Benz beside the road Mhmm. And walked up to me with his shiny shoes and his three piece suit.

And,

and he had been reading my stories,

all those years.

And

and he he had driven all the way out from from, like, Saint Louis or whatever to to the plains out there in Nebraska

and to looking for me because he wanted to walk a mile with me. Yeah. And and and it was like

it was like, god. You know? Only an American. Yeah. I was about to say because it's you know, you do have that initial suspicion, but that's one of the great things about America. It's like a CEO, a guy who's got

probably all kinds of money, he's driving, Mercedes Benz,

but he wants to come and just see this guy who's walk you know, it's like your equals. He he wanted he wanted to he wanted to be a part of the journey. Yeah.

Even if it was just for for,

you know, half an hour. Yeah. And you don't get that with, like, kings and princes and things like that.

No. No. And,

and

I've

I received,

during the course of my journey,

thousands and thousands of of fan letters.

So many people

said again and again and again that they were living vicariously

Yeah.

Through my stories.

They were living my adventure.

And,

let let me let me give you a little example of what it was what it was like.

When I was in Turkey, I I I managed to to call through to,

my editor

at,

the Columbus Dispatch.

And,

and he said she she said,

how can people get ahold of you? We have so many phone calls every day from people wanting to to write to you and to get ahold of you.

And I said,

I said, well,

I I I tell you what.

Tell them to mail their letters to Stephen Newman, care of

main post office to Delhi, India.

And

and when when I get to I when I get to India,

I'll go to the main post office and see if there's any other letters. Mhmm. Well, I eventually, months later, get to debt in the Delhi, India.

And I walk into the main post office,

and there's this little brown skin clerk standing behind the the counter there. And I said,

my name is Steven Newman.

I'm sorry. See, he's I'm sorry. I can already hear the punch line.

You might have a letter

waiting for me or something.

The guy's

he got redder, clenched his fist, got redder and redder in the face,

looked up at me,

bared his teeth, and said,

where the hell have you been?

We've got mountains of letter to you. Mountains.

We had over 600.

Where the hell have you been?

That poor guy. See, I could just see him. Keep getting, who the hell is Steve Newman? Steve Newton. When does he ever pick up his damn mail?

That poor guy. And,

and, he had to get two two two young boys with these huge sacks Yeah. To to come and get the mail Yeah. And stuff. And,

I carded to I I went ahead and broke my rule and got a hotel room Yeah. A motel room,

so so I could read these letter all these letters, and and I ended up actually answering all of them. Yeah. Cost me a fortune. But,

but but, anyhow,

as I was walking out the door with the the young boys in the sacks of mail,

the clerk,

who was probably about 60 years old Mhmm. The clerk says, mister Newman.

And I paused. I didn't like the tone. Yeah. And then something was coming off. And I turned around, and I looked at him. And he's behind the counter pointing his little finger at me. And he said, mister Newman, don't you ever walk through here again.

So when you got home,

this might be an odd question, but

what was it like after the adventure? Like, was there a period of time where you had to, like, just decompress? Or Well, that's a very good question. It's an excellent question, a very wise question.

Because a lot of people don't realize

the price that comes with

notoriety

or fame.

It can be very, very,

difficult to deal with.

After I got home,

I should I should mention

the first thing I did was was I went to this local cemetery to my father died while I was gone, and I didn't know about it. There's no way they could get ahold of me Yeah. Yeah. And tell me when he died. Yeah. I didn't know it, for for

for two months.

I, I didn't know my father died. Yeah. And,

so I visited my father's grave.

But but then I had to deal with the weeks and the months ahead. Mhmm.

As it turns out,

I didn't have the opportunity

to to dwell on it and to to to,

mope Mhmm.

Because

there were so many requests

for me to do this or do that or write this or speak here. Yeah. Yeah.

And and

and

and even travel overseas

and and,

promote things

that

for literally literally, for years, years and years after I came home, I didn't have the opportunity

to to dwell on on on

boredom or Right. Or or make plans or anything because the world was making making plans for me. Yeah. The world took over,

and and I was so busy. I didn't I did not have the opportunity to go back to be a journalist.

And and I would end up,

it would become my life. Yeah.

The the the the walk around the road still is my life. Yeah. You're proof of that. Yeah. By sitting here,

how I came home in on April 1 Yeah. 1987,

exactly four years after I had left left. I didn't realize you did the same April Fool's Day. Yes. After all, why not make it the longest April Fool's joke?

Four year April Fool's joke. Yes. Yeah. Both time wise and lengthwise. Yeah.

And

and,

yeah, I I held off for 04/01/1987

Yeah. To to after all, I'm a writer. Yeah. You know? I understand. I understand. And, and Cemetery is a beautiful thing. Yeah.

And,

but but

how many I don't know how many years ago that was.

Recently, the the town had a anniversary,

celebration for it, and I can't remember what it was.

My wife would know, but she's not here to help us.

But

but here we are all these decades later,

and and here I am sitting at at my dining room table

talking to you Yeah. Still still talking about it. Yeah. Still reliving it.

And and I will be till the day I die because I know that at my funeral, they'll they'll talk about me walking around the world. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's a hell of a thing to do. I mean Yeah. Do you have any again, this might be an odd question.

Do you have any regrets about it?

I have no regrets. That's the right answer. I mean, how many times can somebody say that Yeah. About something? So

What's that?

Oh oh, well, yes. Okay. Good. My wife,

just reminded me.

My wife, by the way, is named Darcy. Darcy. Thank you, Darcy. Darcy. And I met her because of my walk around the world. Oh, really? She was one of my book creators. Oh, nice. And she wrote me a nice fan letter. Out of all those thousands of fan letters, her stood out. Yeah. And,

I ended up inviting her to to come and meet me and and have pizza at Pizza Hut. Nice.

Nice.

And then I took her to a baseball game. Yeah. Yeah.

I know how to treat a woman.

I wouldn't have done those otherwise.

But,

anyhow,

Darcy reminded me that the one request yes. Yes. That I did do have is that I did not bring a photo album of my of my family, my parents, and my brothers and sisters Mhmm. And my boyhood home because I found that that was what most people around the world wanted more than anything Yeah. Was what does your sister look like? How many brothers and sisters do you have? What does your father do? Mhmm. What does your mother look like? What does the house you grew up in look like? What kind of job do do, you know, did did you do as a child as a young person?

You know, is your father rich or poor? Yeah.

What what does your mother like to cook? Yeah.

Every day human questions. Human questions. Yeah. Those were those were so common, so frequent. And I and here I was, and I didn't have snapshots or pictures to show them. Yeah. It would have made our encounter

that much richer. Yeah. Yeah. That's the only only regret I really have. So nothing like

because it, you know, it's just one of those things where it consumes your life,

but in a good way. And and then this will actually probably segue into my next question was, what do you think and I think you've talked about it a little bit, but what are some of the biggest changes

that happened to you

walking across the world?

Patience. Yeah.

You have to be extremely patient to complete a journey like that.

And that's

and I honestly deep down inside, I know there are several people who have tried such a journey after I walked around the world, and and

the vast majority of them

didn't last long. They didn't have the patience.

And,

you have to be understanding,

compassionate.

You have to to be willing to

to listen to

other people's side of the story,

because you're gonna meet all kinds of people. I mean, I I met people who who

who had served time in prison for murder. Mhmm.

I I met heroes.

I met,

the poorest of the very poorest.

And

you have to be willing to

to

try to relate

to them to to some degree

and earn their respect

and and even their kindness and love.

You you have

to you you have to have hope.

I I I've gained hope,

because I've seen so much love and kindness

that I know that we have a future.

It it may not be pretty at times.

It may get downright

horrendous or nightmarish Mhmm. But we'll come out of it. We'll come out of it when I get there. To hell before he could get to paradise. You know? Exactly. Exactly.

And very wise.

And,

also to,

you you you have to you you learn from such a journey.

You learn that

that you can't do it on your own.

I may be known as the man who walks solo around the world,

but,

really, honestly,

had I truly been truly solo, I never would have made it. Yeah.

I did at least you'd have gone crazy. I'd have gone crazy. Yeah. I needed the help and the companionship

of so many other people.

And,

their words,

their

glasses of water,

their

straw beds to sleep on,

they don't sound like much,

but they made all the difference. Yeah. And and, they gave me just enough

to to keep going.

And,

and

so

we're

in some respects,

you know,

we're like a big family,

humankind.

And we we need to we need to be a little more conscious of that.

We need to be more conscious of the fact that that,

it it is a small world.

I mean, think about it.

I walked around the world, and I could have done it if I

in in a technically, I could have probably done it less than four years. Yeah.

And and that shows you how tiny this world is. Yeah.

How fragile it is. It's extremely fragile world. Yeah.

But yet at the same time,

man and nature too have their strong sides. Mhmm. They're very strong sides. So never never underestimate

what you can do.

All of us is stronger than we realize. Yeah.

I think humanity and, like you said, humanity in general is stronger.

It's it's it's that weird balance of fragility, though, because it again, in America, you

you look around and think, well, this will never end, and this is but everything is on a knife edge, I feel like. You know? Well, every

I saw firsthand so much of the world that thought their empire would never end. Yeah.

And it did. Yeah. It did. If if we're not careful, everything can just evaporate. It can dis it can disappear fairly quickly too. But at the same time,

it's remarkable to hear your story in the way

humanity

coalesces around

somebody who is trying to do something incredible. Yes. You know, they really

humanity, not just Americans or the British No. No. You're right. Egyptians No. You're right. Humanity Exactly. Recognize it's like something

deep inside us that when we see somebody doing that, we want to help, and we want to It's sort of It it it is very much a part of the human nature, human trait Yeah. To wanna help, reach out and help. And and and there

there are so many people,

billions, hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people

who

who secretly wanna reach out and and do something good Yeah. For for for the world, for others,

but don't know what to do or how to do it or where to start, where you need to start.

I I hopefully did did

some of my part by sharing the all those stories,

by writing about what I discovered.

Hopefully,

I inspired a lot of people

to to to get up and do something. And I know I have because of all those letters and what they said. I if only you knew how many people have have told me that I inspired them to follow their dreams. Mhmm.

And I've even had people write to me from from embassies, from American embassies overseas, and say that they're working at an embassy now, that they're grown up Yeah. Because of what I did Yeah. When they were a child, and they were inspired to to to to go overseas and not be afraid. Yeah.

We need we need to be

braver.

We need to be less intimidated. Yeah. Less less fearful.

Although I don't I blame people if they are. I understand.

And

lastly, we need to realize

that

there is more love than there is hatred. Yeah.

There really is. And where there's more love than hatred, there's always hope.

Yeah.

And I,

yeah, I I agree with that. And

and I'll be honest with you, I don't have any more questions, and I feel like that's probably a really good place to stop. I don't know I don't know how else I could wrap it up more beautifully than that.

But I do wanna give you an opportunity to say anything else that you'd like, before we

Well, one thing I would like to say is is,

I

by by by staying with all these other families

and watching them

up close

and listening to them

chatter and talk and laugh and cry,

I realized

that maybe the greatest treasure we have

is our family. Mhmm.

And

we we we need to to to know that you don't have to go around the world Yeah. To find the greatest treasures

or to find the greatest wisdoms.

Oftentimes,

they're right beside you. Yeah. They're right around you. They're in your own home, your own neighborhood,

your own business, your own school,

your own,

you know, your own ladies book club Yeah. Yeah. Your your own,

boy scout troop.

I just think we we need to learn how to listen Yeah.

And sometimes be quiet.

And and the the reason I live where I live, up here on top of this hill deep in the woods,

along the Ohio River,

is

be be because it has many of the ingredients

that I discovered

when I walked around the world that are important to a quality life,

such as peace and quiet,

such as beauty, great natural beauty, especially,

which is why I have a pond on my property

where I can go to sit and rest and think,

enjoy the simple things in life, which is why I have

so many trees surrounding our house. It it you look out any window in this house, and look. It looks like you're in a in a house in a treehouse. Yeah.

You're surrounded by nature,

and animals and wildlife.

And and you need to have a passion for something,

you know, like reading

or

or maybe,

whatever whatever it is. It could be anything.

But you'll you'll find a little bit of all those

ingredients, so to speak, here here in our home, where Darcy and I live.

And and I guess I should mention, you need to have a good partner too. Yeah. That helps a lot.

That'll help a lot after the interview here,

if I say that.

But,

being happy,

I discovered when I walked around the world,

is not that complex.

I I wanna say in conclusion that

the happiest people I met when I was walking around the world,

ironically,

were oftentimes

some of the very poorest.

And believe me, I saw poverty on a scale like you'll never see in America. Yeah.

And and, I mean, I I stayed with people. I met people

who made less than a dollar a day Yeah. At their job,

but yet were happier

than

most people I meet in America. Yeah. You know, how could that be?

And I would study them.

And,

and

and so

for that reason alone,

the walk around the world

was was worth it

because it made me a happier person.

Like I said, I can't I can't think of any better way to finish it. Well, thank you very much. Thank you for the interview. Thank you for taking the time. Thanks for being so wise. Oh, well, thank you for the compliment. Yeah. Yeah. You you a lot of things you said,

I was shocked to hear because I've never had an interview say them. Well, if I can shock the guy that walked around the world, I think I'm doing my job. It it shows that you're paying attention. You're learning. You're learning. Well, that's the one thing. And it shows

clearly that you're growing wiser. Well, that's if you're not doing that, then you're doing something wrong, I think. So Exactly. I believe that. Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Alright. Well, thank you again,

to Steve for sitting down with me. Like like I said in the intro, really enjoyed it. Would love to have him back on just to talk more about

his experiences. I mean, how many people do you know that have walked around the world and, you know,

been protected by warlords in Pakistan? I mean, it's it's crazy. You don't know when I guarantee you, unless you know Steve,

you probably don't know anybody like that. I don't wanna say that. You might. I don't know. Steve's an exceptional guy. I love the conversation. I hope you did too.

And we're gonna try to have him back on to talk more about his adventures.

But right now, we're gonna go over some events from around the county starting with

Libraria Con twenty twenty five favorite fandom event. This is on November 7 from six to 9PM at the Union Township Branch Library. It's an annual pop culture convention for all ages hosted by the Claremont County Library.

Attendees enjoy cosplay contests, youth team, and adult categories,

a Stranger Things escape room, trivia games,

arts and crafts, and raffle prizes.

Special guests,

Bud and Aaron from the Dent Schoolhouse, which is a famous local haunted house, will appear at 06:15PM

with spooky props, and they'll do a q and a.

Next up, Pink and Pearls women's health event.

This is November 8 from 10AM

to 1PM

at West Claremont Mercy Mercy Health Plex.

It is a free community health fair and educational event focused on lung and breast cancer awareness

for women. Mercy Health experts present information on cancer risk factors, prevention, and screening. Light refreshments will be served and door prizes given to early registrants.

It is open to the public and there is no registration

fee,

but I suspect that means you do need to register.

Next, perfect tales kids read the cats. Sorry. I mean to chuckle at that. Seems a lot, though.

Anyway, it's gonna be on November 8 from 9AM

to 10AM

at the League for Animal Welfare, which is on 4193

Taylor Road in Batavia.

This is part of a library outreach program. This event invites children ages five to 14 to spend fifteen minutes reading aloud to adoptable shelter cats as a literacy activity.

Books are provided or participants may bring their own. The program helps kids build confidence and social skills while comforting anxious cats awaiting adoption.

It is free, but you do need to sign up through the Claremont library.

So if you'd like to your kids to read the cats, although they're adoptable cats, so

I would

I would advise some caution because you might be going home with a cat,

if it's particularly cute and your kid likes it a lot. But and it sounds like a great event.

Kids reading to cats.

So next up, nature printing hike, November 8, from 02:30 to 03:30PM at Clingman Park. It's friendly

friendly hike where participants craft a textured journal then collect natural materials on a guided hike to create one of a kind nature prints. All ages can join the fun of gathering leaves, grasses, and bark to press onto their journals. Registration

is required, but all materials

are provided.

Walking our way through grief, November 8 from 03:30 to 04:30PM at Sycamore Park. This is a supportive group walk designed for anyone experiencing loss or grief. Participants will hike together on an easy forest trail and share reflections

in a safe, nonjudgmental

setting.

The program emphasizes community connection and emotional healing through nature.

Next, we have a Caring Place annual dinner auction, November 14 from 05:30 to 10:00PM

at the Oasis Conference Center, which is located at 902 Loveland Miamiville Road in Loveland.

It is a Hollywood Hollywood

themed charity gala

and fundraiser.

Guests enjoy a sit down dinner entertainment

and both silent and live auctions.

All proceeds support A Caring Place, a nonprofit providing free, confidential count counseling and resources

to women and families facing pregnancy or financial crises.

Tickets and reservations are required.

Table and individual pricing is available on the Claremont

Chamber of Commerce website.

Winter at the mustard seed market. This is gonna be November 14 through the sixteenth at Claremont County Fairgrounds, and every day has some different hours. So this is interesting to you. Pay attention. On November 14 from four to 8PM, November 15, 10AM to 4PM,

and on November 16,

10AM to 3PM.

So this is gonna be a a normal mustard seed market, I imagine, which is a great event. I've been to him with my kids. And we, we interviewed Sarah Cox on the show,

a while back. Actually, she was one of the first interviews. It's a good interview. I go back and check it out. But in addition to shopping, the market features live music, food trucks,

and family friendly activities

like hot cocoa and photos with Santa

to kick off the holiday season.

Next is a used book sale, November 15 through November 18 at the Miami Township Library,

multi day sale of donated gently used media for all ages. Shoppers can find bargain books, audiobooks, DVDs, and music.

Opening hours begin Saturday, November 15 at 9AM,

then continue Monday seventeenth at 10AM,

and Tuesday,

November 18 at 12PM.

The sale runs during during normal branch hours on those days. The event is a public sale, no ticket required, and proceeds support the library.

Last but not least, Loveland Legacy Foundation Fall in Love Land Gala.

November 15, Indie Hollow, which is

one zero three six nine Cones Road in Loveland.

It is a seated fundraising dinner and party hosted by the Loveland Legacy Foundation.

The evening includes an open bar, always nice, beer, wine, and signature cocktails, catered dinner, live music and dancing,

with Big Daddy Walker productions.

They'll have a photo booth, a high vow and high value raffle items.

Attire is country club casual,

and proceeds support local families in crisis. Tickets are sold in advance via the foundation's

website.

So those are all the note all the events that we got, and a quick note on events. I do the best I can to find as many as I can, but I know I don't get them all. So if you know of an event or have an event you'd like people to know about, just send an email. I'm not gonna promise I'm gonna get every event on here because I don't want an hour long event section.

But if I can get it in here, I absolutely will.

And that will lead us to our final value for value pitch because we are a value for value podcast. It would. It's what keeps us ad free and independent

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Alright. Well, that is all we got for today. I really hope you enjoyed the show, and we will see you next week.