An Interview about walking across America on a website that no longer exists
In 2010 I walked across America. When I finished I did an interview on a website called “Urlesque.” The site no longer exists. I decided to republish the interview below:
Mark Baumer Walks Across USA, Blogs it, Gives Urlesque Epic Interview
I have followed Mark Baumer’s cross-continental journey for months. He spent months walking across the country, and not like that Levi’s-sponsored video. He actually did it. And he told the tale on his blog as he walked via his phone. Here is his story.
Before he began answering my questions, he wrote:
My feet are still numb. I have not walked in two and a half weeks and my toes still do not have feeling. I cannot put on sandals with my eyes closed. The tips of my toes are tingling. My immune system is suffering too. I have been sick a week. I took two Benadryl so I will be tired soon.
Read on for a fascinating interview with Mark about running around naked and bloody down the highway, among other things.
Urlesque: Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
Baumer: In the winter of my twenty-fifth year I asked my girlfriend for $70 so I could apply to the MFA writing program at Brown. Someone began giving me money to create content for a pet website. I began going to movies every Friday. Los Angeles began to fill the hole burrowed into my belief in an idea I was now somewhat capable of forming. A few months passed. I made pictures of cats with thought bubbles and dogs wearing sunglasses. A man named Gail who worked at Brown called me and asked if I wanted to move to Providence and attend the university. I said, “Sure,” and asked if they would give me money. Gail said, “I personally won’t give you money, but someone will give you money.” I moved to Providence. Someone gave me money. I used some of the money to walk across America.
What inspired you to embark on this journey?
My dad said he would give me a million dollars if I walked across America. Somewhere in Louisiana I remembered my father didn’t have a million dollars. I became very sad. I almost gave up on the trip, but a man in a pickup stopped and said, “I will give you a million dollars if you let me be your father.” I thought of this man in the pickup hugging me and kissing my forehead. I got scared. I started walking again. The pickup left. I began to cry. I continued walking. I did not stop. I forgave my father for not being a millionaire.
Got any advice for would-be cross-country trekkers?
Before I began the trip I visited many bookstores and looked at thousands of shelves full of guidebooks on how to walk. I Googled the idea of walking on the internet and came up with 64 million in less than 0.241833 seconds. I did not read a single sentence about how to walk across the United States before I left. Everything and everyone in the world will try to give you advice on any journey you decide to take. I suggest you ignore them all. Let the road take you where it wants you to go. Throw yourself into a trip. Use your common sense. If you try to gather every piece of advice before you leave you will never leave. A journey isn’t a journey if you have every footstep planned out.
What was your strategy for staying fed, hydrated, etc.?
Strategy #1 lasted about two days and consisted of five cans of tuna, ten carrot cake Clif bars, a jar of peanut butter, two 1L Nalgene bottles I repeatedly refilled with water, an empty 3L camelback water sack that remained unfilled, and a bag of almonds. For two days I stopped at every gas station I passed to fill up my water bottles and wash my hands. I ate four Clif bars. At gas stations and convenience stores I either bought an apple or banana or a bag of overpriced trail mix. I did not eat any almonds. I ate Subway twice. I did not feel very hungry the first two days. I ate because I figured it was important to eat.
Strategy #2 lasted about three hours and consisted of a Starbucks iced tea and leftover pork chops. On the third day of my trip I stopped in Statesboro, Georgia and drank an iced tea and then went to Wal-Mart. Outside of Wal-Mart a woman asked if I wanted to spend the night in her family’s guest bedroom. I said I would. She brought me home and fed me porkchops.
Strategy #3 spanned maybe five or six days. In Statesboro, Georgia I bought a baby carriage. I filled it with canned tuna, trail mix, peanut butter, and apple sauce. There was no order to what I bought. I stopped for sandwiches when there was a place to stop for sandwiches. One time I was looking for a place to buy a sandwich but they were all closed so I got a haircut and when I finished with the haircut a lady said, “Let’s go eat some fried chicken and cane syrup.” So I went with the lady and ate the fried chicken and drank sweet tea.
Strategy #4 lasted about three hours in Macon, Georgia and consisted of sitting around while a friend of a friend grilled some meat and vegetables. It was one of the most relaxing moments of the entire trip. I sat on the floor cross-legged and ate the grilled meat and vegetables. In the morning I ate a bowl of cereal.
Strategy #5 was a return of sorts to strategy #3. The only difference is I now carried an emergency gallon jug of water in the carriage. I continued buying bread and peanut butter at grocery stores and filling up my water bottles at gas stations. I also filled up my 3L camelback water pack whenever I had a chance. This strategy of buying random groceries and throwing them into my carriage lasted through Georgia and Alabama. At one point I stopped at a Subway in Tuskegee, Alabama and a woman was talking on the phone and her child asked her a question and the woman slapped him. I ate a cold cut trio.
(Ed. Note: Mark gave me five more strategies. They were interesting, but this is a blog.)
What were your sleeping arrangements?
The first two weeks I slept in a tent, but then the tent broke. I did not like the tent. I bought a chair at Wal-Mart for $9. I slept in the chair the majority of the nights. I would sit in the chair and then prop my legs on the food bin. The only time I didn’t sleep in a chair was when I got a motel room. I usually slept in a bed when I got a motel room. The safest place to sleep was under the awning of a church. For much of Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas I slept under awnings at churches. In west Texas and New Mexico I mostly slept ten to twenty feet from the interstate. I was never bothered by people or animals when I was sleeping. Occasionally ants would attack my food bin while I slept. They were a small nuisance and I got into the habit of taping my lid shut at night. Another nuisance was the spotlight of law enforcement. On a few occasions I woke up to a law enforcement spotlight asking me questions. I answered the spotlight’s questions and then it shut off and drove away and I went back into sleep.
Did you get hassled along the way?
Aside from one incident in Alabama the police officers and highway patrolmen I met from Georgia through New Mexico were mostly curious and only stopped me to make sure I was alright. Arizona posed my first real problem. A little outside of Tucson a highway patrolman and patrolwoman stopped me. They told me I couldn’t be on the interstate. They said, “Either walk back to the nearest exit [exit 279 which was a mile behind me] or follow the dirt trail bordering the highway.” The highway patrol officers would not let me continue walking west for another couple miles and vacate the interstate at exit 275. Because I refused to retrace my steps I decided to follow the dirt path. Unfortunately, a barbwire fence separated me from the dirt path. I had to empty my cart and lift it and all my supplies over the barbwire fence individually. The whole time the two officers watched me and did not offer to help me over the barbwire fence. It seems funny now that they said they were worried about my safety and used ‘safety’ as a reason why I couldn’t be on the interstate but let me climb over a barbwire fence. At this point in the trip my legs were mostly useless in any activity besides walking in a straight line and I was basically being forced to climb over a barbwire fence. Luckily, I’m tall and was able to use my food bin to prop myself up and over the fence but there was a brief second when I was straddling the barbwire that I wished I would suffered major wounds from the fence and then could run to the highway patrol bleeding and cursing and hug them and bleed on their uniforms and not stop screaming until they were forced to draw their weapons and then I would get naked and run bare and bleeding across the highway and they would have to shoot at me, but instead they would shoot a man driving a Range Rover because I am very fast when I am naked and the man driving the Range Rover would get pissed and sue the highway patrol and the patrol officers would lose their jobs and at some point I would stop bleeding and get dressed.
What surprised you about your trip?
People are good and god might be real.
Did you meet any interesting people or animals?
I saw a coyote kill a rabbit.
Any problems with weather?
In Texas it rained for three days
How did you dress?
At the start of the trip I planned to wear a Hartford Whalers hockey jersey the entire trip along with two pairs of swim trunks I would rotate every five or six days. After the first day I did not wear the hockey jersey again. The sleeves were too short and my forearms got burned. Instead, I wore a long-sleeve, collared, white, synthetic shirt from LL Beans. I continued to wear the shorts even though the back of my legs were getting burned. Sunscreen lotion was an option, but I didn’t enjoy the oily feel it left on my body. Around the beginning of week three I bought two long sleeve white synthetic shirts and a pair of white Dickies painters pants from Wal-Mart. For the rest of the trip I was dressed in white from head to toe. I wore this hat the entire trip and it was my best purchase.
What did you take away from the experience?
I am not sure yet. Since it has finished the trip does not feel real. I am not sure if I did what I did. It is now in the past and I have had trouble looking back on it.
Any further plans for long walks?
Nothing on the horizon, but I do want to do other trips. I have an idea for a bike trip in which the goal would be to produce a net waste of zero. By all means I am not an environmental extremist, but after spending two days walking through Georgia smelling the waste being hauled to a landfill and passing huge landfill craters in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona I’ve begun to give the environment more thought. In my travels I definitely added to the problem as I usually produced a shopping bag full of trash each day. Some companies (Bear Naked granola) have started programs where you can mail them the packaging and they will recycle it. The bike trip I have in mind would take advantage of such programs and request similar type programs from other companies whose products I would consume. My pipe dream would be to have Chipotle sponsor the trip and somehow come up with a plan to recycle the tinfoil of all the burritos I eat or maybe even make a giant tinfoil ball and deliver it to the company headquarters.
Was there any point at which you thought, “What am I doing?” or were tempted to quit?
For the first three or four weeks I ended each day with thoughts of sadness, but quitting was usually difficult because when I had moments of sadness I was usually in the middle of nowhere and it was easier to keep walking than to quit. I’m not even sure how I would have quit. I guess it would have been some combination of stopping, hitching a ride, and then going to an airport. This all seems like quite an effort. Walking was much easier.
How did you maintain an internet connection/battery power to update your blog?
I have a Motorola Cliq. I’m not sure if it’s a good phone but it connects me to the internet and Google Maps. I probably did 99% of my blog updates on my phone. From Georgia to Sweetwater Texas I charged my phone off random power outlets at Subway, middle schools, churches, and gas stations. On the rare occasion when my phone was dead and I wasn’t near an outlet I charged my phone off a netbook computer I had brought with me on the trip but used very little. In Sweetwater I got a solar charger at RadioShack which helped my phone stay charged through west Texas and Arizona.
What was it like being removed from society/pop culture for so long?
I have no idea what music is popular anymore. I asked a friend what the summer jam of 2010 was and he gave me a few songs, but I haven’t listened to them. He also said I was on the cover of the new Eminem album. I’ve seen the cover. It’s Eminem walking down a road. I guess that could be me. People seemed to be going crazy over Justin Bieber before I left and I imagine they still are. As for the rest of society and pop culture I tried to ignore it. Early in the trip my goal was to not to read the internet and I succeeded for the most part. My dad would give me basketball updates in the daily emails he sent. I was hoping Steve Nash and the Suns would win it all even though I’m a Boston fan. I have this weird fascination with all the great players getting their championships. I’m always disappointed in repeat champions. The only exception was Lebron. For the past two years I accepted the idea that once he started winning championships he wouldn’t stop for five or six years. This idea seemed okay with him wearing a Cavs uniform. Now it doesn’t which is okay. I think Lebron taking his talents to South Beach was a good thing. It sprouted a lot of hatred. Sports are better when there is hatred.
I finished the trip. I flew home. I saw a friend who likes soccer. I said, “Too bad about the US soccer team.” He said, “They won their group, but I guess they should have beaten Ghana.” I was confused. For over a month I thought the US soccer team had tied twice, lost their final game, and gone home. My friend then went on to tell me about the greatest victory in US soccer history. He explained Donovan’s goal in extra time against Algeria. He told me about barrooms erupting in screams and flying beverages across the United States and how this all seemed to lead to chants of ‘USA’. He said, “It was one of the greatest moments of my life.” I’ve since seen highlights of the goal and the US team piling on Donovan. I’ve watched more than twenty videos of barrooms from around the United States turn into a frenzy after the goal and then begin chanting USA as if scripted. Each video I watch gives me chills. These recordings from across the United States have re-inspired my belief in America and sports more than any moment from my walk across the United States.
Okay so that’s the end of the interview, but I also want to include the comments from the interview. They were a good representation of what comments look like on the internet. It feels important to share them.
Comments from an article about walking across America
8.23.10
By Annemarie Dooling
I can’t even imagine walking all that way.
8.28.10
By yovinny
I can’t imagine any serious school admitting him into a graduate level writing program, if he writes like he speaks. Wannabe gonzo journalist. Hunter S. Thompson must be puking in his grave.
8.28.10
By KK
Exit 279… where you got hassled…Vail Rd. I grew up around there. Sorry for the lack of hospitality.
8.29.10
By will
get a real job
8.30.10
By maribel
hi…. i admire you , sometimes we have too do does thinks for people under stand the we are human beens …god bless you ,
8.28.10
By Dan
I tried that 20 years ago. And I was stopped by a state trooper, and he had a bad attitude any way and it ended up in a fist fight. He struck first, it got thrown out of court..No one can tell you where you can’t walk unless it’s posted. That’s how we ended up in a fight. If people can mind their own business, fist wouldn’t have to fly. Cops are criminals with a badge.
8.28.10
By bonefish
Cool — keep the dream alive! Read a sad “dear abby” about a kid who quit college because he wanted to be a river guide etc. His parents were all crabbed about it. I don’t blame anyone for trying to live the life they want instead of worying about which degree etc. will make the most money. Can’t you just picture an mba in whitewater skills!
8.28.10
By you
try walking a mile in a Police officer’s shoes and be that harsh of a critic. I guarantee you wouldn’t.
9.16.10
By you
and he seemed nice by allowing you to sit in the front seat. You may not agree with his reasoning, but at least understand his job is tough, you are wrong if you do and wrong if you don’t.
8.28.10
By moshulu
cool dude, wish I could have smoked a joint with him.
“Cops are criminals with a badge.”
Best quote EVER, a vast majority are just that!
8.28.10
By Sluggo
and how would you know?
8.28.10
By gtoya1331
ARIZONA cops gave him the first hassles…and he’s WHITE!!!
8.28.10
By Will
2 things.
1. I wanted to do this but don’t know if I’d ever have the balls. Kudos.
2. His writing is pretty tedious. Likely he’s gone through some amount of enlightenment after all this, we can only hope that book he wants to write inspires him to find an engaging voice that’s his own and not full of groan worthy language.
8.28.10
By Grizz
He needs to go back to junior high. He writes like a ten year old!
8.28.10
By Warrren
Not to long ago the Los Angeles Times had an article about a grandmother in her late eighties who walked across the US (3000 miles). She lived in New Hampshire or Vermont and at age 95 she ran for the US Senate and lost the election but she got 35% of the vote. The write up was becasue she had just passed away at age 100. Look it up. She did not have the problems or the supplies or means of carting it that you did. Guess you could live to 100 if you do it again backwards when you turn 80. But please do not run for public office. You gotta have some passion for what you do. You seem a litttle unsure of why you do what you do.
8.29.10
By Blake Mauney
I feel as though I should be inspired after reading this journey but somehow I am almost saddened by the almost lack-lustre of emotions expressed. Just in a simple walk around any town in the US or anywhere abroad you can find intrigue, humor, quirks, etc. I feel as though this gentleman was more on proving to himself that he could accomplish the goal rather than to enjoy the process of the entire experience. Regardless of the scale of the journey you have to sometimes just enjoy the simplicity of each moment along the way.
8.28.10
By sher
I think the only time it might be ok to hit a woman would be theo ne that he witnessed slap a child. Kind of weird he felt indifferent about that. A lady never hits a kid and a man neverl watches a child be abused. A real lady, that is, and a real man, that is. Gee his folks must be so proud. If my adult son ever acted indifferent about a kid getting slapped, I’d smack him too
8.28.10
By jaguignon
In reference to the man that said that he would “slap his adult son if he witnessed a wonam slapping a child and doing nothing about it”! Really! The man was a considerable distance from the conversation and heard nothing. The kid may have cursed at her! Or made some off color remark about the “man walking on the road”. I’m sure the kid deserved the slap and he probably needed it.
8.28.10
By sher
I’ve reconsidered..this giys a moron.
8.28.10
By BubbaDog
Great, just what we need, another pretentious jackass who thinks he’s Douglas Adams. Why the hell are we feeding into this guys narcissism by giving him a platform? There are people out there who can actually write, you know.
8.28.10
By Yon
This guy will make some “carpenter” surgeon happy one day. He guaranteed himself new knees and new hips when he will get to his fifties… if he gets there ever.
8.28.10
By Nom
What a f*cking weirdo!
8.28.10
By Rev. Gary J.Hammond
You have an interesting story. Let me share a little of mine from 1971. After high school graduation, a buddy and myself walked, slept outside in sleeping bags and stayed in motels once a weeks while hitchhiking across the USA. While heading west on inerstate 80 in Nebraska, the state police stopped us when we were walking for several miles on the highway. The officer said that we were not allowed to walk on the interstate (we knew that but took a chance anyway) and we had to walk along side the fence about 200 feet from the highway. So we did walk along that fence but did not have to climb over it. As it turned out, about two miles down the road, the construction of that fence worked its way up to that small lonesome bridge on the highway. It was at that intersection of the fence and the bridge that we put out our thumbs and waited for a ride. Working with civil law has it’s breaks and the police officer knew it.
8.28.10
By hi all
Get their badge numbers and names and get the AZ pigs fired! Simpletons like that need to GTFO!!!!!
8.28.10
By you
and you need to respect how complex their job is. How would you like to be fired because someone who doesn’t know the in’s and out’s of your job is going to criticize you? First take a look in the mirror, you perfect??? Or even reasonable to all???
8.28.10
By Jerry
All for publicity.
8.28.10
By upurs
interesting story and experience..is this guy another eccentric relative of rich eccentric..??…that would make the story easier to comprehend…but even if he is not…it’s a neat story…all-in-all-he ,seems to have done well…hopefully his feet will return to normal…as far as the..”sports pitch”..well sports still bore me…being athletic is fun,but competition sports are boring and crooked,just like our politicians…easy money for “who you know”…AND NOT WHAT YOU KNOW..!..same with the law officials…”we the people”…have been used by them all..!..oh..and as far as his taste in music…i think he is still out of touch…the music from the 60’s -rockers is still the best..those heroes fought and gave all for the civil rights of americans….and the ones who are still alive today are still fighting for our rights..!
8.28.10
By Robert
Run Forrest!!!……..
8.29.10
By fkurtin
If all he saw was a coyote kill a rabbit then he must have had his eyes closed tighter than our government 99% of the time
8.29.10
By fkurtin
WALK FORREST WALK .LOL
8.29.10
By fkurtin
YA, after reading the whole story I think he is a product of no student left behind, and Forrest Gump may have been smarter
8.29.10
By chaz
How did he get off work to make the trip? Is he on welfare? I didn’t read the whole article,but I’ve often wondered how these people make these trips financially. Maybe he saved up for the trip. Oh well,good luck to the man.
8.29.10
By elvacurrier
This guy needs a shrink real bad!!
8.29.10
By ead17
“ I usually slept in a bed when I got a motel room. “ Gee, you know, I’d probably do the same thing, as it would be kind of a waste of money not to.
8.29.10
By elGuapo
Has not one reader picked up that he chooses to write like this? It’s actually rather Hemingway-esque, not junior high material. He’s able to spell, use punctuation properly, and knows when a word should be capitalized. All of you jumping in to bash his style and his trip could use some time to figure out what it is you think you’re accomplishing.
8.29.10
By jay
anyone ever seen that movie, Into the Wild… supertramp died a painful death in the end from eating the wrong berries. what he learned from his journy: happiness is only real when shared
8.29.10
By Carlos
You should go back to elementary school, You travel in the USA, did NOT cross America. As little as I know, America is a continent and in order to cross America, you should cross several borders. jajajajajajajaja.
8.29.10
By john wharton
It is pretty stupid but I would love to have done something like this when I could walk that far.
Now how does he keep from becoming one of us money mad Americans?
8.29.10
By popo
whatever forest
8.29.10
By Chris
Mark,
Congratulations on your trek. You are to be admired for your determination and endurance. My great-grandfather was the first man to walk around the world. His name was Anton Hanslin, and he too pushed a “pramulator” a push cart type buggy, as he pushed his wife and daughter. My grandfather was born on the trip and left with relatives in New york. It took him 2 years to make the trip and he did it on a bet. The prize was$2000.00 and a plantation. If you are interested I can send you some newspaper clippings that followed his travels. He was also featured and followed by “Ripleys Believe it or Not!”cartoon strip. The sad part of this story was he never returned to New York to get my grandfather. He was raised by a wealthy Uncle, and didnt speak of his family (father,Mother or sister) much of his life.
Anyway, you are an amazing young man. Now put your life lessons in your college education and and do something “grand “ for the world.
8.29.10
By Dylan
I think this guy is cute and has sexy legs.
8.29.10
By CHUCK
what a worthless idiot !!
8.29.10
By outofactor
Arizona is where I live and I can tell you the highway patrol has the most brutes of any state. I had a rookie cop say it was not my signature after I just signed the citation. When he asked to look in my car I said he could if he brought a sniff dog but not before then so what does he do he hand cuffs me and puts me in the cruiser back seat and goes to my wife and starts shifting through our stuff. When I already told him to get a warrant. There was no probable cause to suspect me of wrong doing. Arizona is a gestapo state. You can not trust the Highway patrol here in Arizona. The DPS likes to provoke you so they can get you on more charges. Maybe even tase you…..
8.29.10
By hardmonkey
Cops love to tase people… it along with OC spray are the only forms of torture (cruel and unusual punishment)that can be used without prolonged effects (evidence by the time you go to court) and there is no consequence to the officer. Feel free to Youtube some of the many cases where officers tase people where it appears completely unnecessary. How did police manage before non-lethals came about? Oh wait, they weren’t total Pr*cks and people actually respected them (with the exception of New York and Chicago) :) I hope everyone has a nice day knowing our government is becoming a police state.
