10 ms·

Man Walks Nearly 3000 Miles Through China

111 points by richardknop 13y ago

frenger 13y ago
> A lot of people look at the video thinking “I want to be free like that guy!” – but they don’t realize that I was driven by something, and maybe I was losing control over it.” very interesting
- admiraltbags 13y ago
  As someone who just quit his job to walk 2650+ miles along the pacific crest trail I found his last statement very interesting as well. I'm a pretty normal tech industry hacker who can sometimes be socially awkward and definitely a bit introverted. I'm hiking the PCT because it will force me through things I find uncomfortable like being alone, and meeting new people. As I see it, I'm forcing myself through a tumbler and hoping what comes out the other end is more in line with who I want to be. Very different reasons.
  - cellover 13y ago
    Everyone has different reasons for starting such an adventure but I tend to think that "hoping for a change" might be the worst. Don't get me wrong, I respect this idea, I just feel the starting asumption may lead you somewhere you did not expect at first. You might not like what you find during your adventure, you might not like what you discover of yourself, you might lie to yourself, incounciously trying to convince yourself that you're on the right path. Trying to stay really objective towards oneself during such a trip is quite a challenge by itself, a very interesting one. I feel that hiking / biking for the sake of it, for the beauty of the world, of its people, for the physical performance is a much more truthful experience than any other self-conviction goal. In the end, what counts stays in you, in your eyes, in your heart and muscles. And that's not the kind of things you can sum up by a video, a blog or any slideshow back home. That said, I wish sincerely that you find yourself!
    - dasil003 13y ago
      I don't get the logic here. "hoping for a change" is certainly a difficult emotion that is not easily resolved and we shouldn't delude ourselves into believing in silver bullets, but why is it worse going out on an adventure than staying where you are? At least you get some exercise, which in my mind is always a good start for inducing an improvement in one's mental state.
      - cellover 13y ago
        Absolutely agreed! But even if the body helps the mind, it can be hard facing yourself, hard admitting you took the wrong direction especially if you are doing it alone.
    - admiraltbags 13y ago
      TLDR: It'll ultimately be a good experience, I can't fathom it being bad in the end. --- I disagree. I would say it's bad if it is your only course of action towards improving your situation without trying or considering other options than yes, not the best idea ever. For me though it's much different and a lot of consideration went in to my decision. I'll try not to bore you with details but I want to numb a few social emotional responses I have as an introvert who wants to be more sociable and outgoing. As much as I try to keep a focus on doing that in day to day life it's challenging for me with all the distractions (mostly work). I see the PCT as a way of repeatedly forcing these interactions in a natural way. Everyone I've met as a backpacker/hiker were friendly and approachable and considering your current situation on the PCT you both have a big glaring thing in common that will make connecting that much easier. My problem tends to be finding common ground with your average person and I'm hoping to develop some strategy of doing so easier. What better way to get better at this than to force myself to do it repeatedly while simultaneously doing something I love (backpacking)? I can't say the goal I have in mind is the correct one, can't say it will absolutely make me a happier/better person... but believe without any doubts that it will have a positive impact on me either through being in better shape or by improving my introspective views, sociability, or my tenacity for taking on challenges, etc.
the1 13y ago
that's about a month's distance to run for a normal long distance runners (90 miles/week).
- mchanson 13y ago
  gotta work on that math buddy
- rahimnathwani 13y ago
  90 miles per day?
- keerthiko 13y ago
  Varsity level distance athletes I knew wouldn't run 12 miles a day 7 days a week all month, not even when training. They do more like 5-7 miles, for about 5 days a week during off-season (and something like 15-24 miles about twice about a month or so prior to a marathon event). So it's more like 40-60 miles a week, for a fairly committed athlete? Not just that, your math indicates running for 30 weeks at 90 miles/week...not a month. That's 7 months =) More realistically, a really athletic guy who has the comfort of nice running clothes and comfortable places to rest and has been training for a few years, would cover maybe 50 miles running and an additional 28 miles walking each week, and still take about 7 months. You'll look less silly if you double check why people are impressed by something before dismissing it as trivial (by your tone that's what you seemed to do).
  - zimpenfish 13y ago
    Coo, I feel better about not being at all athletic and still averaging 73km/45mi of (recorded) walking a week for 2014 (746km as of yesterday). Not sure how long I could keep up 90mi/week though...
- daliusd 13y ago
  About all commenters making fun of you. You meant 7 months (33 weeks). Ultramarathon each day is beyond capabilities of any living (or dead) man on this planet.
arethuza 13y ago
Something similar - 10,000km from Mongolia to Hungary by Horse on the Trail of Genghis Khan: http://www.timcopejourneys.com/page/journeys/on-the-trail-of-genghis-khan/ http://www.timcopejourneys.com/page/journeys/on-the-trail-of...
Sprint 13y ago
Direct link to video: http://vimeo.com/4636202 http://vimeo.com/4636202
carsonreinke 13y ago
I highly suggest reading `The Places in Between` (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95643.The_Places_in_Between https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95643.The_Places_in_Betw...) about something similar.
sanoli 13y ago
Call me jaded, but this is another "let's travel somewhere exotic/remote and post about it later because it's cool" doesn't get me anymore. But I don't get why he didn't just start walking from where he was. If you want to wander and just walk, start from there, no need to go to China. Like I said, a little bit jaded.
- OlivierLi 13y ago
  I also would have liked to know why he didn't leave from where he lived. I bet the slow change of lifestyle and landscape going from western Europe to Asia would have been really interesting to experience.
- leyfa 13y ago
  I've read parts of his book. He had already been living in China as a student for a few years when he decided to start his trip, if I remember correctly.
- avar 13y ago
  If you live in a rich western country and want to take time off to wander then it's going to be less expensive to do so in a country like China. It's also probably much more interesting to go to a poorer country where people are more likely to be farming out in the countryside or walking/biking around than just walking by some highway in a western country.
  - moron4hire 13y ago
    I take it you live in a city. I'm guessing because I've learned that even educated city-folk really have no fucking clue what goes on a mere 15 miles out of their city limits. You could--today, right now, right this very minute--probably get somewhere in less than an hour where people are farming in the countryside, biking around, etc. You could get out there and see it and be back in time for lunch. I live in one of the most expensive, overpopulated regions of the United States, and taking an hour drive west--with most of that hour being dealing with traffic just to get past the first 10 miles--and be in gorgeous, rural countryside with hills and trees and beautiful fields and streams and animals everywhere. Or I could even stay home. I could walk down one of the hundreds of streets I've never walked down before. And it will most likely be a veritable smorgasbord of new experiences. Just because you've parked your butt in one place for a while doesn't mean you know everything about it. Geography is a dense place.
PhantomGremlin 13y ago
Bah. Headline is misleading. There aren't "photos", it's a 5:18 video.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
jzwinck 13y ago
I walked 113 miles (182 km) of the South West Coast Path in Cornwall, England. That took "only" 9 days, but it was enough that when I arrived in a decent-size town after a week of walking, I felt a sort of vertigo simply from being around so many people, shops, and all the rest. A week spent just walking (and eating full English breakfast every single day) was enough to feel something really different. I highly recommend ultra-long walks, and the South West Coast Path (600 miles and two months to do the whole thing). There's nothing quite like it.
- arethuza 13y ago
  I'm contemplating walking the Scottish National Trail (http://www.scottishnationaltrail.org.uk/ http://www.scottishnationaltrail.org.uk/) - backpacking and using bothies (http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/ http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/). I've walked a fair bit of this trail before - at least the bits in the Highlands and walking it in one go would be rather cool. Cycling round the North Sea would be rather interesting as well (http://www.northsea-cycle.com/ http://www.northsea-cycle.com/).
- hemmer 13y ago
  I too would recommend these types of walk - a couple of other ideas for long trails that I've particularly enjoyed: - Lykian Way, Turkey (http://www.lycianway.com/ http://www.lycianway.com/) - Rota Vincentina, Portugal (http://www.rotavicentina.com/ http://www.rotavicentina.com/)
- nsaparanoid 13y ago
  Question - what gear did you take, etc? You mention the english breakfast every day - I take it that meant you stayed in a village every day? So no camping gear etc? Did you buy new supplies in each place?
  - jzwinck 13y ago
    Two of us went on the premise of a long weekend. We liked it so much we stayed on the trail for the whole week, and only returned home due to a prior appointment (which proved useless, drat). So we had clothes for three days and we did washing in the basin each evening. We had a small laptop, snacks, and not much else. The South West Coast Path is dotted with B&Bs, inns, pubs with accommodation, etc. These are often placed at convenient distances apart, 10 or 20 km at most usually. Accommodation prices ranged from 50 GBP at a simple golf course (the room had no proper heat, but the lounge/restaurant was charming) to 95 GBP at the Tinners Arms in Zennor (population 217 as of this writing), a spotless room above a pub from the thirteenth century. The chef there was from afar and cooked spectacular food in this, the middle of nowhere. You can camp instead, and in the high season you may even need to. We went in autumn when there were few distance walkers (downsides: not warm, some rain, quite a bit of mud in spots, every sleeping place in Porthcurno closed for the winter, but a B&B took us in and the local Elvis impersonator invited us to stay with him but he drove a camper van so...).
morgante 13y ago
I highly recommend long hikes/walks as a method of realigning yourself (and improving health). For my father's 60th birthday, we hiked the 270 miles of the Long Trail. It was a grueling experience at first, but one of the best things I've ever done. We became much closer afterwards, and I lost about 40 lbs.
danso 13y ago
So, I'm guessing blogspammy Upworthy links are banned, but upworthy-clone links aren't yet? This side by side comparison of the two sites' layouts will shock you: http://i.imgur.com/kvcdjCB.png http://i.imgur.com/kvcdjCB.png
chrisBob 13y ago
Thats about how any long trail hiker looks. My personal best is the John Muir trail (15 days no resupply). That was plenty to see a difference. My wife and I both lost about 10 lbs, and neither of us had that much to loose. I actually got sick and threw up after eating regular food at a restaurant the day we finished. Some day I would like to do an art project of before and after photos of all of the AT hikers one year. I think it would be impressive, and would only require a few weeks at the start and about a month or so at the finish to get a good group of people.
ygra 13y ago
His (more or less) regular blog posts along the way are also quite interesting at times. Plus: plenty of nice pictures. http://www.thelongestway.com/ http://www.thelongestway.com/
epaladin 13y ago
I'd really like to do a real long-distance walk/hike eventually. I tried walking south out of Nagoya station in Japan, aiming to get Hiroshima, but I only ended up going about 50 miles before I ran out of time and had to take the train the rest of the way. I didn't make nearly as much progress as I hoped, at least part due to shoes that weren't appropriate at all, and hadn't been broken in. That was a huge surprise, as I had spent the rest of the year training for a marathon, and figured I was plenty used to foot pain. So I learned that shoes matter just as much for walking as they do for running when it comes to long distance. I was hoping it was going to be a transformative experience, but either I didn't try hard enough to break habits, or a few days wasn't enough time. Now that I've learned a thing or two about mindfulness, I feel like I'd approach it differently in terms of attitude/mindset. It was still an interesting adventure.
rplnt 13y ago
The share functionality over the video blocks me from allowing that particular flash to load/play. So I can either enable all plugins or not watch the embedded video at all. Just a thought for web developers.
ilovecookies 13y ago
more reddit stuff horay. BTW this video is super old. Was going around alot on facebook at the time.
1986v 13y ago
Is that 3000 miles with or without backtracking to pick up the camera he often walked by?
infecto 13y ago
Fun to watch ancient videos resurface.
archagon 13y ago
Here's the FAQ: http://www.thelongestway.com/frequently-asked-questions http://www.thelongestway.com/frequently-asked-questions
kyrra 13y ago
Note, if you look at the actual Vimeo page[0], this was originally posted on May 13, 2009. [0] http://vimeo.com/4636202 http://vimeo.com/4636202
- unreal37 13y ago
  And he did the walk in 2007/2008...
orph 13y ago
I calculate my life saving in terms of years I can spend walking non-stop. At ~20 years worth, I'll begin. After soloing Annapurna and GR20 and many US national parks, walking is the only thing I really want to do with my life.

111 points by richardknop 13y ago

> A lot of people look at the video thinking “I want to be free like that guy!” – but they don’t realize that I was driven by something, and maybe I was losing control over it.” very interesting

admiraltbags 13y ago
As someone who just quit his job to walk 2650+ miles along the pacific crest trail I found his last statement very interesting as well. I'm a pretty normal tech industry hacker who can sometimes be socially awkward and definitely a bit introverted. I'm hiking the PCT because it will force me through things I find uncomfortable like being alone, and meeting new people. As I see it, I'm forcing myself through a tumbler and hoping what comes out the other end is more in line with who I want to be. Very different reasons.
- cellover 13y ago
  Everyone has different reasons for starting such an adventure but I tend to think that "hoping for a change" might be the worst. Don't get me wrong, I respect this idea, I just feel the starting asumption may lead you somewhere you did not expect at first. You might not like what you find during your adventure, you might not like what you discover of yourself, you might lie to yourself, incounciously trying to convince yourself that you're on the right path. Trying to stay really objective towards oneself during such a trip is quite a challenge by itself, a very interesting one. I feel that hiking / biking for the sake of it, for the beauty of the world, of its people, for the physical performance is a much more truthful experience than any other self-conviction goal. In the end, what counts stays in you, in your eyes, in your heart and muscles. And that's not the kind of things you can sum up by a video, a blog or any slideshow back home. That said, I wish sincerely that you find yourself!
  - dasil003 13y ago
    I don't get the logic here. "hoping for a change" is certainly a difficult emotion that is not easily resolved and we shouldn't delude ourselves into believing in silver bullets, but why is it worse going out on an adventure than staying where you are? At least you get some exercise, which in my mind is always a good start for inducing an improvement in one's mental state.
    - cellover 13y ago
      Absolutely agreed! But even if the body helps the mind, it can be hard facing yourself, hard admitting you took the wrong direction especially if you are doing it alone.
  - admiraltbags 13y ago
    TLDR: It'll ultimately be a good experience, I can't fathom it being bad in the end. --- I disagree. I would say it's bad if it is your only course of action towards improving your situation without trying or considering other options than yes, not the best idea ever. For me though it's much different and a lot of consideration went in to my decision. I'll try not to bore you with details but I want to numb a few social emotional responses I have as an introvert who wants to be more sociable and outgoing. As much as I try to keep a focus on doing that in day to day life it's challenging for me with all the distractions (mostly work). I see the PCT as a way of repeatedly forcing these interactions in a natural way. Everyone I've met as a backpacker/hiker were friendly and approachable and considering your current situation on the PCT you both have a big glaring thing in common that will make connecting that much easier. My problem tends to be finding common ground with your average person and I'm hoping to develop some strategy of doing so easier. What better way to get better at this than to force myself to do it repeatedly while simultaneously doing something I love (backpacking)? I can't say the goal I have in mind is the correct one, can't say it will absolutely make me a happier/better person... but believe without any doubts that it will have a positive impact on me either through being in better shape or by improving my introspective views, sociability, or my tenacity for taking on challenges, etc.

the1 13y ago

that's about a month's distance to run for a normal long distance runners (90 miles/week).

mchanson 13y ago
gotta work on that math buddy
rahimnathwani 13y ago
90 miles per day?
keerthiko 13y ago
Varsity level distance athletes I knew wouldn't run 12 miles a day 7 days a week all month, not even when training. They do more like 5-7 miles, for about 5 days a week during off-season (and something like 15-24 miles about twice about a month or so prior to a marathon event). So it's more like 40-60 miles a week, for a fairly committed athlete? Not just that, your math indicates running for 30 weeks at 90 miles/week...not a month. That's 7 months =) More realistically, a really athletic guy who has the comfort of nice running clothes and comfortable places to rest and has been training for a few years, would cover maybe 50 miles running and an additional 28 miles walking each week, and still take about 7 months. You'll look less silly if you double check why people are impressed by something before dismissing it as trivial (by your tone that's what you seemed to do).
- zimpenfish 13y ago
  Coo, I feel better about not being at all athletic and still averaging 73km/45mi of (recorded) walking a week for 2014 (746km as of yesterday). Not sure how long I could keep up 90mi/week though...
daliusd 13y ago
About all commenters making fun of you. You meant 7 months (33 weeks). Ultramarathon each day is beyond capabilities of any living (or dead) man on this planet.

arethuza 13y ago

Something similar - 10,000km from Mongolia to Hungary by Horse on the Trail of Genghis Khan: http://www.timcopejourneys.com/page/journeys/on-the-trail-of-genghis-khan/ http://www.timcopejourneys.com/page/journeys/on-the-trail-of...

Sprint 13y ago

Direct link to video: http://vimeo.com/4636202 http://vimeo.com/4636202

carsonreinke 13y ago

I highly suggest reading `The Places in Between` (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95643.The_Places_in_Between https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95643.The_Places_in_Betw...) about something similar.

sanoli 13y ago

Call me jaded, but this is another "let's travel somewhere exotic/remote and post about it later because it's cool" doesn't get me anymore. But I don't get why he didn't just start walking from where he was. If you want to wander and just walk, start from there, no need to go to China. Like I said, a little bit jaded.

OlivierLi 13y ago
I also would have liked to know why he didn't leave from where he lived. I bet the slow change of lifestyle and landscape going from western Europe to Asia would have been really interesting to experience.
leyfa 13y ago
I've read parts of his book. He had already been living in China as a student for a few years when he decided to start his trip, if I remember correctly.
avar 13y ago
If you live in a rich western country and want to take time off to wander then it's going to be less expensive to do so in a country like China. It's also probably much more interesting to go to a poorer country where people are more likely to be farming out in the countryside or walking/biking around than just walking by some highway in a western country.
- moron4hire 13y ago
  I take it you live in a city. I'm guessing because I've learned that even educated city-folk really have no fucking clue what goes on a mere 15 miles out of their city limits. You could--today, right now, right this very minute--probably get somewhere in less than an hour where people are farming in the countryside, biking around, etc. You could get out there and see it and be back in time for lunch. I live in one of the most expensive, overpopulated regions of the United States, and taking an hour drive west--with most of that hour being dealing with traffic just to get past the first 10 miles--and be in gorgeous, rural countryside with hills and trees and beautiful fields and streams and animals everywhere. Or I could even stay home. I could walk down one of the hundreds of streets I've never walked down before. And it will most likely be a veritable smorgasbord of new experiences. Just because you've parked your butt in one place for a while doesn't mean you know everything about it. Geography is a dense place.

PhantomGremlin 13y ago

Bah. Headline is misleading. There aren't "photos", it's a 5:18 video.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

jzwinck 13y ago

I walked 113 miles (182 km) of the South West Coast Path in Cornwall, England. That took "only" 9 days, but it was enough that when I arrived in a decent-size town after a week of walking, I felt a sort of vertigo simply from being around so many people, shops, and all the rest. A week spent just walking (and eating full English breakfast every single day) was enough to feel something really different. I highly recommend ultra-long walks, and the South West Coast Path (600 miles and two months to do the whole thing). There's nothing quite like it.

arethuza 13y ago
I'm contemplating walking the Scottish National Trail (http://www.scottishnationaltrail.org.uk/ http://www.scottishnationaltrail.org.uk/) - backpacking and using bothies (http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/ http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/). I've walked a fair bit of this trail before - at least the bits in the Highlands and walking it in one go would be rather cool. Cycling round the North Sea would be rather interesting as well (http://www.northsea-cycle.com/ http://www.northsea-cycle.com/).
hemmer 13y ago
I too would recommend these types of walk - a couple of other ideas for long trails that I've particularly enjoyed: - Lykian Way, Turkey (http://www.lycianway.com/ http://www.lycianway.com/) - Rota Vincentina, Portugal (http://www.rotavicentina.com/ http://www.rotavicentina.com/)
nsaparanoid 13y ago
Question - what gear did you take, etc? You mention the english breakfast every day - I take it that meant you stayed in a village every day? So no camping gear etc? Did you buy new supplies in each place?
- jzwinck 13y ago
  Two of us went on the premise of a long weekend. We liked it so much we stayed on the trail for the whole week, and only returned home due to a prior appointment (which proved useless, drat). So we had clothes for three days and we did washing in the basin each evening. We had a small laptop, snacks, and not much else. The South West Coast Path is dotted with B&Bs, inns, pubs with accommodation, etc. These are often placed at convenient distances apart, 10 or 20 km at most usually. Accommodation prices ranged from 50 GBP at a simple golf course (the room had no proper heat, but the lounge/restaurant was charming) to 95 GBP at the Tinners Arms in Zennor (population 217 as of this writing), a spotless room above a pub from the thirteenth century. The chef there was from afar and cooked spectacular food in this, the middle of nowhere. You can camp instead, and in the high season you may even need to. We went in autumn when there were few distance walkers (downsides: not warm, some rain, quite a bit of mud in spots, every sleeping place in Porthcurno closed for the winter, but a B&B took us in and the local Elvis impersonator invited us to stay with him but he drove a camper van so...).

morgante 13y ago

I highly recommend long hikes/walks as a method of realigning yourself (and improving health). For my father's 60th birthday, we hiked the 270 miles of the Long Trail. It was a grueling experience at first, but one of the best things I've ever done. We became much closer afterwards, and I lost about 40 lbs.

danso 13y ago

So, I'm guessing blogspammy Upworthy links are banned, but upworthy-clone links aren't yet? This side by side comparison of the two sites' layouts will shock you: http://i.imgur.com/kvcdjCB.png http://i.imgur.com/kvcdjCB.png

chrisBob 13y ago

Thats about how any long trail hiker looks. My personal best is the John Muir trail (15 days no resupply). That was plenty to see a difference. My wife and I both lost about 10 lbs, and neither of us had that much to loose. I actually got sick and threw up after eating regular food at a restaurant the day we finished. Some day I would like to do an art project of before and after photos of all of the AT hikers one year. I think it would be impressive, and would only require a few weeks at the start and about a month or so at the finish to get a good group of people.

ygra 13y ago

His (more or less) regular blog posts along the way are also quite interesting at times. Plus: plenty of nice pictures. http://www.thelongestway.com/ http://www.thelongestway.com/

epaladin 13y ago

I'd really like to do a real long-distance walk/hike eventually. I tried walking south out of Nagoya station in Japan, aiming to get Hiroshima, but I only ended up going about 50 miles before I ran out of time and had to take the train the rest of the way. I didn't make nearly as much progress as I hoped, at least part due to shoes that weren't appropriate at all, and hadn't been broken in. That was a huge surprise, as I had spent the rest of the year training for a marathon, and figured I was plenty used to foot pain. So I learned that shoes matter just as much for walking as they do for running when it comes to long distance. I was hoping it was going to be a transformative experience, but either I didn't try hard enough to break habits, or a few days wasn't enough time. Now that I've learned a thing or two about mindfulness, I feel like I'd approach it differently in terms of attitude/mindset. It was still an interesting adventure.

rplnt 13y ago

The share functionality over the video blocks me from allowing that particular flash to load/play. So I can either enable all plugins or not watch the embedded video at all. Just a thought for web developers.

ilovecookies 13y ago

more reddit stuff horay. BTW this video is super old. Was going around alot on facebook at the time.

1986v 13y ago

Is that 3000 miles with or without backtracking to pick up the camera he often walked by?

infecto 13y ago

Fun to watch ancient videos resurface.

archagon 13y ago

Here's the FAQ: http://www.thelongestway.com/frequently-asked-questions http://www.thelongestway.com/frequently-asked-questions

kyrra 13y ago

Note, if you look at the actual Vimeo page[0], this was originally posted on May 13, 2009. [0] http://vimeo.com/4636202 http://vimeo.com/4636202

unreal37 13y ago
And he did the walk in 2007/2008...

orph 13y ago

I calculate my life saving in terms of years I can spend walking non-stop. At ~20 years worth, I'll begin. After soloing Annapurna and GR20 and many US national parks, walking is the only thing I really want to do with my life.