Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening,
everybody, and welcome to today's special episode
of the Never Peak Project Podcast. My name is
Coach Ranger, I'm your host today, and in today's
episode, we're gonna be talking to a couple of
gentlemen that are planning to do what I did
last year and walk across America. This is part
of my, I don't know, annual Walk Across America
rehash where I talk to different people that
have, either are planning to, currently are or
already have walked across America. I'm hoping
to do this every March in honor of my walk just
to kind of bring awareness to the amazing people
there are in the world that are looking to do
incredible things with their life and impact
those around them. But I'm going to kind of just
let them tell their own story and give us their
thoughts and opinions. But today we have Philip
Grelly and Drew Diaz, The Live -In Project. Guys,
how's it going? It's going great. I love the
introduction right there. You got me hyped up
already. That's the plan, man. How's it going,
guys? What are you guys up to? So, I mean, we've
been staying busy. We're 41 days, 41 days until
we go on our walk. We're just trying to get content
out every day. You know, some of it's preparation
for our walk. Some of it, we get a little off
track and do some funny pranks. But it's been
fun. We've been busy. Yeah, I mean, it's... It's
been filming and editing every day. I think right
now, we've been doing pretty much all content
every day. Definitely need to get into working
out more seriously every day. But it's been a
grind, and I think we've both been loving it.
Gotcha. I definitely want to talk a bit more
about your guys' Instagram, which all of their
contact information, all of their socials are
going to be linked down in the show notes so
that everybody can follow them and show some
love and support to a couple guys doing cool
things. before we get into what you guys are
doing now to prep what i'm curious about is how
did you even get the idea to do a walk across
america uh and what's your purpose your why your
mission like where'd you get the idea and why
are you deciding to do this um well that like
the spawn of the idea was a couple years ago
senior year in my english class shout out to
mr bravo uh he brought up This story of this
woman, however many years ago, 20, 30 years ago,
who would walk across America and Canada, maybe
Mexico too, for like 30 something years. I might
not be getting that story exactly right, but
did something crazy like that with just a shirt
on her back, would rely on the kindness of people.
And then he brought up a guy who tried it more
recently, like cut up his credit cards, tried
to do the same thing and like failed after less
than two days. For some reason, I was like. huh
like that sounds kind of awesome like i want
to do that and for the whole english period i
just like i don't know what it was i was just
daydreaming i'm like for some reason this just
sounds awesome i'm like this you know maybe i
would do it and i'd film it or all this um and
then i guess like a year and a half go by and
i'm still thinking about it like a lot a lot
still just not leaving my mind um and then eventually
i brought up the idea to to drew here um and
yeah so he uh I was in college in San Diego.
He was in Arizona. He texts me. He says, Drew,
3 a .m. He says, Drew, I got to tell you something
crazy, life changing, and you'll never believe
it. I'm like, OK, hit me. What is it? He's like,
but I got to tell you in person. So he made me
wait three months until we met over summer at
my house. And we're in my backyard. And he told
me, Drew, I want to walk across America with
you. I want to do it for charity and I want to
do it through social media. I think it'll change
our lives and I think it'll benefit both of us.
And I said. You know, Philip, you're crazy. I
would never, ever do anything like that. Me personally.
And I basically shut him down. And he texted
me later that night, just a super, super long
paragraph about why we would do it, why he thinks
we should do it, and just going on and on. And
maybe two months go by, and I'm thinking about
it almost every day. In the middle of July, I
just think to myself. you know what when i'm
80 years old am i gonna regret doing something
like this and failing or it not be worth it or
am i gonna sit there and think what would have
happened if i would have just so i was like philip
let's do it i love that okay so just to clarify
philip had the idea first and then enrolled drew
in the idea of it exactly so what how do how
do you guys know each other like from high school
college Well, we actually I guess first time
we met was elementary school, but we probably
became like best friends. Super close. Sixth
grade. So been a long time coming. How cool.
OK, so childhood's best friends turned into cross
-country adventures together. So there's a lot
of things that are kind of coming up. I'm a big
quotes guy. So the first one is you guys know
Mike Posner is the guy that inspired me for my
walk. And one of his big reasons behind it was
he was told, not all crazy ideas are great, but
all great ideas are crazy. And that's coming
up a lot in your guys' story for me. And there's
another book called The Art of Possibility by
Rosamund and her husband Xander and Xander. And
one of the stories from there is the importance
of telling someone important something in person.
So why did it feel like you needed to tell? him
in person rather than just over text like what
what drove that that that's funny actually i
feel like we might be scrolling on the same reels
i get those same quotes popping up and i think
i sent those to him when we were talking about
this um but to do it in person honestly that
3 a .m text looking back was kind of just a dick
move of me being like i want to tell you so bad
so i'm going to text you but i can't tell you
in person um i don't know it just felt like Like
the event, the event that I'm kind of pitching
or this crazy sort of thing is like, like, that's
just not something I want to do. Not face to
face, like in my head. And now in both of our
heads, I feel like this is a life changing, insane,
crazy thing. Like, it's not like, hey, bro, do
you want to, you know, come and have a sleepover
or something? It's like this is potentially changing
the path of our life. So I was like, there's
no doubt this has to be told in person. Gotcha.
Okay. And then when it comes to wanting to do
this big, crazy thing, like you heard of somebody
else that done it, you heard of somebody else
that had tried it and failed. What else are you
adding on top of just that desire to do it to
make sure that you get from one side to the other?
Like, do you have like a specific mission or
is it just the adventure of it? So I know for
me personally, at first, I just wanted to push
my mind. I wanted to see what my limitations
were. with my body and my mind. But a few weeks
ago, my grandfather passed away. And like I said,
in his funeral speech posted on Instagram, I
said he was the coolest man ever. And he had
the coolest stories ever. And in turn, I want
those same stories. So over this next year, I
want to create as many cool, memorable, adventurous
stories that I can. And I'm going to do this
for him. Gotcha. And how about you? I mean, I
feel like I can't say there's one reason. Um,
I'd say like one reason that's in my head is
maybe just kind of like simple, but it's just
like my dream. Like I've just, I can't stop thinking
about how much I want to do this. But also I
think just like the different motivations of
like, I've never been to the East coast. Like
I've never seen 99 % of this country. Like what
goes on in Maryland? Like, I don't know. Like
I'll find out. I think that's awesome. But then
I think like the deeper motivations of. of kind
of just like like even now we haven't started
the walk and filming these videos and trying
to promote ourselves and hopefully promote this
charity and and doing this i've never felt such
a sense of like meaning of what i'm doing like
i've never been a big fan of school or or any
of that stuff and to like kind of wake up every
day and be like i feel like i'm creating something
special i feel like i'm i'm maybe bringing joy
to people with some videos i may be doing good
with raising money like doing that and then i
think doing it on the biggest level i feel like
it's just been like lighting a fire under me
yeah no i i definitely are i what i've noticed
with a lot of the walkers and runners that have
done this like a lot of our stories have a lot
of parallels So my grandfather passed away from
Alzheimer's in 2020. And just hearing what was
going on, like behind the scenes, they moved
from California, Oklahoma a couple decades ago.
But hearing, you know, from my Nana and my uncles
that he was kind of slowly forgetting himself
and who they were. It made me realize kind of
just like what you were saying a moment ago.
You know, when I'm. i don't know 85 90 on my
deathbed i i'm not going to regret this should
i be able to remember i did this in the first
place right and something i tell a lot of people
that resonates uh a lot with what philip was
just saying is having multiple reasons as to
why you're doing it i kind of call it the web
of wise Like throughout the journey, throughout
the walk, you'll find more and more reasons.
I guess this is me pushing my own story on you
guys. Like you'll find more and more reasons
to keep going every single day. I didn't even
get my little tagline. There are good people
out there until I was a quarter of the way through
my walk. So it's amazing how your initial reasons
get you to that starting line and how you'll
find more and more throughout the rest of that
journey. And speaking of that journey, what that
day -to -day looks like, what exactly is your
guys' route? And how did you decide which direction
you were going to go and what states you're going
to travel through? I mean, initially, it was
just kind of like very basic research, like how
to walk across America, like literally stuff
like that when it first started. And then it
evolved into getting deeper and deeper into websites.
And we've had a few Zoom calls with some people
who have done long walks and some walks across
America. Shout out to all of them. They're super
helpful. But I'd say the one website that in
person was, I believe it's called Gin and Faith.
She walked across America. I think she also biked
and rode a horse. something like that. But she
posted her route and then eventually she was
kind enough to respond to an email I sent her
about some questions about the route. And she
was a great resource with kind of us deciding.
I mean, we knew we wanted to do east to west
because weather wise just made more sense. Also,
we live in California and like it'd be kind of
awesome to end pretty close to where we live.
We thought that would also be super cool. But
yeah, I mean, it was mostly just talking with
people, researching and kind of finding the route
that was like, you know, that just made the most
sense and ended where we wanted to end. And,
you know, we didn't want to do like respect all
the hardcore people that do like Maine to Los
Angeles, but we just wanted to go from coast
to coast. I did the very same thing. I remember
asking chat GPT before I started, like, how do
you walk across America? And it's like saying
like, you know, oh, that's very dangerous. Be
sure that you prepare ahead of time. And it's
like a lot of the like the wiki how like the
very basic stuff doesn't really help. And what
I did was I reached out to a few guys like Andrew
Kivett, Mark Dudek, like how you reached out
to Jen and Faith. And it's so amazing how quickly
people are willing to hop on Zoom calls or do
phone calls with you to help you figure these
things out ahead of time. Like, you know, it's
not even something you're doing yet. But they're
willing to take that time to help you out and
just really get you from one side to the other.
And when it comes to the day to day of your walk,
what is your plan for like sleeping for? Do you
have any like rules that you've set for yourself
on how you're going to get from one side to the
other? Or is it kind of just figure it out as
it goes? Yeah. So, I mean, we talked to a good
amount of people and they said you can plan as
much as you want. But you're kind of just going
to have to figure it out as it goes. We're going
to mostly do camping in any land that we can.
And then, you know, the occasional hostel or
motel. And yeah, we're going to plan on doing
around 20 miles a day, you know, give or take.
Like you said, kind of figure it out as we go.
Gotcha. And then are you guys going to have like
a cart or a backpack? Like what is your plan
for carrying supplies? Yeah, so we're going to
be pushing a cart. Gotcha. What kind of cart?
We have some names written down, but we haven't
gotten it yet. No. Do you have any recommendations?
You pushed a cart, correct? Yeah, I pushed a
cart. I got my first cart. I named her Old Reliable.
I got her off of Amazon for $120 and did not
last past South Carolina, really. A little bit
into Georgia, she exploded. So I ended up with
a Burley. I went to REI. Uh, my big, uh, I don't
know. I'm not a affiliate with REI, but I will
live, breathe and die by REI. Uh, I got like
the membership. So I got like the discounts and
special offers or whatever, but I just went to
a, what was it? An REI in Athens, Georgia. And
I picked up my burly there. I had a few issues
with the tires, which I can talk a little bit
about with you guys, um, off air or later on
when we have like the switch, the interview.
But the Burley was really, really solid. No major
issues, but that is what I use. I know Mark Dudek
used a Burley, and I've heard of a couple others.
I think even when I was just looking at Gin and
Faith, it might be a Burley if I zoom in. No,
it's a Booyah. I don't know what that is. But
that's what I would recommend for sure is something
that you can easily get parts for. nice yeah
okay so east to west yeah that was the advice
that i got also the the joke was that the east
is more forgiving and that there are more resources
it's you're closer to civilization um no that's
awesome and then when it comes to oh geez well
what are you guys i guess let's see if this question
lands what are you guys giving up in order to
do this walk? Uh, I mean a lot. Uh, I mean, we're
both taking a gap year off school. Um, I mean,
for my personal things, like, I mean, I was having
a great time at school doing well. I was a film,
uh, film major. Um, I got a job there like that
semester that was like probably my ideal film
job at school, managing like social media for
the school. Um, But I quit the job, took a gap
year, left all my friends. Like if this if this
project were to kind of, I guess I don't want
to say fail, but like if we were to not like
no money comes from this at all, I'd go broke.
Like I'm giving up just about everything. Missing
all my family's birthdays, my own birthday, Fourth
of July, everything like. Just about everything
putting on the table for this. Yeah, I'd say
I'm in a similar boat, kind of putting all my
savings into this, taking a year off school,
obviously going to miss my friends. Shout out
to you guys. Miss my family. I'm super close
to my family. I'm going to definitely miss my
family and quit a job. Yeah, I miss my family
too. I'm going to miss them. Yeah, come on. And
then – I will. But, yeah, we're willing to sacrifice
all of that for this walk. I love that. No, I
mean, again, same thing over here. I proposed
to my fiance in January and then started walking
in March. So it was kind of like, I could wait
till I get back. I could do it now. Why wait?
And I think that that was a big thing for me
for 2024 was why wait? Why have these rules for
yourself? No, I think that's really the big thing
is that it's like being clear of. what you're
giving up but being very clear on what you hope
to gain and it sounds like you guys have a very
clear idea of what a successful walk would look
like uh what is your guys's do you guys have
any like side missions for the walk like specific
things you want to see things you want to do
uh like for me i wanted to win a belt buckle
didn't happen but i kind of just kept saying
it hoping that it would happen but is there anything
like that for you guys um have you thought about
that I mean, kind of. I think a lot of the side
missions, I feel like I don't know if there's
much we can say. We definitely have ideas on
the walk. Our plan with the walk is how we've
been posting on Instagram every day, hopefully
posting very often in short form, and hopefully
one time a week on YouTube is the goal right
now. So we've been sort of planning ideas of
like fun things or silly things or challenges
or whatever to kind of add on to the walk each
week just to kind of change things up. But for
like side missions, I feel like it'll be maybe
things that come like like I don't like maybe
we're walking through an area and they're like,
hey, there's this sweet place to go cliff jumping
an hour away and someone offers a ride. OK, maybe
we'll take take some time off from walking and
just, you know, go have a good time. So. I don't
know, at least for me, I feel like the side missions
are kind of things that are just going to spawn
in and be like, yo, there's a national park over
here. Let's go check it out or stuff like that.
Yeah, absolutely. Gotcha. No, I definitely wish
I did a little bit more of like the sightseeing
side missions. I had a few different things for
mine that I was doing. So not like regrets there,
but I definitely think that there are amazingly
some really beautiful spots in the country to
be seen and experienced. But awesome. And then
I know that you guys are supporting a charity
during your walk. Can you guys talk a little
bit about who you're supporting and your reasoning
behind working with them specifically? Yeah.
So from the beginning, Philip came at me. He
was like, I want to do this for charity. I want
to I want to have meaning behind this walk. And
I was like, that's a great idea. And we were
thinking about what's important to us. And the
first thing that came to us was just feeding
the hungry, feeding people in need. People, you
know. that that need the help and after more
research we found this charity convoy of hope
and the first thing we saw is they help feed
the hungry food allocation all that as we kept
going down they do a bunch of other stuff disaster
relief they um they're right now they're helping
in la with all the fires they help um farm workers
rights woman empowerment it's all sorts of um
outsourcing for for like humanitarian aid also
what's really cool with convoy hope was I should
have this figure memorized, but something like
90 something percent of the money that's donated
actually goes to help these causes, which is
one thing my parents were like, look at this
number because it's important of like, you know,
some might it might be like 60 percent of the
money you actually give goes to help people and
40 percent goes to pay their employees and stuff.
So something like 90, 92 percent, 92 sounds right.
The money actually goes to help these causes.
It was a lot of causes we feel very passionate
about and we love what they do as well as that.
It seemed like, you know, the money was really
going towards a really great place. Wow. Yeah.
No, I just found I'm looking at their website
a little bit right now. Yeah. Ninety two percent
goes to the program. Overhead is about eight
percent. So, no, that's that's amazing. That's
a fantastic figure to look at. Do you guys have
like a specific donate link that you're looking
to? Have people funnel donations through or donate
directly to Convoy of Hope? Well, we actually
added the link to our bio literally last night.
Oh, perfect. So at the Living Project on Instagram
or on any of our links, you can tap it and it'll
be there. Or, I mean, always feel free. Just
type in Convoy of Hope. The website will pop
up right away. Either one is amazing. Perfect.
No, and my little challenge, I had my original
goal was $100 ,000 for my charities I was raising
money for. I ended up getting about $9 ,000.
So I definitely think that you guys can, your
goal right here is $5 ,000. You guys are going
to kill it. You're going to do numbers. I mean,
just looking at you guys' socials, you already
have over 5 ,000 followers. You're getting good
reach and good. interaction. So I think you guys
will do pretty solid. I don't know. I'm super
excited for your guys' walk, but no, you guys,
you guys are doing such great work and I'm really
excited to see where this walk takes you and
what you're really able to create from it for
yourselves and those that you impact. But is
there anything else? Well, actually I have one
more question for you. Yeah. I'm kind of stealing
this from another podcast, the Tough Mudder podcast.
But at the end of each episode, the host asks
this. And you guys are walking along one day.
You're in the middle of, I don't know, Alabama.
And you come across a lamp. You pick up the lamp.
You rub it. And a genie pops out. And the genie
says, thank you for releasing me from this lamp.
But instead of granting you a wish, I'm going
to grant you the greatest wish of all. You have
the world's attention for 30 seconds. what is
it that you would want the entire world to know?
Probably one of our fart spray pranks. No, that's
a good, that's no, sorry. That's a really good
question. Man, come on. 30 seconds are ticking.
Oh man. If everyone could just hear that. There's
meaning to life in that at the center of everything
is love. And if you can have love for your friends
and your family and your enemies, nothing else
matters. Beautiful. Philip, Drew, you guys are
going to do such great things. I'm really excited
to see what a... A duo like you guys are going
to do on your walk and the impact you're going
to create and just the people you're going to
inspire. Thank you so much for your guys' time.
If people want to follow along on your journey,
what would be the best way for them to do so?
We are The Livin' Project on Instagram. Livin'
without the G, like Matthew McConaughey. I love
you, I am. The Livin' Project on Instagram. Well,
it'll be that same name on TikTok if TikTok's
still alive. Uh, and then YouTube is living or
the living project. Uh, you'll find it. Um, yeah,
but Ranger, thank you so much for having us.
This is our first podcast. So yeah, that was
awesome. Of course. No guys, I'm excited to,
I don't know, just give you guys that spotlight
for a little bit. Hopefully it helps you guys
out. Um, if you need anything else from me, just
let me know. Awesome. Yeah. Appreciate you so
much. Yeah. All right. Now we're going to go
ahead and move into where. The guests asked the
host questions. So Philip and Drew, do you guys
have any questions for me about the walk? Things
that you guys want to know about or anything
in particular? So I had one question. First thing
that comes to my mind when we talk to people
that I've walked across is how many times have
you wanted to quit during your walk? Why did
you want to quit and what made you keep going?
Yeah, I think for me. A lot of it is kind of
just giving yourself like that zero options mentality,
right? Like I am going to do this or I am going
to die doing this. And for me, kind of like we
mentioned when we were talking a few minutes
ago was having that web of whys, like having
so many different reasons why that you can call
upon at any given moment. I mean, I thought about
quitting mostly up until around Georgia, I would
say. Um, so South Carolina, Georgia, I had more
thoughts of quitting than I did the rest of the
time. And really what it was, was just being
very clear on the reason I was doing it. I mean,
like with you guys, like for me, it was too,
well, I heard about Mike Posner walking in 2019,
2018. So it was something that I had wanted to
do for almost half a decade at that point. And
I got coaching on it. I figured out what my mission
statement was and just really had. that like
stack of reasoning why I wanted to do it. So
anytime I had a thought of quitting or Googling
how close an airport was or pulling up on my
phone, how much it would cost to take an Uber
to the nearest town to get on a plane to go home,
it was kind of just being able to take a second
and remember all of those reasons why. Does that
kind of answer your question or did I just ramble?
No, absolutely. The web of why. really stuck
with me when you first brought that up. And I
think I have my personal web wise, I bet Philip
does too, and we'll keep growing and continue
to expand that web. Yeah. No, I think that that
is super, I don't know, very, very impactful
for me. And once I got to Georgia, I listened
to David Goggins' audio book, Can't Hurt Me.
Have you guys ever read it or heard it? I've
had family that read it and totally recommended
it and will definitely be. I think that's going
to be in the audio book on the, on the wall.
Yeah. So one, one of my, I don't know, saving
graces on the walk was I had YouTube premium
and I could listen to whatever I wanted. And
somebody uploaded that book to, yeah, it's like
six and a half hours long, but it's like the,
the audio book version of it. And it's, it's
insane. So that was like another thing. Once
I heard that, I was like, I have. nothing that
i go through on this walk is going to be as bad
as the things that this guy went through just
being a kid right so there's there's nothing
that that's going to happen to me that bad so
i have really no no real excuse and i listened
to that book in georgia and again once i got
to joshua tree which was the hottest part of
the walk and that really helped i don't know
keep me on it during that time Awesome. Yeah.
What else you guys got? This one's not as deep.
It just came up to us like in the past couple
of days. Just like, what did you do when it was
raining? I imagine like we'll still be walking
when it's raining, but this is just, this just
popped in my brain of like what shoes, like we're
having like running shoes, but like when it was
pouring rain, do you just let your shoes get
wet or were there like certain moments you'd
call it? go inside or how did you kind of navigate
like weather like that yeah so one of my big
rules was don't be dumb and it wasn't necessarily
the water i was always afraid of it was lack
of visibility for cars it was lightning and thunder
uh and just water what is it in jumanji like
a little water never killed no one but a lot
can right so that was something that i was very
cognizant of and there were times that i walked
through uh rainstorms i think it was in arkansas
i got caught in a rainstorm for about an hour
or so before my host family could pick me up
and i mean i was drenched what i ended up doing
during the rainy times was covering my cart with
a tarp to keep everything inside protected i
had a duck's back For my backpack to keep that
dry, because I had, you know, my laptop, podcasting
equipment, battery packs, and other things in
there and in the cart that I didn't want to get
soaked. So it's like, sometimes you have to,
but if you can avoid it, I 100 % would. Because
even if you have, like, I use Ultra Lone Peaks
when I walked. I had a different pair when I
first started. But I switched to those, and I
ended up getting the water -resistant pair eventually.
which helped a lot in the mornings because you
walk through grass and it's kind of dewy and
your feet get wet and it's just uncomfortable.
But once it starts raining and pouring and you're
getting soaked all the way down, it doesn't really
help. And walking four, five, six, I don't know,
20 miles with wet shoes does not feel good and
can lead to infection or, you know, like fungus.
Or was it like athlete's foot? I think that's
how you could get that. So when it comes to your
feet, guys, I would recommend don't screw around.
If you have to take another rest day, take a
rest day. If you have to avoid the weather, avoid
the weather. That would be kind of my take. But
also being very clear on, do we have the opportunity
to take a rest day or do we really have to push
through it? Like, don't be a, I don't know, don't
be a bitch. But don't be dumb. Like there's a
very fine line and you literally walk that every
single day. Does that kind of answer that question?
Yeah, for sure. I like that. Don't be dumb. I
think that's a good rule. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I
don't know. Like you'll really develop like an
instinctual like sixth sense of when things feel
off. Like somebody offers you a ride and you're
like, I don't really know. Or they offer you.
like a place to stay and you're like get a weird
vibe or they offer you food or water like you
know like you'll you'll kind of catch on to that
especially with animals and just driver behavior
so i don't trust trust your gut don't be get
dumb it kind of means the same thing yeah yeah
anything else in particular and there's nothing
too big or small the details matter a lot yeah
i had a question so Just more specifics. How
many miles in total did you do? How many miles
on average and how long did the journey take
you? So let me pull up my spreadsheet. My one
of my best friends, Brett, he is a engineer.
So he was like, you need to have an Excel sheet.
I'll make you one. And it's like it has graphs
and data and steps per day. He he went all out.
I was like, thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. So
let me see. So total miles was 2 ,643 for my
walk. It took me five and a half months. So I
started March 10th and I ended August 31st. And
then my average per day, I had that somewhere
written down. Let me see if I can find it. Ranger
messing around. My average on walking days was
25 .89 miles. My shortest day walking was five
miles. And that was from one hotel to another,
basically. And my two longest days was going
into Fort Smith, Arkansas. That was 39 days or
39 miles. And then my longest day was over 40
miles. My first day in Joshua Tree. So that was
the shortest and longest and the averages in
between. What states did you go through? I went
through the southern states. So I walked through
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, New
Mexico, Arizona, and California. And I did that
route because I wanted to, it sounds weird, I
wanted to hit New Mexico, Arizona, and California
during the summer because that's where I knew
I had the most support. I'm also from California,
so as I got closer to Cali, I knew I'd have more
connections there. And I was worried more about
the rain and snow than I was about the heat.
I mean, the joke is kind of like, well, if you're
cold, you can put on more clothes. But if you're
hot, you only have so many clothes to take off.
But I just felt more comfortable dealing with
the heat than extreme cold. Yeah, absolutely.
And then, so we talked a little bit about the
mental aspect. But physically, how did your body
feel? What was the hardest part? Your feet, your
legs? Just a little bit about how your body felt
during those five and a half months. Mark Dudek,
Andrew Kivett and I, we had a group chat called
cross or coast to coast. And they were kind of
my support during the time because I could ask
them questions I couldn't really ask anybody
else. And same thing with Kenny Mintz. He's another
guy that walked that helped me out a bunch. But
I was it was more of like a he was like the sage
guy that I would call every once in a while.
He's older and he's a veteran. But they all told
me that the first couple of weeks to the first
month or two. Is going to be the worst for your
feet. You have to get your walkers feet. Until.
And then the rest of the time is going to be
fine. But that first month or two. I mean I got
blisters in places. I didn't know was possible.
The chafing. Gets pretty bad. So I'll recommend
you guys some stuff. To like avoid. Your body.
Your lower half of your body exploding basically.
but that was something that you don't, you can't
really prepare for, right? Like Kenny, he did,
he said he walked a thousand miles before he
took his first step. Mark Andrew and I, we didn't
do that much prep, but the biggest things that
I did ahead of time that helped me out was I
got into running and it looks like you guys are
pretty fit and run a good amount. I got into
running, not the furthest I'd ever gone in a
day was a half marathon. And that was utmost.
a year before I did the walk. Uh, but the biggest
thing that helped out was full body weight training.
And I hired a personal trainer for that. And
he, I mean, he lived in Canada. He's like an
online personal trainer, but that was super helpful
to lift heavier and consistently without breaking
my body. Uh, doing squats and deadlifts is terrifying.
If you don't know what you're doing, because
you don't want to pull something, but really
just being able to carry a pack that's, you know,
weighs 20 to 40 pounds and pushing a cart uphill
and downhill and being able to control that,
that was the most valuable. So be prepared for,
I don't know, blisters everywhere, the chafing,
but also ahead of time, just really build up
that full body muscular system is what I would
say there. Did you have anything else? Well,
I was about to ask about preparation, but I think
you gave some good tips there. But I was curious.
I haven't asked anyone about this. Like, what
was life kind of like when you finished a walk?
What was life kind of like? It was like weird
to kind of adjust back to normal life. Like,
what was that whole kind of experience like?
That is a really good question. It was weird,
man. I mean, you go from. like your normal life
to like this big, exciting thing. And you, I
don't know, you get a lot of attention. I mean,
I was on the news in every single state that
I went through, except Texas. So I was on the
news. I was on podcasts. I was in newspapers.
Like I was getting all this attention and I,
I had what a thousand, almost 2000 followers
on Facebook by the time I ended and 500 on Instagram.
And I mean, I, again, I'm like, I, I, I compare
myself to you guys already. I'm like, Holy crap.
Like they're doing something right. Like they're
getting this attention, but like you're, you're
getting this attention and people are telling
you these nice things all the time. And then
you finish, you get on the plane, you get back
home and like, everything is the same, right?
Like nothing's really different. Something that
I kind of, there's two, there's two things. I
found a kitten in Oklahoma. His name was Walker.
I found him my very first day on the side of
the road. Pink eye. He was like, I don't know.
I don't want to say on the verge of death, but
didn't look great. My fiance flew out about a
week after I found him, picked him up and brought
him back to, back to California. I mean, he's,
he's running around our house right now. Like
he's like almost a full grown cat. And something
that I thought of was, you know, like I'm, I'm
halfway through with this journey. I have about
three months left. By the time I get back, that's
not even really going to be my cat. I found him.
I cared for him the first week. I fed him with
a syringe to make sure he got the milk and everything.
And when I get back, it's not going to be him.
But comparing that to myself, it's like, okay,
but am I even the same person that I was on March
9th, the day before I took my first step to August?
Or September 1st when I'm back? Like, what is
that transition like? And then another guy that
I met in Arkansas, Austin Coates, he runs a sober
living house. One of the things that he told
me was with his journey of sobriety and going
from an addict to homeless to rehab to opening
up a sober living house was one of the things
that he realized was, like, no matter where you
are, there you are. If you're doing something
big to run away from something, it's always going
to follow you because that something is you.
So it's really about understanding what's going
on internally and understanding that your surroundings
do impact you, but really what it is is what's
going on inside. So all of that to say is I...
left the walk hoping to be changed and like not,
not a whole lot was different except for me.
And I think that's still something that I'm kind
of wrestling with and trying to understand, you
know, I'm writing my book, I'm writing out all
my notes, trying to really understand that. I
know a couple other walkers have expressed that
as well, that it's like you do this big thing
and then you just kind of go back to being normal
again. So I think that that was kind of a soapbox
moment also. But yeah, I think that that's like
a weird, interesting takeaway. Something to be
cognizant of is post -walk depression. And I
mean, everybody that I talked to that has finished
a walk talked about that. Because like I said,
a lot of attention. It's very exciting. You're
like on constant fight or flight this entire
time. And then you get back and you sleep in
your own bed. And you just kind of like sometimes
people feel like they don't have that purpose
anymore. If you look it up, like post -tour depression
for musicians is a very common thing that they
go through. So I think that that is something
to be wary of. I didn't really experience that
a lot because my mission statement for the walk
ties very closely with my business. So it's kind
of like the walk will never really end for me
because of the way that I designed the mission
around it. It's not just achievement -focused.
It's transformation -focused. Does that make
sense? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that was great
because that's just been something I've been
very curious about because a lot of people, when
we tell them this idea and when we have a conversation
about it, a lot of people are like, man, you
guys are going to be changed so much. I can't
wait to see who you are in a year from now and
all this stuff. That's been going through my
head a lot. I've been very curious about it.
about that after walk kind of life yeah no it's
it's weird like people sometimes do i don't know
what is it it's like humans take six months to
get accustomed to a different situation but it's
like every time that new situation happens so
by the end of it my me and my fiance were kind
of like well i'm walking like i'm in the middle
of nowhere like it's really not that big of a
deal And now we're, what, August, September,
October, November, December, January. We're right
around five, six months of me being back. So
it's like, well, it's... And her and I have had
that conversation, too, where we'll be sitting
there on the couch, like, scrolling through TikTok.
And she'll look up at me and be like, can you
believe you did that? I'm like, it feels like
a fever dream. Like, it doesn't feel real sometimes.
Like, after the fact, you know? Like, I question...
Like, did I really do that? Or was that just
a weird dream? So it's, it's, it's funny how
that kind of works out. Yeah. Yeah. So I know
you've touched over a little bit and this is
a broad question, but from start to finish, how
do you think you have changed as a person? I
think the biggest thing is just. I started understanding
this like about a year or so before the walk.
So I'm trained as a professional life coach.
And during my training, we talked a lot about
worldview and beliefs and understanding that
the way that you see the world is only a fraction
of how it actually works. In one of my episodes,
I kind of related to like a Rubik's cube that
you kind of look at one side of the cube your
entire life. And then one day you kind of realize
like there's. there's several other sides and
then you realize that all those pieces move and
there's all these different combinations and
possibilities and like that was something that
came up for me on the walk constantly was just
understanding that there are really different
people out there that even though we all share
a flag and a banner we're all americans like
everybody's experience is so different And with
my podcast, originally it was the Within Range
Coaching Podcast, which I'm going to do a regrets
video around the first day or around March sometime
from my walk. And I wish I had called it Rangers
Walk Across America Podcast, but that's more
for later. But it was just, there are so many
different people out there that are doing so
many different things. And it's kind of overwhelming,
but really the common thread, and this was my
little slogan that developed over time was there
are good people out there that no matter what
shitty bad things are going on in the world there's
somebody out there trying to do the work to make
it better whether it's for kids that are going
through cancer treatment or animals that were
thrown on the side of the road people going through
their own sobriety journey what whatever it is
there's somebody out there that is doing the
work to make it better So just understanding
that there are so many different types of people
out there with different experiences and worldviews,
but also understanding that there are good people
out there. And really, it's up to us to make
that decision to be one of those good people.
What I would always put on some of my content
was, there's good people out there. If you can't
seem to find one, go look in the mirror. No matter
where you go, again, you're there. So be a good
you. Wow, that's beautiful. Yeah, I mean, I love
that line. That inspires me. Just hearing that
and thinking about the people that we're going
to meet over this. Because I bet you met plenty,
plenty of people. Hundreds, if not thousands.
And honestly, I'm just excited to meet people
of this country. We're not going to have some
of the best experiences sometimes. On the other
hand, we're going to have great experiences and
meet great people. And I truly am excited for
that. Definitely. Yeah, no. And I've always heard
that every walker has one or two really bad experiences.
And I mean, knock on wood that you guys don't
have anything. I didn't really have anything
crazy. There was a time in New Mexico, somebody
tried convincing me that the town I was walking
to wasn't there anymore. I'm like, what the hell
do you mean it's not there anymore? Like, is
this some, like, weird silent hill? Like, the
town's disappeared. And, like, I'm just going
to keep going. Like, whatever. I called my host
family. That was in that next town. And they're
like, were they in a white car? Like, a little
white four -door? I'm like, yeah. They're like,
okay, yeah. I'll tell you who they are later.
So it's, like, weird little things like that
will probably happen. But, like, overall, it's
going to be a very solid, good experience. Again,
don't be dumb. And that's really all you need.
I mean, it's two fit dudes that are doing it,
right? One of the things I talked about was I'm
a six -foot white guy walking through the South.
I don't feel any kind of worry about certain
things. I know it sounds very identity politics
-y. And that's one of the privileges that I had
on it. But at the same time, you still need to
be very cognizant of how you're presenting yourself.
So I think that's also something to keep in mind.
Does that kind of make sense also? I keep saying
that as like my, that's like my filler crutch
word today. No, it totally does. Anything else
you guys can think of that you would need to
know? I feel like. We always get our questions
off and then a couple hours, a couple of days
go by and we think of like six new questions.
That is always how it goes. Yeah. The chafing
thing is a very serious thing. Have you guys
talked to anyone about that? Actually, no. Yeah.
Okay. So here's like the gross body stuff. The
cheeks and thighs. will probably chafe a lot
what i used was body glide you can get it at
like um like rei or like outdoorsy stores it's
just like any anti -chafe um bomb and just put
it anywhere that moves a lot so i put it like
on my thighs like on the back end um because
that hurts so bad when you're walking 20 30 40
miles a day A lot of friction happens and that
is something that will take you out for a day
for rest for sure. It took me out a couple times.
But if you don't, if you like run out or you
can't find it or whatever when you're walking,
regular deodorant also works. I would just recommend
getting unscented stuff just so that like the
scents don't get into any open gross. And on
the blister side, um i got blister like on god
um one of my pinky toes i had a blister on the
side bottom and top at one point and i mean that
shit hurts like you're walking a ton so it kind
of makes sense like that friction that movement
is gonna like it's gonna screw you up um i tried
using blister band -aids but those are meant
for i don't know office workers that walk less
than a mile in a day. But when you're walking
20 to 30, it doesn't really help. So what I ended
up doing for those was popping them and putting
Neosporin in the wounds to make sure that they
don't get infected or anything. But that was
like alleviating the pressure kind of situation.
And like I said, after about a month or so of
walking, your body will get more used to it.
And that will be super helpful. What are you
guys doing for shoes? Well, I think I bought
running shoes or like, I mean, like I asked the
person, like what shoes would be good for just
walking on street, like everyday long distances.
And they're like, you know, street running shoes.
And then I got custom insoles as well. Cause
I got some scoliosis going on just a little bit.
So like my legs are just a little, I'm just a
little uneven. So I got some custom insoles that
help a lot. But shoes wise, I think it's going
to be like, you know, People have been recommending
something like once a month. They said they would
switch to a new pair of shoes, something like
that. Or it's kind of just how they felt. And
then one person gave us advice of potentially
doing something like having two different pairs
of shoes with you. It's like each day or however
long you can switch off. So maybe you're like,
maybe the shoes are good. But if you switch to
another pair of good shoes that are different,
maybe you can put less pressure on the same parts
of your foot. So we've still been debating that
last part. I would have two pairs of shoes. One
so that you can switch them off. What I did was
I got the ultra lone peaks and I would have two
pairs at any given moment, at least. And the
reason for that, like you're saying, it switches
off the pressure points. So you're not putting
the same pressure every single day. I got advice
to switch them out halfway during the day. I
never really did that because the more you stop,
the more. your body hurts, right? Like an object
in motion stays in motion. But I would for sure
try to switch them every single day. The other
thing is you make a mistake and you step in a
puddle and you only have one pair of shoes, you're
soaked until it dries off, which can lead again
to like fungus or foot, like athlete's foot or
all those other issues. So I would definitely
have at least two pairs each. And then like the
nice thick. Have you guys read the book How to
Walk Across America and Not Be an Asshole? I
think my mom read it and I was planning to read
it soon. Okay. That was like my Bible. Uh -huh.
So I would recommend reading that. It's on Amazon.
I can send you guys... I'll send you guys the
Amazon link because... uh how to walk crying
not being an asshole i gotta find it um that
that was super helpful because he goes down to
like get these kinds of socks um and even just
that is super useful tyler colson yeah god send
of a man um and then whatever cart you guys get
um Either try to find the all -rubber inside,
like inner tube, or get a heck ton of replacement
tubes. I think I might have just had worse luck
than other people, but I went through tubes maybe
three or four a week just because the sides of
roads are dirty and there's nails and... um like
the inside of trucker tires like they have those
like sharp wires those got stuck in my tires
constantly and would deflate them and screw it
up so um if you're gonna have air tires make
sure you guys know how to replace them and have
the tools to make it as easy as possible for
yourself okay yeah for sure and then i had another
question for you kind of about diet so on the
walk what did you eat How many calories a day
would you eat? Overall, did you lose, maintain,
or gain weight? I had a nutritionist that helped
me out. I can send you her info if you're interested.
I know her from a networking group that I was
in. She helped me out a ton. The biggest thing
for me was the vitamins that she suggested. I
really tried to stick to what she gave. The issue
with that just became availability and affordability.
So I'll see if I can send you an example, like
at least one of the little plans that she sent
me. She sent me a few of them. Sorry, your question
was around what I ate, right? Yeah. Okay, so
for the first little bit, I tried to carry almost
a week's worth of food on me at any given moment.
And it was a lot of stuff like bread, tortillas
for carbs, peanut butter, jelly for quick sandwiches,
tuna, dried fruit and veggies. So kind of things
that you would think of that you would take on
like a long hike. That's a lot of what I ate.
What I quickly realized, what I didn't think
of this ahead of time, was how frequent i would
be around mcdonald's so when i say mcdonald's
i mean civilization in general uh you know fast
food places regular restaurants um walmart dollar
general i mean in the america south if you walk
out of a dollar general and throw a rock as hard
as you can any direction you're gonna hit another
dollar general like they're they're everywhere
So, yeah, I think just being able to carry like
the important like protein, good fats, carbs,
etc. on you as like a quick go is going to be
super helpful. But also knowing that you'll have
availability. My first month or first couple
weeks, I lost like almost 20 pounds like super
fast. I think that's just because I was doing
20 to 30 miles in a day and I wasn't eating enough.
And that was because I was so focused on walking
that I would forget to eat, which is a thing
that happens. So I lost like 20 pounds within,
I think, three or four weeks, which isn't the
healthiest. And I messaged my nutritionist. I
was like, hey, I think I'm screwing something
up. What's going on? She's like, okay, what are
you eating? I told her everything and I'm like,
I'm following the meal plan. Like I'm hitting
the minimum. Like that's what I'm doing. And
that's when she was like, oh wait, in the email
I sent you, I clarified that that is the minimum
you should be eating. You should be eating two
to 3000 extra calories per day to make up for
the movements. I was like, oh, I didn't read
that part. My bad. So then that's when I introduced
like higher calorie garbage. Um, so, you know,
a lot of gummy candies I got, I would go through
phases where I was like eating a ton of the lifesaver
gummy candies and then it was goldfish and then
Cheez -Its. And then I think the last half from
like, yeah, uh, like Texas to California, I was
super into Pop -Tarts because they have so many
different flavors. They're pretty easy to get.
And I mean, You leave them on top of the cart
in the sun. They warm up a little bit and it's
kind of fun. Or you leave them in the cooler
and they stay cool. That was also helpful. But
by the end of it, I was roughly the same weight.
About 270 -280. So, I don't know. Pretty big
guy. Yeah. Cool. Anything else? I think I'm out.
I don't know. Yeah, I think for now we might
be out of questions, but we'll contact you if
anything comes to mind. Yeah, I mean, we're also
stupid close to each other. So if you guys wanted
to meet up at an REI or sports basement and I
can show you the shit I bought, I'd be super
down for that too. That'd be awesome. Yeah, that'd
be amazing. I'll wear a Spider -Man onesie so
it fits in with one of your guys' silly videos.
Yeah, we'll bring Batman too. Awesome. All right,
guys. Um, yeah, no, if there's anything else
or any way that I can support you guys or help
out, let me know. Um, if you guys want like my
personal number to ask questions when you're
walking, let me know. And I'd be more than happy
to, to support. So awesome. Yeah. Ranger, thank
you so much for your time. This has been an awesome
first podcast experience. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah,
of course. I'm glad. And for all those that are
listening today, thank you so much for your time
and attention. And remember, the best is yet
to come as long as you're willing to make the
decision to never settle, never quit, and never
peak. See you guys next time.