Garth Poorman crossing the Bay of St. Louis
Garth Poorman hopes to get from New York to New Orleans by relying chiefly on the kindness of strangers for shelter, meals, and a place to stay each night. Embarking from his home in New York on August 29, 2009 with only an Iphone, laptop, a few snacks, three changes of clothing, some foot-care products, and a Steinbeck novel, Poorman began his trek across the country on foot. With nothing more than a positive attitude and a feeling that “something good will happen” Poorman must count on acts of kindness in order to complete his journey.
Each day Poorman enters his location and destination on Google maps and finds the shortest distance to get there on foot. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t offer him a place to rest each night. He must rely on a network of strangers, friends, and friends of friends of friends to provide him with a place to stay, regular meals, and other necessities for his journey. His goal is a study in the kindness of strangers and the extent in which they are willing to go in order to help a fellow person. Poorman never questioned his ability to physically make the walk, but rather wanted to find out if he could it with the help of people he didn’t know.
Poorman reveals the fact that connections with strangers is commonplace if there is a slight network already, another individual who knows one of the parties and can speak positively of them. He has illustrated that it is more rare among those with no connection whatsoever, but it still happens. After over 100 days of walking, he has had only one scary experience. Walking 18 miles a day, rain or shine, Poorman continues his journey which is nearing its end. Poorman has chronicled his journey on his blog www.PoormanWalking.com and overwhelmingly proven the kindness of strangers and how simple acts of kindness can make all the difference in the world.
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