DLC Blog

Ianwalk

My high school Spanish teacher was always a bit of a character. He had a sense of adventure that could rival James Bond’s. He also had an interesting passion: long-distance walking. Over one spring break he walked all of the way from Portland to Bend (about 170 miles) for no particular reason at all.

Several years ago he decided to take an interesting trip. He quit his job as a high school Spanish teacher and started a trip from the southernmost tip of South America to the Arctic Circle. What’s the catch? He’s doing it entirely on foot.

The idea came to him while biking across the US. He says that somewhere in Ohio he approached a llama that caught his attention while biking. When he got close to the llama, he swore that it told him to walk from Patagonia to Alaska.

Well, about 3 ½ years later he has made his way up Argentina and Chile, through Bolivia and much of Perú. Currently, he is trekking through the central Peruvian highlands. At first he carried his belonging in a backpack. Then he got a donkey to carry his goods. Finally, he put together a special walking cart that he pushes in front of him on the road.

As of May 25, 2006, he had walked 5,148 miles, 9,942,000 steps, and has gone through 7 pairs of heavy-duty walking shoes.

He has a website with amazing pictures and stories that I really suggest that you visit. The URL is www.ianwalk.com

Here are some DLC links to information about the countries that he has walked through so far.
Peru (Geographia)
A Glance at Peru
Bolivia (CARE)
Bolivia (BBC)
Chile (Geographia)
Spotlight on Chile
Argentina (Geographia)
Argentina (BBC)

The pictures in this blog were taken from www.ianwalk.com

Michael Lambert
Student Assistant

Posted by Michael at August 8, 2006 05:00 PM in Humanities.