Day 69–Sept. 10 Coming soon!

Day 61–Sept. 2 Over the border in Surrey, British Columbia city leaders attempted a truly foul solution to the problem of homelessness. According to an article in the Surrey North Delta Leader, chicken manure was spread around a Whalley social service building on Aug. 14 in an attempt to drive away vagrants. A political relations [...]

Day 35–August 7, 2009 The human body cannot live without food. Yet time and time again we give up food in favor of other things our body does not require. And certainly many people have gone hungry in favor of If this is the case, that so many people would rather go hungry than roofless, [...]

Day 31–August 3, 2009 I do not remember the first time I encountered someone who was homeless. It is not something that entered my consciousness growing up in the suburbs of Albany, N.Y. So it comes as no surprise to me that the Albany County 10-year Plan to End Homelessness suggests that it is an [...]

Day 28–July 31, 2009 Strictly speaking homelessness means not having a home. But there are many ways a person can be homeless; staying with family or friends; living in transitional housing or shelters; or simply getting by on the street, in cars, or in tents. Regardless, homelessness is the result of a breakdown in community. [...]

Day 27–July 30, 2009 Nearly four weeks and 230 miles into my trip I have come to the realization that injuries cannot be ignored. So, as of today, I am stepping off the road. It is my hope that after a couple weeks of rest my ankle will be ready to pound the pavement once [...]

Day 26–July 29, 2009 (rest in Pittsburgh, 0.0 miles) Since I began my walk not a month ago I have climbed mountains and walked beside farm fields. I have met amazing and generous people and made lifelong friends. I’ve walked through impoverished communities and been touched as those with almost nothing pulled money out of [...]

Day 25–July 28 (North Versailles, PA-Pittsburgh, PA, 12.7 miles) Virginia Woolf once said that for women to be successful as writers they had to have a “room of one’s own.” But many women do not even have a place to call home, let alone a room to devote to creative endeavors. In Pittsburgh there are [...]

Day 24–July 27 (Irwin, PA-North Versailles, PA, 7.6 miles) Though I am not as fearful of spending the night sleeping outside as I was at the start of my trip, it is stressful. There is a strategy in finding a location that is safe and neither too dark nor too light. Earlier today I had [...]

Day 23–July 26 (Greensburg, PA-Irwin, PA, 8.1 miles) Loitering is not my idea of a good time. And I doubt most people enjoy loitering. But, when you are homeless, it is a way of life. Since I’ve begun this journey I’ve spent hours loitering. I’ve loitered at Panera, at Starbucks and McDonald’s. I’ve spent time [...]

Day 22–July 25 (rest in Greensburg, PA, 0.0 miles) I have never understood what it is that empowers some of us to always stand up for what is right, regardless of the consequences, while others stand idly by at the injustices of this world. While I was at Target in Greensburg yesterday I met John [...]

Day 20–July 23 (rest in Greensburg, PA, 0.0 miles) Last night, for the first time since I began my trip, I found myself without a place to stay for the night. I spent an hour on a bench outside the Giant Eagle grocery store talking to a homeless man named Rick while I iced my [...]

Day 19–July 22 (Latrobe, PA-Greensburg, PA, 11.4 miles) For whatever reason, since I have been walking I have not gone a day without eating ice cream. Some days I find myself stopping for ice cream more than once a day. So when as I came across Peaches ‘n Cream on Route 30 in Greensburg there [...]

Day 11–July 14 (Everett, PA-Bedford, PA 10.3 miles) It should be a simple question: Do you consider yourself to be homeless? But it is a question that I find I cannot easily answer. I have a post office box. I have an apartment in Virginia that is being subleased. I have the means to provide [...]

Day 10–July 13 (Breezewood, PA-Everett, PA, 8.2 miles) Route 30 as it heads east from Breezewood is no place to be walking. Large trucks whiz by; the shoulder of the road is miniscule; and in the heat of the sun it is miserable. Slathered in sunscreen and breathing in car exhaust I couldn’t help but [...]