This site is a portal for what is out there that I can find. If you know of a walk across a country, or have done one, let me know so it can be shared!

You will see the wide variety of reasons why people walk across countries, which is unable to be wholly explained and speaks for the human condition.

I have done my best to find the original material by the author. I have corresponded with many of these authors and the have willingly and enthusiastically agreed to share their material. Sometimes, however, there might just be a link to a book on Amazon. Further exploring will uncover more material such as press articles.

For some countries, such as USA (Discovery Trail, PCT, CDT) and Western Europe (e.g. UK Coast to Coast, GR trails in France, Way of St James in many European countries) there are numerous accounts easily accessible so I’m not listing them at this stage. So if you want to read about a real life Forrest Gump, or decide to pull a Forrest Gump yourself, it’s not hard to find reports on your own.

Because this is the kind of stuff that counts. Mini-versions of life demonstrating that the world and its circumstances can be hard on you sometimes, requiring the highest of your capabilities, but that its strength and personality that gets you through it all… others can’t do the work on your behalf, you have to save you. You are your own redemption. Showing you that life has ugly stretches, but beauty is never far away and can be found where you least expect it. Showing you that you really don’t need much to be happy, just possessing the mere basics without all the fluff will stop blinding you from what truly matters. Showing you that unlike popular belief the world contains a large percentage of good people and just a very few bad ones, not the other way around. Long-distance trails show you the main basics and truths of life, which can sometimes be lost in all the background noise that we call modern living. Simultaneously it transforms you, both physically and mentally. You can finally see clearly, close all those mental tabs, while your body turns into this muscular machine. It’s magic, pure magic.

– Stephanie van Hoeijen  (budgetbucketlist.com)