tonycpp

OK, I know this sounds crazy... I have applied with Guinness World Records for an ultra-long distance walking marathon from the west coast of the United States to Jerusalem. I am doing this to bring awareness to childhood diabetes (my granddaughter). My route looks like this:

Walk from Arizona to Charleston, SC
Board a cargo ship from Charleston to A Coruña, Spain
Walk from A Coruña, Spain to Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James)
Walk from Santiago to Lisbon, Portugal
Walk from Lisbon to Gibraltar
Board a cargo ship from Gibraltar to Tel Aviv
Walk from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and end at the Wailing Wall

All told, there are approximately 13,986 walking miles; 6,082 nautical sea miles; and 25 days of ship-board travel. While onboard the ships, I hope to log 20 miles of walking around the deck each day.

I can use the following advice:

1. How to get sponsors for travel expenses

2. How to approach equipment dealers for support (GPS, Sat phone, shoes, clothing, etc.)

3. Has anyone used a drone in any of the countries I am traveling to? I’d like to create a Vlog of my trip and post daily updates and videos.

4. Recommendations on clothing, shoes, gear, etc.

5. Recommendations on land routes between US and foreign cities.

6. Recommendations on how to book cargo ship travel.

7. Anything else you can think of!

I am beginning a walking marathon training program that should last 6-8 months that will average between 30 and 80 miles per week over 32 weeks.

I’ll be creating a website for my journey that will be up and running in the next few weeks, so I’ll update here once it is live, should you wish to join me virtually.

Thanks for your advice and support!

Tony

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tonycpp

OK, I know this sounds crazy... I have applied with Guinness World Records for an ultra-long distance walking marathon from the west coast of the United States to Jerusalem. I am doing this to bring awareness to childhood diabetes (my granddaughter). My route looks like this:

Walk from Arizona to Charleston, SC
Board a cargo ship from Charleston to A Coruña, Spain
Walk from A Coruña, Spain to Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James)
Walk from Santiago to Lisbon, Portugal
Walk from Lisbon to Gibraltar
Board a cargo ship from Gibraltar to Tel Aviv
Walk from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and end at the Wailing Wall

All told, there are approximately 13,986 walking miles; 6,082 nautical sea miles; and 25 days of ship-board travel. While onboard the ships, I hope to log 20 miles of walking around the deck each day.

I can use the following advice:

1. How to get sponsors for travel expenses

2. How to approach equipment dealers for support (GPS, Sat phone, shoes, clothing, etc.)

3. Has anyone used a drone in any of the countries I am traveling to? I’d like to create a Vlog of my trip and post daily updates and videos.

4. Recommendations on clothing, shoes, gear, etc.

5. Recommendations on land routes between US and foreign cities.

6. Recommendations on how to book cargo ship travel.

7. Anything else you can think of!

I am beginning an ultra-long distance walking marathon training program that should last 6-8 months that will average between 30 and 80 miles per week over 32 weeks.

I’ll be creating a website for my journey that will be up and running in the next few weeks, so I’ll update here once it is live, should you wish to join me virtually.

Thanks for your advice and support!

Tony

jacketwatch

Stunning endeavor! I would be happy to follow you.

The best pair of running shoes I have owned is from a company called Brooks and I've had Avia, Puma, Nike, Adidas, Reebok among others. Brooks is by far the best. They still have quite bit of thread on them even after around say more that twelve years and no tears in the stitching either.

You need a good hat so get one by Tilley, a Canadian Co. They are guaranteed for life. I've had mine for around 12 years. I get it dry cleaned periodically and the guy I use now told me it would be ruined but no, it was not. After dry cleaning it looks and wears as good as new. You can also toss inn the washer too. No worries.

As for clothing I personally have had good experiences with products from outdoor companies like LL Bean, Eddie Bauer and Columbia but there are many more too.

I have an LLBean safari jacket which has several inside and zipped pockets. Its quite safe. Also consider CC's with no foreign transaction fees if you do not already have some.

Sponsors? I wish I could help. Maybe contact local news agencies of perhaps health agencies that focus on diabetes?

Good luck! Again I would love to follow you.

jacketwatch

maybe a go fund me page?

Heimdall

Sounds like a great adventure! Have you found cargo ships on those routes willing to take you as a passenger?

LAX_Esq

I'm sorry, but how is this a "walk" if you're taking a boat for 6,000 miles? If this is a "walk," why not WALK across Europe, instead of taking a boat from Gibraltar to Jerusalem? Seems like this is a walk across the US and a walk through Iberia.

And maybe do some soul searching -- are you REALLY doing this to raise awareness of a disease, or is it that you think the adventure sounds fun/interesting and you think it sounds better if you say you're doing it to "raise awareness" of some disease? If you truly wished to raise awareness of a disease, I'm sure your time could be MUCH better spent in other ways. Sorry, but someone needs to be brutally honest with you.

thursdaysd

Have to agree with LAX. When you get to Santiago you should continue on the Camino into France. Then keep going east. There would probably be a security concern crossing from Turkey to Syria, so at that point you could go by sea via Cyprus.

Also regard these 'for charity' stunts with a somewhat jaundiced eye. Are you sure this isn't just a way to raise money for the trip? How much of what you raise will go to the charity? For that matter, which charity?

LAX_Esq

Good points. I would further note that OP doesn't even claim that he is even trying to raise a dime for any charity -- he only seeks to raise "awareness," whatever that means, in exchange for having other people pay for his vacation.

jacketwatch

I sent you a PM Tony.

Carry on.

thursdaysd

Not sure what Guiness is saying, but I would think this should qualify for the longest walk:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/p...of-eden-walk/#!

TimCullis

Interesting link, @thursdaysd, thanks.

I'm curious as to why this is showing up in the Morocco forum as there appears to be zero Moroccan content.