How Long Would it Take?

How long would it take to walk around the world? Well, according to Tom Stone, six years.

We bumped into Tom in Korat at 8:30 p.m. We had just walked off the yellow bus from the city center; he had just walked in from Laos. As we walked toward each other, he started talking. We were probably the first Westerners he'd seen in ages.

The first thing we noticed was Tom's pack, Dana Design, the same as ours. We don't see many of them on the road. "You must be from the U.S." John said. Sure enough, Tom is from Vermont in New England. That was the third thing we had in common. Tom too is traveling around the world. Only he is doing it totally on foot. His business card reads "A six year hiking trek around the world (except weekends)".

What would make someone decide to walk around the world? "Well, I was in the army for twenty years and when I got out, I had no family, no relatives, no responsibilities to anyone except myself. I was a mountaineering guide, so I have a lot of experience with rough conditions, so I thought, why not."

Tom walks an average of 40 km per day. "I go through boots every three to four months". He has already walked from Vermont to Newfoundland to Greenland and across to Iceland. "I did have to fly to get over to Scotland," Tom admitted. From there he walked through the Netherlands and over to Russia. "It took me 18 months to walk across Russia," he said. "I didn't plan too well; I did it over two winters." The Russians were extremely gracious and opened their homes to him. "Some people even waited for me along the Pacific Rail line that I walked along. They said I was the first live American they had seen. That got me wondering. I asked them if all the other ones had been dead."

From Russia it was down through China to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He figures it will take him another two months to walk through Thailand before he heads for Malaysia and Indonesia. "Don't know yet what I'll do about getting to Australia."

"What's it like to be out for four years?" John asked. "Once ya get past the first three months," Tom said, "it doesn't matter. Three months, four years, it's all the same." We were impressed. After being on the road for four years, Tom was clean cut, shaven -'normal'. No long hair, no snarly beard, no ripped up clothing. He obviously takes care of himself.

It takes determination to do what he's doing. Only a handful of people undertake extended walking or biking trips around the world. And we met one of them! Tom had heard about Victor, an Indian making a 10 year world-spanning bike trip. We too had heard about him on the BBC, but other than that, we couldn't offer any information. "Last I heard he had some trouble," Tom said. "He got drunk and fell off his bike."

"Hey where's a cheap place to stay here?" Tom enquired. Unfortunately we'd only been in the city one day and hadn't any idea of where to send him. "Well, is there some place I can eat?" he asked. We'd seen a Pizza Hut, though we felt funny mentioning it to someone who had spent two winters with a camp stove in Russia. "Pizza?" he said. "This will probably sound like a typical Western tourist, but I could really go for a pizza."

Well Tom had to be on his way, and so did we. He placed his pack flat on the ground, pad facing up and hoisted the 18 kilograms over his shoulders. "Just like we do it," I said. John gave me a sideways glance. "Mind posing for a picture?" I asked. "Not at all."

Tom gave us his business card; we gave him our web address. He was impressed that we had created a web page about our travels. "I haven't been very good about keeping a journal," he confessed. "That's too bad," I said. "I would have loved to read the book someday."

We said good-bye and headed down the road to the left toward our hotel. Tom turned and headed off to the right to who knows where. But, by now, he's probably used to that.