As for those kids back in
Kentucky, Bowen is their on-the-road
guide to
America. During his ride he meets with them through
teleconferences and online to fill them in on his adventures and
teach them about culture, history, science, and much more. He also
hopes to teach them to be proud of their Kentucky heritage: "They
know I'm a mountain man; they know I'm one of them." Bowen
interrupted his road trip after reaching
Atlanta around
Thanksgiving so he could go home to Bowen, Kentucky. He'll use the
break to visit local classrooms involved with this project, then
put on his biking helmet and resume his trip for the final 3,000
miles in the spring.
Duct tape, Neosporin, and ibuprofen. That's Dan Rogers's
version of a first-aid kit. "If I can't fix it with that, then I'm
in trouble," he says. Rogers, 42, might want to consider buying his
Neosporin in bulk. He's just one-eighth of the way through a
planned 24,000-mile walk around America that he'll complete in
segments over the next decade.
Like many devoted trekkers, Rogers's passion for wearing out shoes
started with the
Appalachian Trail. In 1999 he took a six-month
sabbatical from his corporate job to hike the trail and, not long
after he got back, his father died. Rogers realized "you only get
so much time," quit the job, and, in August 2001, set out on the
first section of his walk. So far, he's walked 3,400 miles. The
next stretch will kick off in April 2006 when he'll go 3,100 miles,
mostly along the Pacific Crest Trail and the Pacific Northwest
Trail.
Now a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America, Rogers says
he originally "just went to meet the country. I found when I
traveled that we all make a difference - like it or not." While
people are initially unsure of Rogers ("I have hair to my shoulders
and a big beard"), they usually grow curious once they realize that
he got to town via his own two feet, not by hitchhiking.