Apr1

a man decides to go for a walk.

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Steve returns home

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April 1,1983, a man decides to go for a walk.

Around the world.

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Steve Newman, 28, a freelance journalist, left his house in the town of Bethel, Ohio for a 4-year journey that saw him getting attacked twice by armed bandits, pelted with stones by students in India who thought he was English, arrested four times, beaten by a drunken construction worker, and taken captive by the Turkish military. He was also accosted by wild boars, bull ants, a poisonous snake, fleas, and ‘disgruntled bison’. 

Upon his return, 4 years later, to Bethel on April 1, 1987, city officials declared it an official holiday, and he became the first person to walk around the world solo.

In numerous interviews after his return, including the New York Times, The Travel Channel (who did an episode on him) , The Cincinnati Enquirer and People Magazine, he said “I don’t really like walking that much. I just knew if you wanted some stories, go for a walk.” In his blog he said that his ‘dream of walking around the world was born in a nine year old’s excitable mind’. It was during one of those frequent southern Ohio rainy afternoons, when my imagination was lost in the pages of a stack of old National Geographic magazines. Though the covers of that dignified periodical may have been worn and faded at the time, the beauty of the glossy photographs inside was still unmistakably very much alive. I knew then and there that someday I had to visit all those exotic lands and meet all those smiling faces.”

He wanted to discover whether the world was really as bad as people had painted it.“It was a great curiosity to see what the common people of the world were like. Walking is the best way because you are one-on-one with people.”

“We also hear so much about how dangerous the world has become and how it’s falling apart socially, morally, whatever. I had this deep urge to find out if it was really such a terrible place as everybody was saying.”

So what was his verdict after completing his trek?

He concluded: “They were totally wrong.”

‘The world is a better place than we give it credit for. There are more good people than bad, even in areas that are dangerous.”

Newman gained notoriety and was entered into the Guinness Book of Records when he completed the first known individual walk around the world, crossing five continents and 21 countries. He had walked 40 million steps and 21,000 miles, (with flights to get him from Boston to Ireland, Yugoslavia and Australia).

He accomplished this feat in four years, which he now says, on reflection, can probably be done in two. What slowed Newman down was his objective – not just to accomplish a remarkable test of endurance, but as an explorer abroad, meeting with the people of the world.”I wanted it not only to be a look at the world, but a test of the world,” Newman said. “I wanted to see how the world treated a stranger. I set out with the pledge to never ask for more than a drink of water, and if someone didn’t offer me food, I would go hungry that day. If no one offered me a place to sleep, I would sleep on the ground.”

“I met millions of people and stayed with 400 families, sometimes with one family for as long as a month,” Newman said. “I had enough adventures to fill 100 books. The world is a place of beauty and of ugliness and more horror than you can imagine. But mostly the world is filled with love.”

Newman later published a book about his travels entitled ‘WorldWalk’.

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‘we travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.’

-anais nin

 

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source/photo credits: New York Times, Bethel Historical Museum, Travel Channel, Mental Floss, Cincinnati Enquirer, People

 

 

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58 responses »

  3. This teared me up. I always imagined what he said, “There are more good people than bad, even in areas that are dangerous” oh my! Has anything changed since?! I hope not. Bless you for sharing. Amazing story. 🤗

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  4. beth, you always come up with something funny, amazing, crazy, sobering, but mostly a tale, leaving us smiling – which, in these times, is a PLUS, worth mentioning. thank you.
    i’m not that far travelled and when, it was for work, but i’ve lived on 2 continents, in a few countries and amongst many denominations of any kind. one of the most memorable ‘good ppl deeds’ was when we arrived in a old VW van in San Antonio TX with the thought of visiting Mexico. Kind ppl we only met that day, told us to NOT travel with our aged van but by Greyhound (which, in the end, proved a valid advice). They then said that we couldn’t leave our little bus in a street as it would be gone in hours, so they put their own cars away to allow our temporary home in their garage! the world is truly a mostly wonderful place.

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    • I had never heard of Steve or his story before looking into interesting but true things that happened on April 1st in history that were not a joke, but were extraordinary. Here on April 1st there are many April Fools’ Day pranks and stories and I wanted to find a real one that. happened this date. Interesting thing was that he was from Ohio, the state right below me in Michigan, and I’d never heard of him. The more I read about him, the more interesting his story became. People that met him when he gave talks about his book said he was quite friendly and genuine and inspired them. He said he told his mom when he was young that all he wanted to do was to travel around the whole world and write books.

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    • if there had been social media like now, everyone would know, but he was quite written up at the time and I didn’t even know about him, and he lived one state away from me. one of my other readers commented that he was a principal at two elementary schools and Steven came to speak at both of them years ago

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  9. I’ve never heard of this man before, Beth. There’s something eye opening and inspiring about stepping out of our comfort zones – and off our devices these days – to see the world, to meet others unlike us, and to discover the common thread that weaves and binds us together.

    More stories like this, please – instead of the foolery we see unfolding.

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    • right! you should tell T about him. one of my other readers said that he was an elementary school principal at two schools and Steve came to speak at both of them years ago –

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    • such an interesting guy. and I love his approach to life and the whole thing. one guy who had just returned from the peace corp and was having a hard time settling in, commented on a review of his book and said he met Steve at an author’s talk. after hearing Steve talk about his book and his journey, he came over to talk to him and calmed him and changed everything.

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    • and amazingly I only learned about him when researching an interesting story that happened on April 1st that wasn’t an April fool’s story. love his attitude and story

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    • it’s amazing to me that I had never known about him until I began looking for an interesting story that happened on April 1 that wasn’t a prank. he is from Ohio, which borders my state and I had no idea!

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  21. In my humble travels, I have found the same. 99% of people you meet are good, warm-hearted and a pleasure to meet and get to know. In travelling, it is the people not the places that you best remember.

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    • me either, and he was from ohio, which borders my state, so even crazier. but no social media then, so things were a little different – still no excuse for me though

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    • I did a 3 day charity walk once with friends as part of a group and trained for a long time just for that. it actually was quite a good experience but his was another level. a friend of mine did the Camino in Spain and walked for 6 weeks and wow, I can’t imagine walking for 4 years, but it’s amazing he did it

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  25. I am deeply impressed by his intention behind that “walk”. And I got confirmed that in the end, there are more good than bad people in this world. He did that test to the very extreme and must know it. Awesome! Thank you for sharing this story, Beth!

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    • Oh, no, I hadn’t heard about them. that is so tragic. There is a certain amount of risk in undertaking a journey like this, even with all of the good in the world. Were they from a city near where you lived? I think that if social media had been a thing during these times, many more people would have been aware of this amazing journeys. I had never heard of Steven either until I started looking for something interesting that had happened on April 1st that wasn’t a prank. Ohio is so close to me, and I had no idea.

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        • people that undertake these adventures are special people. y9ou must have memories of them doing this and the sadness when one was lost.
          one of my other readers commented that he was the principal of two elementary schools and Steven came to speak at both of them years ago. how amazing that must have been.

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