Oh No!

One of the risks of writing a “walking the world” newsletter is me not being able to walk.

Which is my current state. Well, not being able to walk more than a few miles without a lot of pain, especially at night.

I’ve been battling a pesky sartorius muscle now for the last six months, which pivots between a nagging pain to periodically debilitating. This weekends ice and snow in DC has pushed it into the very debilitating realm, and it seems to have recruited a tendon in my outer hip to come along.

That’s a long way of saying, I’m going to have to rest for at least four weeks, and do the physical therapy I keep trying not to do.

I’m not complaining, I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been walking at least eight miles a day for over four years, and this is my first injury. And it wasn’t from being hit by a car!

I am going to have to delay the Greyhound trip around the US I was about to start.

You would think riding Greyhounds wouldn't require lots of walking, but take a look where the buses drop you off in cities. Often in the middle of nowhere, requiring lots of long walks to get to stuff. Then of course, there is the daily walks to and from hotels, etc. Those “resting” days in US cities are often the ones I walk the most.

Also, the pain now is worse at night, making sleeping a difficult task I’d rather not do in strange hotels.

I have a piece lined up for a few days from now, about what I’ve learned over the last two years of intense travel, but after that I’m going to need to take a break. I’ll pause all payments until I can get up and traveling again.

My apologies to all of you. I don’t want to spend the next four to twelve weeks (however long it takes), sending out filler dispatches.

Maybe I’ll use the time to finish my novel. I certainly hope the recovery doesn’t last that long. If it does, and I finish it, I’ll send you all free copies of the novel!

Until then, my apologies again.

PS: My hope is to be back walking and traveling in ten weeks at the absolute max.