More progress

Good things happening in the bitcoin world, and it makes the walk easier.

Thank to gyft.com, certain hotel and motel stays can be purchased with bitcoin.  This is a good thing and solves about 1/3 of the lodging problem.

As I have noted before, I am not at all adverse to camping on the side of roads if I need to.  That is fine for the long expanses, but there are problems:

Doing in so in Cities is probably frowned upon.  Vagrancy laws apply here, and that isn't even mentioned the basic safety issues.

I am sure that the law enforcement agencies that cover the highways would not appreciate a tent on the side of the road.  That won't necessarily stop me in rural areas, but it is certainly something to consider.

Campgrounds and hostels have several advantages, most importantly meeting and talking with more people. Not to mention that they are cheaper than hotels.  I would prefer these options whenever possible.

The 'possible' part comes into play here.

Between my own funds and donated funds, I want to be as frugal as possible.  I have contacted a bitcoin-related charity that I believe strongly in, and while I can't give specifics, any bitcoin I have left after the walk will go to that charity.  The more I raise, the less I spend, the more I have left, the more goes to a worthy cause.

Hopefully I will have more details on this soon.

"No one can walk 1500 miles!"

As conversations go, there are days when the walk comes up a lot, and days when it doesn't come up at all.  And then there are the days like today when I am on the phone talking about the walk and talking to local businesses about taking bitcoin.

I got a lot of skeptical looks, which is to be expected.  One man stopped short of calling me a liar and looked at me like I was crazy.  And then there was that one lady.  "No one can walk 1500 miles!"

Well yes, actually.  People can, and many, many have walked farther.

I can understand completely that most people haven't heard of the Peace Pilgrim, Nate Damm, Peter Jenkins, or the hundreds (I think) of others who have walked from coast to coast.

What I can't understand is that people have no conception of travel before cars, or apparently that they think that travel didn't happen before cars.

I can only be amazed.  And not in a good way.

One year from today

One year from today I will be in San Diego and will start walking north.

I imagine that day over and over.  I imagine talking with the bitcoiners in many cities and town.  I imagine talking with store owners and vendors to convince them that bitcoin is a good payment option.

I also imagine long hours and days walking alone.  I imagine the beautiful California vistas and the hills I will need to crest.

I imagine being away from my family, long phone or skype session, and hoping they are charting my progress and proud of me.  Or at least tolerant.

I'll be posting more about my motivations and reasons.  I'm still wrapping my head around some of them.  Some of them I have already written about here.  The bitcoin part is easy, or at least it is on the surface.

 The walking part, well, isn't.  My reasons are as clear in my head and emotions as a summer sunset, but articulating them isn't as easy.

Part of it is adventure.  Part is pilgrimage.  Part of it is connecting with myself and environment, urban and rural.  Part is meeting people of good will, and navigating those who aren't.  Part is time to myself and part is meeting new people.  Part is mourning the past and part is celebrating the future.

It is all of that and more.

365 days and counting.

Heh heh heh

I've spent the last few days compiling lists and contacts to request sponsorship for the walk.

The few companies I have contacted thus far have yielded no replies.  Pretty much expected.  They've got to think I'm a crackpot.  After all, walking 1500 miles?  On bitcoin?  This guy has to be completely nuts.

Yup.  Guilty as charged.

Whew...

What a busy weekend.

Walking, family drama, walking, unpleasant bits of my past rearing up, walking, family birthday plans, walking, reorganizing the walk, walking, getting domain and hosting, walking...

This is a birthday/anniversary/holiday week in my household, so my posts may be infrequent but be assured that I am still busy behind the scenes.

I have obtained and am working on a website to support the walk, which also means that I am learning Wordpress as quickly as I possibly can in order to get it up and running.  It dioesn't seem to have a steep learning curve, but I do need to take the time to use it effectively.

True to my pledge of bitcoin only, the site is hosted with bitcoinwebhosting.net and will be up on the ledger as soon as I write it.

WHY?!?!?!?!

Because I want my children and grandchildren to live in a better world than the one I was given, and I want better people to live in it.

So what does that have to do with walking and bitcoin?  In my twisted little head, a lot.

Berkely Breathed's Bloom County

I am about to turn 46.  Possibly mid-life crisis time.  Possibly disillusionment.  Possibly frustration.  Possibly all of the above.

I am in an idealist in a selfish, self-absorbed, and narcissistic society.  I fell in that gap in between the Boomers and GenX and am neither one.  My formative years were framed by the moon landing and Star Trek on one side, assassinations and Watergate on the other.

Such promise and potential wasted.  Instead we got Disco, Miami Vice and a culture of excesses that we continue to pay for.  Even worse, some of the worst aspects and attitudes from that era live on.

And the talk.  So much talking that nothing gets done.  The 60s had the protests and the marches and what did we get?  Occupy.  Well-intentioned, but fundamentally flawed and a let-down beyond measure.

I'm jaded.  I know I am.  In year after year of war after war, of propaganda that masquerades as news, of watching person after person choose personal advantage over higher ideals, I am just sick to death of it.

I want to believe again.

Let's put aside the wonderful technologies and possibilities of the Bitcoin protocols and what bitcoins can do for the world.  Instead, look at the people.  The people involved in bitcoin are making things happen.  Are reaching out to each other in incredible ways.  They are producing new ways of thinking, of caring, of business.

So I want to walk.  I want to spend time with myself, but also meet many people who whether they know it or not, whether they will ever know it are shaping the future and bestowing hope.

This journey for me represents a bridge.  A bridge between what was and what should have been, and what could, can, and should be.  It is a rite of passage that leaves the old where it should remain and gives birth to the new from its ashes.

You, the reader, and you the bitcoin community show me hope.

So I want to walk toward that future where my children and theirs will have that better world.

That's why.

Walking is free, man

I told some people on an exchange chat room about the walk today.  There wasn't much feedback, but then I didn't expect much.  The group that frequent this site are mostly traders and miners.  What little social commentary is posted is usually the utopian, 'won't it be great once everyone is using Bitcoin and fiat currency is a thing of the past' variety.

One comment from a guy on the forum that I like and tend to respect was, "Walking is free, man."

Well, it is.  Kind of.  If my goal was simply to walk this blog wouldn't be here and I wouldn't expect anyone to care about it.

I have my personal reasons and goals for the walk.  I am upfront about that.

When it comes to Bitcoin, or any alternative currency, it isn't worth much if it isn't used.  There have to be people spending it, AND the businesses that take it.

With bank services, that is an easy thing.  The bank hires sales people to push its new merchant services.  They convince business owners to use those services, and the fees make the bank money.  That is how credit and debit card services became widespread and why different companies compete for the lowest fees.

Now there are companies like Coinbase and Bitpay that are doing that, and the more businesses they convince, the more bitcoin gets exchanged, driving the value up.  For the most part though, the word isn't going to be spread by salesmen out to make money for the bank.  The word is going to be spread by you and me.

Most of the people in the mainstream don't know what Bitcoin is, and most of the information out there lately has been doom and gloom, MtGox, 'Bitcoin=terrorism and crime' type of misinformation that we expect from the press.

I want to change that.  Sitting here blogging will only convince the converted.  If a nice, friendly guy comes walking in from the highway talking about Bitcoin and asking to use it comes in, that may change a few minds, and more people may use it.  If a bunch of friendly people get together for the purpose of promoting Bitcoin, that changes the image.

I love to walk and want to do long distances.  I love Bitcoin and its future and want to promote it.  The two go together in this.  I'm backing my belief with action.  Putting my money where my mouth is... or would that be Bitcoin where my feet are?

I'm asking others to help and support this project because I believe in it enough to walk over 1,500 miles.  I hope others believe in it enough to help.

Coins

I just submitted the walk as a project to bitcoinstarter.com.  Hopefully it will get approved soon.

The primary thought I have had about doing the walk as 'Bitcoin only' is that if that is going to be true, then all of the equipment should be purchased with Bitcoin or I am cheating.  I will be promoting the use of Bitcoin after all, so how can I be walking in shoes that were purchased with dollars?

A future post will have a list of equipment and supplies I will need, as well as projected road expenses, but my rough estimates say that I will need a minimum of 15 Bitcoins for the trip, and that may be underestimating.

For instance, most people would think of needing a tent and sleeping bag, or shoes.  Trail food makes sense.  What many would not think of is a cart.  Nearly every account I have read from people who have done long distance or cross country walks say that a cart saves stress on ankles, knees, and back.  They allow you to carry much more in terms of supplies (think of how much water weighs and how long it can be between stops) more easily.  I have seen everything from converted baby strollers to custom carts made for such ventures.

Now factor in the Bitcoin purchase.  Egifter.com now takes Bitcoins, which is a huge boon for the walk, and one of the gift cards it carries is REI, so I can purchase REI giftcards with Bitcoin and then spend those to get geared up for the trip.  Perfect.  Or is it?  Certainly REI carries much of what I will need.  On the other hand, REI prices are not as low as Walmart.  That is one factor that increases the costs involved.

Another is the location I will be walking.  My plans as of now consist of taking the Pacific Coast Highway, either Route 1 or Route 101 primarily from San Diego to Aberdeen, and over to Seattle after that.  There will be long stretches of Forest and parks, but the vast majority of the route is populated or heavily patrolled.  Pulling off to the side of the road and pitching a tent out of sight may not be an option.  I want to do this in as low-cost way as possible, but hostels, motels, and state campgrounds cost and they most liekly will not be able to take Bitcoin.  All of this adds time, expense, and stress.

So the bottom line is that need to fund raise.  Or Bitcoin raise, in this case.

Yes, please donate.  The help will certainly be appreciated.

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