Adventurous Man Walks an Incredible 3,100 Miles From Los Angeles to Boston in 148 Days

On February 27, 2016, Ben Davis, a Boston native now residing in Little Rock, started his journey to walk an amazing 3,100 miles from Los Angeles all the way to his hometown. By walking seven to nine hours each day, using Google Maps to best decide his route, Davis completed his journey 148 days and five pairs of shoes later on July 23, 2016. When asked about why he wanted to do this, Davis responded that his “motivation was the adventure”.

There was no cause associated. I wasn’t raising awareness or money for anything. At first I felt a little guilty when people would ask me, but I learned to own it. I was doing it because it was there. To see if I could. Humans have an innate desire to explore and adventure and that’s what I was tapping into more than anything. After I started thinking about it, I got worried that one day I’d regret it if I didn’t do it. The idea of watching the country evolve ever slowly as I moved eastward at 3 mph, that excited me. …I never had a moment where I wanted to quit, and I consider myself lucky in that regard. I don’t know, life was so good out on the road. So simple. And I had so many people back at home and on the Internet following along and keeping my morale high that it never crossed my mind. Every day I was meeting new people and seeing amazing things. I had some rough days, but never “I need to quit” days.

Davis has since written a book entitled “Ever Eastward” which provides a a first-hand account of his incredible journey.

I spent most nights of the last five months writing about seeing the United States at 3 mph. It’s the writing I’m proudest of in my life and on October 17th it will ship to you. It’s a firsthand account of everything I experienced along the walk, the people I met and some personal reflections of my life, my demons, my successes and failures. The book is self published and every pre-ordered copy will be autographed and shipped by me personally.

Day one has begun. Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm scared but excited. #bendoesamerica

A photo posted by Ben Davis (@bendoeslife) on

A photo posted by Ben Davis (@bendoeslife) on

A photo posted by Ben Davis (@bendoeslife) on

A photo posted by Ben Davis (@bendoeslife) on

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.