Travel Mindfully with Out of Eden Walk

While others worry about how to efficiently cram as many sites and experiences into a trip in as little time as possible, Paul Salopek has taken a different approach.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and National Geographic Fellow decided to embark on a 21,000-mile journey on foot. The seven-year trip started in Ethiopia and will end at the southern tip of South America, retracing the steps of our ancestors.

Salopek aims to discover and recount the stories of the people he meets en route, who perhaps do not always make headline news. Although he will encounter issues related to some of the most pertinent ideas of our time, from climate change to migration patterns, the slow pace of Salopek’s trip will allow him to gain a new perspective on events.

Out of Eden Walk Trailer from Out of Eden Walk on Vimeo.

In addition to amazement at the truly epic undertaking, Salopek’s project should make us question whether we are really experiencing our chosen destinations if we treat them like items to be ticked off a bucket list. The modern obsession with social media encourages travelers to rush around iconic sites, snap the obligatory selfies and then leave, pushed back onto the convenient tourist conveyor belt.

Salopek is doing travel differently, and although traveling purely by foot is an extreme example, it is certainly thought provoking. Read Salopek’s writing at www.outofedenwalk.com, which also hosts the work of partners of the initiative. Alternatively you can find Paul’s Dispatches from his trip at the National Geographic site.