Though the millennia people have walked long distances across parts of the world for a variety of reasons. In recent decades, long walks have mostly been achieved by those escaping wars and civil strife, those creating television documentaries, and those looking to understand the extent of their personal capabilities through adventure.  In my case, the project to walk besides the Derwent River was simply curiosity – could it be done and was I capable of doing it. During that project and since, I have always been interested to read other stories of walks besides rivers or any walk that challenges the walker. When I received a link to a news article that introduces the plan for a new massive walk, I was naturally most interested.  Thanks blog reader John.

Currently an Australian woman is preparing to walk 30,000 km from Argentina to Alaska. Lucy Barnard’s story can be read on the ABC news site here.

With more sleuthing I was impressed when I read  a Northface article: “Most notably, 12 months ago Lucy was hit by a car during an endurance cycling event. She was temporarily paralysed, became aphasic, lost significant proportion of muscle mass and memory. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to regain her previous condition and improve her attitude towards caring for her physical and mental health.”  This is yet another reminder about the power of the mind and the effect of sheer determination to achieve goals.  We all know not everything is possible but the willingness to try with a positive attitude often brings surprising results.  Lucy has a LinkedIn site on which I hope she will record milestones during her epic journey.  Her Twitter account offers a means for communication.