The ‘Ghost Who Walks’ aka the Phantom couldn’t have done any better himself. If anything, NJ resident Hakim Maloum is more of a Mr. Walker than the Phantom. That would be because Maloum is in Venice Beach, CA today. After having literally walked from NYC to Los Angeles.  Photo credit & copyrights - Todays THV.

Here’s the dope - 166 days after having started walking from Union Square, New York on March 12th, 2008, with $217 and a backpack, averaging about 18 miles a day, walking roughly 3,000 miles across the United States, lost about 70 pounds, and used up over 11 pairs of sneakers! Reached Venice Beach - his destination - on September 1st 2008.

And you know what’s the best part of this epic journey? Not a single car ride. He never asked hotels to let him stay free or restaurants to give him free food or accept donations or any kind of help. Doesn’t mean he didn’t get it - He made it through 166 days, after all. And he was entirely dependant on peoples’ good intentions. The intention was to inspire and motivate kids that if you set your mind to it, nothing is impossible.

And indeed, Hakim did make it possible. People willingly helped him out, without him having to ask for it. They took him into their homes, gave him free meals and money and clothes and helped keep him going - Without rides, on foot. Here’s an excerpt of his journey, in his own words.

Texas wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be, and for that matter, neither was New Mexico and Arizona, so far.  In New Mexico, I didn’t do much because I was forced to walk on I-40 for quite some time.  Due to severe weather they have there, I literally almost got electrocuted by lightning.  I lost a brand new pair of tennis shoes in knee-deep mud. - Hakim Maloum, PaintAtlas.com

The other day, I wrote about an NYT article on the American Wanderer, restless spirits who pull up their roots every now and then and head out on a journey of discovery. Well, I wish I had known about Maloum before I wrote that, cause he’s a living example of that Wander-bug spirit.

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Thomas
Filed under: Los Angeles, NYC, News