Pedestrian Newsletter 12
The Roads to Philadelphia
I’ve never been one to wish away the seasons. Despite a reluctance to cold weather, even after almost three decades of winters, I’ve grown to cherish the changing seasons. After all, the seasons are much like a walk. They serve as a natural reminder that all things have a beginning and end. As the sun comes out and the trees begin to bud, it feels like one chapter has come to close and another is slowly beginning.
Hello, I’m Alex Wolfe and this is Pedestrian, a newsletter about walking and our everyday surroundings. Big thanks to Jane, Derek, Brad, and Catlin for making this month’s newsletter possible.
It’s hard to know just when a chapter is ending, but lately it feels like something new is unfolding.
On May 3rd, I’m set to begin a 160 mile walk over the course of nine days from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn to downtown Philadelphia. This one has been on the docket for some time now, (as members already know), but hasn’t felt like it’s really happening until now.
Unlike many of the walks detailed throughout this newsletter, this one requires a ton of planning. It feels unusual to assemble all the right gear piece by piece and slowly check off the boxes of a long to-do list. I wouldn't consider myself a reluctant planner, but I do enjoy a certain level of “open-endedness” while walking. I love the unplanned walks (such as a recent 13 mile journey to the beaches of Coney Island), but a lot can happen over the course of nine days and I’d like things to go as smoothly as possible.
I’d consider this a momentous occasion. If history has taught me anything, it’s that I like these moments to fall on days that are easily remembered. For example, I moved to New York on January 28th (my dad’s birthday), I moved away from Detroit on Valentine’s Day, and remember starting my first job on Mother’s Day. I find a certain novelty in remembering these dates. It’s important to measure time and know how much has passed.
I initially set out to leave on May 1st, which is May Day here in the States. It’s the perfect day to begin a long walk, but I’m due for my second round of vaccination on April 30th. It seems as if everyone I know has experienced some symptoms from their last dose, so I decided to push the walk a few more days. Better safe than sorry. It would be a real shame to walk 15 miles with a fever.
While May 3rd is not a memorable date, it does fall on a Monday. I enjoy my share of weekend walks, but have found the best walking takes place when everyone is at work (especially on Mondays). Witnessing the world as it operates five days a week keeps me going – the city feels busier, school is in session, regulars pepper the shops, and the sound of construction echoes between the building facades.
Considering there isn’t an official walking route between The Big Apple and the City of Brotherly Love, I chose to book lodging and mapped out my entire walk in advance. I’ve used bits and pieces of trails and walkable roads along the way. The East Coast Greenway (a trail running from Calais, Maine all the way to Key West, Florida) has served as an excellent template, yet I deviate at moments to satisfy my own curiosity...such as seeing a full size Mercedes Benz tombstone in Linden, NJ.
When I say walk to Philadelphia, I do mean that in every literal sense. I’m not allowing myself to take any other form of transportation save for my own two feet. It will take an entire day just to leave the city limits of New York City. I could have shaved a day off the trip by taking the Staten Island Ferry upon entering Manhattan, but I’ve opted to cross the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey instead. I will finish the first day in North Bergen, just a 35 minute drive from my apartment.
I’ve always considered walks as a platform to generate ideas and produce bodies of work. In typical Pedestrian fashion, I’ll use this time doing just that: taking photos, capturing audio, and writing about my slow travels.
Each night I’ll send out 300 words or less accompanied with photos via the members only newsletter. If you’d like to tag along, please consider becoming a member. Your support helps cover costs for these long walks and gives me time to be a Pedestrian™. I’ve long wanted to turn this newsletter into a living, breathing document of my walks and look forward to using these daily newsletters as a place to experiment. The material produced will likely set the stage for a Pedestrian publication later in the year.
On average, I’ll walk about 17.75 miles a day. Some days are longer and others shorter. It’s a distance I’m comfortable walking here in the city, but have never done for days in a row. I’ve packed a first aid kit accordingly (can you say blisters?).
Of course I entertained the idea of treating this walk as an urban thru-hike, which would require camping along the way. While certainly cheaper, perhaps more adventurous, and definitely logistically complicated given all the extra gear I’d need to carry with me, that isn’t what this walk is about. I’m using this time as an opportunity to produce a great deal of work. I’ll need access to a desk and an internet connection at the end of the day, so I booked private rooms on Airbnb (with the exception of one night spent on a friend’s couch in New Brunswick) averaging about $60/night.
The point of this walk is not to find the most beautiful way of reaching my destination. Even if it was, I still have no choice but to venture into “undesirable” spaces, food deserts, industrial corridors, and parking lots. But for every food desert, beauty is found. A walk of this nature asks me to embrace the ugly, the beautiful, and everything in between.
Aside from experiencing beauty, there is something deeper at play here. In the spirit of hitchhikers or train hoppers, there is a certain yearning to experience a freedom that was born out of being confined to the city during lockdown. There is satisfaction in setting out with an intention and making it happen on our own accord, in this case, with my own two feet. Had you told me one year ago, when I walked 11 miles to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, that I would be walking 160 miles to Philadelphia, well, I would have never believed you.
And while walking serves in many ways, such as a platform for a project or simply to clear one’s head, it also acts as an opportunity to stretch boundaries and push us beyond our daily comfort zone. Walking is the most intimate way to experience our surroundings. It doesn’t have to take just one form or with two legs, but may be interpreted as one sees fit. At the end of the day, walking is about living.
I’m convinced this will be the first of many, many long walks to come. Please consider joining me on the roads to Philadelphia and I’ll see you next month.
Thanks for reading,
Alex
Brooklyn, NY
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