Alexander Campbell, 28, has completed the first section of his four-year walk around the world. The first leg started in February, across his home country of Australia. Starting in Sydney, he walked 6,320km to Darwin in 170 days. That’s an average of 37 kilometers per day.
First, he walked to Penrith and the Blue Mountains. He then joined the Australian National Trail and followed it for three months up the east coast. On day 110, he left the Trail and then cut across west to Darwin.
Couch surfing and camping
A perk of starting in Australia was the number of friends and acquaintances who could put him up as he went. The rest of the time, he camped. He was moderately self-sufficient but did not try to do this unsupported. And he did not carry a stove or a pot. He just made sure that the food he ate didn’t need cooking.
Many strangers helped him along the way. When he reached the Northern Territory, the police refilled his water bottles. The next person he saw gave him electrolytes. He carried as much food and water as he could, then restocked along the many places on his route.
Photo: https://www.worldwalkexpedition.com/
When he left the National Trail, towns became less frequent and he often walked for five to seven days between resupplies. His longest distance was 400km from Borroloola to Roper Bar.
He filtered his water from streams, but sometimes he was not sure whether the creeks marked on his map would be dry or not.
Previously, Campbell completed the 800km Colorado Trail and the 1,600km Great Himalaya Trail and hiked 3,750km across Australia from the Flinders Ranges to Sydney.
He told NT News, “I’d always kind of thought at the end [of previous walks], you know, what if I kept on walking? So I guess this time I get to see what happens.”
Photo: World Walk Expedition/Facebook
Next up: East Timor
Campbell plans to walk across 29 more countries and three continents over the next three-and-a-half years. In two weeks, he will start walking across East Timor. He will make his way through Asia, Europe, and North America before eventually heading back to Sydney.
