A Perdie ambitious walker
Man finishes the North Fork in his effort to walk across America
1 comments below
Matthew Perdie is walking across America to protest high taxes and government bailouts. He started at Orient Point on Monday at 9:16 a.m., and had walked over 41 miles to Wading River by Tuesday night.
Such good fortune will serve Mr. Perdie well in his quest to walk across the country -- from Orient Point to the beaches of southern California.
"I'm taking it day by day. One of my strategies is to find places to stay using couchsurfing.org," said Mr. Perdie, 23, who walked 15 miles on Monday, then 26 more on Tuesday. "I have a tent and a sleeping bag with me, in case I don't find a place. I always have enough food to last me a couple of days; I carry a lot of peanuts."
The peanuts, said the aspiring filmmaker, will help boost his immune system as he treks about 800 miles south to Myrtle Beach, then another 2,800 miles west to Santa Clara, Cal.
Other essentials include his GPS-equipped cell phone, an $800 camcorder to document his travels and an iPod shuffle that plays background music from films and video games. The Port Jefferson Station native is also carrying a large American flag on a six-foot pole and a walking stick given to him by a hiker name Ewok.
The walk, Mr. Perdie said, is to bring attention to the dangers of massive government spending and to spur patriotism among Americans.
The "Perdie Across America" walk comes at an important time in American history, the curly-haired Mr. Perdie said.
"I have a lot of trouble with the stimulus package and social health care," explained the 2007 graduate of The Art Institute of Philadelphia. "We've been spending money ridiculously for a while, but things ... have been getting worse since November."
It's a bit of an understatement to say that Mr. Perdie takes government spending and tax hikes personally. "High taxes" led his parents to leave their Long Island home "on April 1, 1999," when Mr. Perdie was 13, and move to Jim Thorpe, Pa., he said.
Along his journey, Mr. Perdie expounds his position to whoever listens. On Monday, listeners donated a total of $71.
The young man will need more of the same, considering he started this long walk with less than $200 in the bank.
Mr. Perdie knows he's in for some long days ahead, particularly the desolate stretches along I-40 as he weaves his way across the southwest. A 26-mile Tuesday already had his muscles feeling "pretty sore," he said yesterday morning.
"It was hard. I had to make up for a short Monday," said Mr. Perdie, who aims to stride 20 miles per day.
His Wednesday route included walking by his childhood home on Orchid Drive in Port Jefferson Station. He hoped by day's end to make it to Stony Brook, where he had arranged via couchsurfing.com to stay at a woman's house.
Responding to the suggestion that he just may meet his wife on the journey, he laughed, then added; "I'm not necessarily looking for that, but I'm always open."
Julie Lane contributed to this report
bharmon@timesreview.com
Perdie Across America
Matthew Perdie, 23, is documenting his walk across the country with blog entries on twitter.com/perdiefilms and video episodes at perdie.com.
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1 comments found
Congradulations Matt : 6/26/2009
At least one young person is aware of what this massive spending is doing to our economy. This effects future generations who will be paying for all of this outrageous spending for many years to come. We need more young people to get involved to protect the values of our Founding Fathers.
