I Walked Over 2,500 Miles From Chicago to LA on Route 66 at Age 62
By: Rasheed Hooda
Tags: Travel, Outdoors, Self, Getting Older, Route 66

I Walked Over 2,500 Miles From Chicago to LA on Route 66 at Age 62

I wanted to inspire others, but people older than me inspired me instead.

End of Route 66 at Santa Monica Pier. Photo by Mansoor Merali

It was three years ago on January 21st when I reached the Santa Monica pier in the early afternoon at the end of a six-month-long trek along the Historic Route 66. People have been taking road trips on Route 66 for a very long time. The most common ways are cars, motorbikes, and bicycles.

What was unusual about my journey was that I did it on foot, which is very seldom, if ever, anyone does. It was a crazy idea, born of a freak “accident,” that took on a life of its own.

How did it all start?

I’ve had an affinity with Route 66 for a long time. When I came to the USA in 1974, I attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University. At the time, two of my brothers lived in Chicago, so I made many trips up and down Route 66, during seasonal breaks in the college schedule.

Once I adopted the nomadic lifestyle in 2011, I wanted to do something to honor my memories of Route 66, which has become popular of late because it was in the animated movie Cars.

I am a photographer, so my first inclination was to create a photo essay that I can market to some of the travel magazines. However, with the advent of the Internet and the popularity and ease of digital photography, that idea wasn’t as appealing anymore. I was looking for a different angle.

The Freak “accident.”

After a lot of meditating and brainstorming with my friend Noor, I came up with the idea of spending a year traveling up and down Route 66 four times, once every season of the year. It felt like it was the angle I was looking for when I started thinking about it.

So, there I was, researching on my smartphone; when out of the blue, a pop-up appeared on my phone. “Go ahead, use your voice to ask Google how long the Wall of China is?” WTF?

I am so prone to distractions that I took the dare. “Okay, Google, how long is the Wall of China?”

“The Wall of China is 5,503 miles long. It was built during Ming…”

Wait a stinking moment, is that a man walking atop the wall?

“Hey Google, has anyone ever walked the entire distance on top of the Wall of China, end to end?”

A crazy idea was born.

As it turns out, a team of five adventurers set out to do so in October 2000. Only one finished in January of 2002.

I have always been good with numbers. It didn’t take me but a few seconds to do the math. October 2000 to January 2002 is only 15 months. 5500 divided by 15 is roughly 367 miles, that’s 12 miles a day. “I can do that!”

Twelve miles a day is like strolling in the park for six hours. Heck, it can’t be that difficult. I made up my mind. I am #WalkingRoute66.

Researching the Logistics

Crazy ideas aside, I had to check out the details of what it would take to do it. Route 66 is a long-ass road. Actual length figures vary because there were many realignments over the years. According to the midpoint in Adrian, Texas, it is at least 2,278 miles long. I used the 2,400 miles as a guiding post. It would take 200 days if I walked 12 miles a day. That’s roughly seven months.

Midpoint, Adrian, Texas. Selfie by Rasheed Hooda

Finding trailblazers

I shared the stage with Nate Damm when I attended the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon, in 2012. Nate walked from the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware to the Pacific Ocean in San Fransisco, California, in six months. So, I knew someone who had done it. The only thing is, Nate was 26 when he did it. I was 62 when I was planning this. Big Difference! Nonetheless, I was determined to do it.

I learned from Nate was that it is easier to push your things than to carry them. He used a backpack from Delaware to St. Louis, and then switched to a jogging stroller to take his belongings the rest of the way. I bought a baby stroller with big wheels, as you can see in the picture above.

There are a lot of small towns along Route 66 where you can find a place to spend the night every twelve to fifteen miles or so. Only when you get into western Arizona and California, especially in the Mojave Desert, that there was nothing for more than 20 to 30 miles in some cases.

I decided to start in Chicago in July and finish in L.A. sometime in January or February, so it wouldn’t be so hot in the desert when I walk through it. By that time, I would have picked up enough stamina to make the 25 miles in between towns.

Another co-incidence

As I got closer to the departure date, I ran into an article in Salisbury Post by a man named David Freeze. He was traveling by bicycle on Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago. David was posting a recap of his daily activities in his local newspaper in Salisbury, NC.

He was traveling about 75 to 80 miles per day, and I figured that he would be getting to Chicago about the same time as I would be setting off. I contacted him via email and met up with him at Route 66 terminus in Chicago, the point where he finished, and I started. David was a wealth of knowledge and gave me the maps that he no longer needed.

Also, as I traveled, I was able to reach out to him with questions about road conditions, particularly the challenges of going up and down the hilly sections of Ozarks.

Surprises and Delights

After doing all that I can do to the best of my ability, I knew I would have to trust a Higher power to get me through this unknown odyssey. I prayed and asked for surprises along the way, and as an afterthought, I said, “And make them delightful.”

#SurprisedAndDelighted became my hashtag, along with #WalkingRoute66 on social media. Somewhere along the way, I added #KeepAmericaGreat, because I found that despite the Make America Great Again political slogan, America in the heartlands was already Great. We only need to keep it as such. Now they’ve stolen that for their new campaign, and my stories hardly show up when you research the hashtag.

I had prepared a flyer, a handout of sorts, to help people understand who I was, why I was #WalkingRoute66, and how they can support me if they so desired. It had a Map of Route 66 on it, and underneath it, I explained that I wanted to prove to myself and others that age is just a number, and you’re never too old to follow your passions. I wanted to be an inspiration to others.

“There are seven days in a week, Someday is not one of them.” ~ Sean Ogle

Bill Gosset and I. Photo used with permission.

Along the way, I met people who were an inspiration to me who validated that indeed, you’re never too old to do what you like. For example, Bill Gossett, who was 92 years old at the time when I met him, told me that I was just a baby. He still runs his weekly radio program on WLCN in Lincoln, Illinois. Bill is now 96 years young and an inspiration to me and many others.

I met several bicyclists in their 70s and 80s that were following their passion for travel while keeping themselves physically and mentally fit. I met a centenarian lady who operated a shoe store, where she started working for her dad while she was still in High School. She had been there for 85 years, and when I checked recently, she is still alive and well.

It’s your turn now.

What is your passion?

What is it that you want to do?

Well, what are you waiting for?