My Walk. Walking?
As most of you know, I am preparing for a walk around the United States. Part - a BIG part - of my preparations include researching 'walkable' routes. Whilst doing so, I often write to hostels, and the like, asking for walker friendly routes. It is NOT as easy as you would think to find walk-friendly roads. I won't even go into all the issues surrounding camping by the side of a road.
To my utter surprise - and quite frankly SHOCK - I'm getting some 'less-than-ideal' responses. Last night I recieved an email reply from someone in Florida. They stated: "Hitchiking in Florida is illegal." I kindly replied that I won't be hitchiking, I'll be walking. Then this morning I got the reply: "To limit vagrants, Florida Highway Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies, often stop and question and harass 'walkers.' Apparently, like in Florida, on many roads in the United States, walking is frowned-upon, or outright illegal. Safety or 'less-than-desirables' are cited as reasons. Something that I hadn't considered.
To be honest, Im prepared to be stopped by polie officers and the like. I expect it isnt too often that they see a guy walk a huge backpack walking through their town, especially as Ill be taking backroads, and will walk/pass through a lot of small towns. I'm expecting to be stopped and questioned. Honestly, Im asking for it!
What hadnt occurred to me is this: I'll be a vagrant. According to Dictionary.com, a vagrant is defined three ways:
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