I started this webiste in the summer of 2009 as a tool to get me and my dog across the U.S. so that I could move my girlfriend, at the time, and her dog out to California with us. The challenge was to do this without putting her dog on a plane. We both had dogs and neither one of us wanted them to fly because it can be a very traumatic experience for a dog. If you've ever tried moving from coast to coast it isn't cheap and we weren't rich. She had three jobs and I had two. Then my father who lived back in Boston offered to let us borrow his truck and I jumped at the chance. I decided I would hitch-hike back to the east coast, pick up the truck and move her out so we could be together. He was planning on driving out west to visit my brother and I so, now, he would just fly out and drive back. I didn't tell her about the hitch-hiking part because I didn't want her to worry so I created this website and wrote our story on it because I thought it would help me get rides if people could read about why I was trying to get across the country on foot with my dog. I made t-shirts and a small sign. It felt a little embarrassing, but I didn't care because I beleived I was doing it for love. He and I made it in 4 days. The website definitely helped, but so did my laptop and craigslist's rideshares.
Things didn't work out in California the way we hoped and she got on a plane in LA with her dog two months later and I never saw her, again. We tried to keep in touch, but she started seeing someone else and within a year they were engaged. Even though she insisted, I should have never let her move out to California when money was so tight for the both of us. I should have moved back east or we should have waited until I had the house we were going to live in ready and she had most of her bills paid off, but I guess we thought love would find a way. It's a wondeful thing to believe, but I, now, know that I can't blame love for my mistakes. People rush into things for reasons they don't want to deal with. Love will always find a way if you put your whole heart into it. Sometimes we just may not realize we aren't.
Maybe things would have worked out differently if we had done things differently, maybe not. We'll never know. We rushed into it. There's no doubt about that. It's been said, "If God didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent him." (Voltaire) Maybe this true for finding someone to love as well. I restarted this website on Jan. 1st of 2012 to continue putting my heart into the journey I'd already begun. I thought that I had found someone like me, but maybe I just needed to believe this. I hope it helps others to learn to be more open and to not make the same mistake I did. I'm not a webdesigner or much more of anything else. I've made a living as a laborer working on farms and fishing boats mostly. I've had a hard time fitting into the "system" and that is why I was willing to got to the lengths I was. The pain of feeling like we're the only ones is what forces us to rush into things, but by not opening up it's the same pain that pushes each other away. Now, I'm trying to deal with it the only way I can so I learn how to be more open and maybe encourage others who see the value in learning to do the same.
Walk4Love is my practice in doing this in the hopes that other strong-willed, independent people can see that they are not the only ones. One of my problems has been that I've hid behind my beliefs rather than tell people how I feel. I still have the same beliefs, but instead of trying to convince people I believe them because I think they are intelligent solutions to problems we all face, I simply have to admit that I don't have a choice. It is simply how I feel. It all starts with our hearts not our heads. We can not choose how we feel. We can only choose how we are going to handle these feelings. We can accept them and deal with them or we can deny them and tell ourselves they don't matter. I am choosing to say they do matter and I will try to use my intelligence and hard work to show others why as best I can.
