'Fat Man Walking'--wired on Route 66

(continued from previous page)

Vaught's initial plan was to walk 20 miles a day, in order to make it to the Big Apple in six months, ahead of the winter cold. But that pace proved unrealistic, particularly as he carried an 80-pound pack and suffered from numerous injuries--including severe dehydration and the loss of three toenails due to the weight on his feet--while fighting the desert heat.

His physical pace may have been slow, but his Web following took off. Fueled by tons of media attention in the early days, some 100,000 people started following his journey. A glut of postings and e-mails crashed what initially was a homemade site, and a new Web services provider took over.

"It's turned out to be more about the journey, the people you meet, your successes and failures."

--Steve Vaught

Now, eight months and almost 1,800 miles into his journey, Vaught still gets some 5,000 hits a day on his site.

Through his Web journal, Vaught's followers have been privy to his everyday adventures, from the stray dogs who have followed him, to the motel manager who called the police on him in Springfield, Mo. because of his disheveled appearance, to the epiphanies he's had about not just losing weight today, but creating eating habits for a healthier life tomorrow.

Some followers get impatient with him, Vaught said, because in a society that he sees as based on instant gratification, they just want to know how far he's traveled and how much he's lost.

"They forget about me being a human being, not a video game," he said.

Vaught doesn't know exactly how much weight he's lost because it's hard to find scales that go high enough. He thinks it's about 80 pounds, but he prefers to measure success by how great he feels on most days--physically and mentally--and by looking at his leg, which is now about a third of the size of what it used to be.

He no longer gets killer blisters or eats junk food at every stop along the way. And his focus is on taking one day at a time--choosing the right foods, eating the right amounts and walking about 18 miles a day.

Book deal
"When I first started I had it all wrong. I was focused on the mechanics of the walk. It's turned out to be more about the journey, the people you meet, your successes and failures," he said. "Today might be a success, but tomorrow has the same vulnerabilities. I'll have to work on (my weight) every single day."

Vaught, who worked for many years as a tow truck driver, hasn't had to stress much about money since he got a book deal, with a significant advance, from HarperCollins. The publishing house, however, would like to see him get to New York by February, so the money comes with added pressure.

His trip is also being funded by just one paid Web advertiser, Drinkables Liquid Supplements, one of a slew of companies that contacted Vaught in hopes of associating their name with his journey. Vaught turned the rest down because he "didn't want to be a NASCAR."

First and foremost, Vaught said he's doing the trip for himself and for his family. But he also feels inspired by and committed to his cyberaudience, which has been routing him on electronically. That includes participants in his Yahoo discussion group and authors of more than 10,000 entries on his site's guestbook.

Stacey Tollette is typical in her sentiment. "It really takes a lot of determination and will power to overcome a weight problem and you took it by the horns and showed every one that it can be done," she recently wrote in the guestbook. "Way to go. I will pray for a safe journey and peace of mind."

Some, however, have taken offense to Vaught's reference to obesity as an affliction "that you can do something about," and the "physical manifestation of emotional problems," rather than a disease. They've also criticized him for, among other things, his candid and often verbose journal entries.

A few are relentlessly mean and spiteful, he said, such as one "Internet troll" who sent hundreds of "deprecating e-mails" to site visitors whose e-mail addresses appeared publicly.

"It seems that he has made it his duty to try and hurt me. I think that a person like him needs a person like me more than I need myself," Vaught wrote in his journal. "Where would he be if he didn't have a hated protagonist to focus on? He would only have himself and I suspect that he hates himself far more that he hates me."

Vaught has every intention of making it to New York. But if his trip ended today, he said he would still feel he's realized his goals. "I could not have done in 20 years what this trip has done in the last seven months," he said.

"This type of journey can be had by anyone, anywhere and at anytime," he wrote in his journal. "It really is a simple matter of deciding what is important and focusing on that. Then leave behind all of the other things that do not enhance the quality of your life."

[kieranmullen]

Meh so what...

He has help with his belongings and as the article states he is hotels half the time.

Not newsworthy....

[val31]

and what have you done?

at least he is doing something! when was the last time you did something like this or as you put it news worthy?

[val31]

and what have you done?

at least this man is doing sonmething? when was the last time you did something like this or as you put it news worthy?

[val31]

and what have you done?

at least this man is doing sonmething? when was the last time you did something like this or as you put it news worthy?

[208774626618253979477959487856]

go fat man!

http://www.analogstereo.com/free_satellite_radio.htm

[raven nightsky]

go man go

You have totally inspired me. I might have to come up with a cross-country walk of my own . . . maybe Tampa Bay to Seattle or something.