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Man chooses homelessness, walks across U.S. in 178 days

Posted at 7:00 PM, Sep 30, 2012
and last updated 2012-09-30 19:00:31-04

A man walking from Florida to California just wrapped up his journey, after 178 days and five pairs of shoes. 

Nick Kleckner ended his epic journey at the Huntington Beach pier.

One thing that made his trip unique was that he started with no food, water or money. As Kleckner wrote on his blog, which chronicled the whole trip, he “has lived a good life and grew up with money and awesome family.”

“I have always had nice things, and never lived life in turmoil…,” he wrote on the blog that was often updated by his mother, whom he sent the posts to from the road.

His parents were there to meet him at the end of the journey. Kleckner called himself “Hobo Nick” and had a twitter that provided updates.

When he came across money and gift cards, he handed them out to the homeless and others that he met along the way.

He said that the point was always to “give away more than I take.”

“Mankind is better than I ever dreamed,” was his biggest take away, he said.

“I had an urge to do this about a year ago when life was repetitive and I felt like I didn't appreciate it,” Kleckner wrote. “Since I have been homeless I have lived more in the moment and have really learned to be thankful.”

Click on the video to hear more about Kleckner’s journey. You can read all of his blog entries here, or follow him on Twitter, here.