I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and now that I've got some free time, I have to carpe that diem.
I'm not sure how many of my readers understand and appreciate what Alan Cook, a man I've never met face-to-face, has been doing for Kevin's Walk. In fact, I'm not sure that I myself know the full extent of Alan's commitment, but I can say this: managing the Walk is a full-time business, and Alan is shouldering this burden alone, despite having a personal life and a full-time freelance job.
Alan hasn't uttered a single word of complaint about what he's been doing, even though he has every right to. On my behalf, he (1) researches possible/plausible routes for me to take, often noting distances between cities and possible obstacles in the form of terrain or special property (e.g., military bases); (2) notes with great thoroughness what the likely religious institutions in the area are, and attempts to contact them well in advance of my arrival; (3) manages my CouchSurfing account, sending internal messages to likely hosts on my behalf, then relaying to me which hosts have responded and how best to contact them; and (4) offers common-sense advice to me when he feels I might be making a rash or misguided decision. On top of all this, Alan finds the energy to leave erudite and/or humorous comments on my blog.
Any one of the above duties is practically a full-time job in itself. Alan Cook basically is Kevin's Walk Central, and his behind-the-scenes work has allowed me simply to walk onward and to contact only those individuals and institutions that are both likely to be along my path and likely to respond affirmatively to the prospect of hosting me.
Such research and communication takes hours and hours per day, and while Alan hasn't complained, I worry that he will one day suddenly collapse like a black hole because of the stress, taking the planet with him. He's taken on an immense burden, one that, by all rights, should be distributed among at least ten people.
So now we reach the crux, the purpose of this little essay, which is to beseech my readers to get actively involved in this project of mine and to take some of this enormous burden off Alan's shoulders. This has to be done even if Alan has experienced no stress thus far: he's already told me that his assistance has a time limit-- for various reasons (including his own transcontinental project), he won't be able to see this Walk through to its conclusion.
So let me talk a bit about what Alan and I have discussed and decided, and what remains undecided.
We agree on what the "flow chart" for a team-based version of Kevin's Walk Central should look like. At the top would be Admin (or Coordination, if you prefer), staffed by one or more individuals. Under this would be several "departments":
1. Pathfinders: this department would deal with issues like where Kevin should go next (e.g., a more southerly route or a more easterly route?), what the distances are between cities/towns, what the terrain will be like, what roads and trails will be walkable, what bridges will be illegal(!), and other on-the-ground specifics. While this department wouldn't have the final say on what my ultimate path will be (that would be Admin's responsibility), their input would need to be heeded by all the remaining departments (see below) so that waypoints aren't strung together willy-nilly, with no consideration of how plausible a route actually is. This department might also work closely with Admin to look at the Big Picture aspect of my path across the country.
2. Catholic: this department would focus exclusively on contacting Catholic churches, abbeys, cloisters, convents, and other such communities in the hopes of finding groups or individuals willing to host me for a night or three (always in the knowledge that I'll need a place to do laundry and sleep; food remains optional). [We might also include Orthodox establishments in this department.]
3. Protestant: as above, but for a target demographic of Protestants. I imagine this department will be very busy throughout my entire Walk, as will the Catholic department; Christians are still the largest religious demographic in the US, and most of my time will be spent with them.
4. Buddhist: as above with (2), but with Buddhists. Zen temples, Tibetan temples, Soka Gakkai communities, Vipassana centers, Buddhist individuals, etc., are the target demographic here.
5. Hindu/Sikh/Jain: as above with (2), but dealing with the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities. Given my experience in attempting to communicate with Sikh gurdwaras (and as Satpal Sidhu himself warned me), I think at least one department member should be familiar with some of the languages and cultures of the Indian subcontinent.
6. Islam: as with (2), but dealing with Muslim individuals and communities. There might be language issues here as well.
7. Judaism: as with (2), but dealing with Jewish individuals and communities.
8. Unitarian Universalism: as with (2), etc.
9. Miscellaneous Religions: what have I missed? Native American communities, new religious movements, Scientology, Shinto, religious (or, heck, philosophical) Taoism, shamanism, and whatever other "-isms" might be out there. Avoid crazy cults that might be more likely to view me as a human sacrifice or sex slave than as an interlocutor.
10. Academia: this department would scout along my projected path for whatever colleges and universities might be interested in setting me up both for lodging and for some energetic exchanges with bright young minds (as well as profs, of course!). I actually hope to hit a LOT of institutes of higher learning along the way (better luck during the normal academic year, I surmise), so this department has the potential to be very near and dear to me. And hey, if the people who staff this department of Kevin's Walk Central can finagle my ass into, say, a three-day religious conference or an on-campus interfaith event, tant mieux (all the better). Not to speak at such an event, mind you-- just to attend.
11. CouchSurfing: this department would take over Alan's stellar work in using my CouchSurfing profile to solicit potential hosts along my projected itinerary. Alan could train newbies in how to do this. It's not an easy job, but the CS site itself does much of the work: it's a bit like a dating service, matching travelers and hosts.
12. Non-CouchSurfing (NCS): this department would have the unenviable task of approaching individuals not affiliated with CouchSurfing with requests to lodge me for free. Not an easy sell, but possible if you're resourceful, connected, and sociable. The job would be nearly impossible for an introvert (such as yours truly), methinks.
13. Campsites and Boonies: this department would look at where I'm generally heading, divide my probable path into 10- or 20-mile bites, and gather info on what campsites (or campable areas in the boonies) might be available. This is also the department that might arrange either a chase vehicle (water, food, sleep space, etc.) for those barren stretches, or a driver who will pick me up when I've reached Point X by Time Y, take me to someone's house to crash that night, then drive me back to the exact point where I was picked up the previous evening.
You'll have noted that one of the unstated objects of all the above departments is to keep me moving along without having to pay for lodging, a major problem up to now, as I've been bleeding cash. Unfortunately, even religious centers have gotten into the pay-to-stay game (not that I blame them; how else can they maintain their facilities?), so this goal is hard to achieve unless I decide to spend most of my nights illegally camped somewhere.
But paid accommodation will sometimes be necessary, so the final department is:
14. Hotels, Motels, B&Bs, etc.: this department will scout along my route and check out rates and locations (and the relative quality) of whatever lodging is out there.
[NB: If the other departments can find only paid lodging with the various institutions they look up, then so be it. That in itself is information for a future book.]
I think that just about covers the departments. Alan told me he had conceived of a flow chart pretty much along these lines, so I assume the above schema is more or less acceptable to him.
I would encourage the above departments to talk to each other, but ultimately it'll be up to Admin to whittle the plethora of choices down to a single, walkable path. This will also mean that the various departments will have to go back to the temples, churches, CouchSurfers, etc., whose sites have been ELIMINATED, and inform them that they are no longer needed, thanks. This is a basic courtesy: it keeps individuals and institutions from being strung along.
It would be nice if each department consisted of two or more people. As I said, the duties of even a single department constitute a full-time obligation. Many hands make light work. It's hard for a single person to toss Kevin across a river, but not a problem for twenty people to get together and do it.
Alan and I have not settled on how to deal with emails, but we have discussed the issue. As I see it, we can handle emails one of two ways:
1. Each department of KWC gets its own email address. For example:
KWC_Catholicism@gmail.com
KWC_Protestantism@gmail.com
KWC_Buddhism@gmail.com
KWC_HinduJainSikhism@gmail.com
KWC_Islam@gmail.com
KWC_Judaism@gmail.com
KWC_Unitarian@gmail.com
KWC_Miscellaneous@gmail.com
KWC_Academia@gmail.com
KWC_CouchSurfing@gmail.com
KWC_NonCS@gmail.com
KWC_CampsBoonies@gmail.com
KWC_HotelsMotels@gmail.com
This cuts down on the confusion of having all the emails in one place.
2. We keep the single email address and use the Gmail "labels" function to separate out the emails being sent and received. This keeps things simple for the people who want to send us emails, but the potential for internal confusion goes up if, for example, incoming/outgoing mails are mislabeled, or if people forget to apply labels at all (sometimes labels need to be manually applied if, for example, an email comes in with a subject heading that doesn't produce an automatic label).
Alan had a concern about several people logging on to the same email account at once, but my own experience in Seoul was that I could have my old email account open on two different computers without there being a problem.
So-- what say? We could use some volunteers. Alan could definitely use a break, even though he hasn't said so. Because Alan is running Kevin's Walk Central right now, I'd ask you to approach him directly if you'd care to volunteer. Write him at:
kevinswalkcentral [at] gmail [dot] com
One other thing: when I say "volunteer," I'm not saying "volunteer for the entire duration of the Walk." If you could devote, say, two or three months to it, that would be great. When your time gets short, find a replacement and train that person in what you were doing. That way, KWC retains a sort of "institutional memory," with procedures being passed from replacement to replacement as necessary.
Another thing to consider: if you're a Christian, why not volunteer to head up or work in a non-Christian department? Same if you're a Buddhist, or a Whatever. Just something to think about.
Right... that's all I have to say about the situation for now. I'm sure Alan might have something to add, so check the comments to this post. And if you feel you can devote some time to helping out, please write Alan (who is de facto Admin Dept.) and work something out.
Thanks in advance to all you potential volunteers, and a thousand thanks to Alan for the amazing job he's done so far.
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