Customer Reviews

America One Step at a Time: A 3,400 Mile Walk in Search of America

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think the previous reviewer is rather harsh with this book. My only complaint was that it had some typos. Rogers's plans and goals clearly changed as he made the hike, and rarely do huge-scale plans made long in advance go as planned. I thought it was a great read, and Rogers's stories really inspired me to do more adventuring of my own. He's an inspiration to me, more for his stick-to-it-ness than anything else.

Who doesn't want to quit their job and go live out a dream? Daniel Rogers proves that it is possible, enjoyable, and above all, inspiring. What a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down!

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". When Henry David Thoreau penned these now famous words, he'd never met Daniel Rogers. "America One Step at a Time" is far more than the title implies. A common man undertakes the uncommon task of walking across America. Like most of us, Rogers lived by the alarm clock and on-ramp metering system, living a life of throttled dreams and ambitions. But unlike most of us, he awoke one morning and decided to throw "common-sense" to the wind and pursue his dream. In his alluring book, he gives us a delightful look at the essence of America, its people, its country-sides, and its history. But he tantalizes our latent fires of adventure and discovery. He tells a wonderful tail of adventure while fanning the flames of spiritual rebellion that lies within us all. It's captivating reading and it challenges us to awake to the real world around us and experience it before it's too late. A wonderful book.

There are mornings when the rising sun lights the Texas horizon fiery gold, the air is crisp and pure, and I really wish I was off hiking somewhere. Growing up with a love of the outdoors, hiking was a major part of my life for many years. For a variety of reasons, those days have passed and hiking isn't possible anymore.

But for Dan Rodgers it still is and he did something that many of us wish we had done. Sitting at his desk at Colgate-Palmolive he realized that while he liked his job, it wasn't the answer for him. He wanted to be back on the trail and exploring again. While he appreciated the job and the financial security it gave him, he wanted something more. As many of us have thought and Dan wrote on page 2 of his book....

"It made even less sense to me to live only for the purpose of going to work each day and return home to rest up for another day at the office. I debated the dilemma and decided that while the cost of chasing dreams was very high-the cost being failure, for we will never achieve all we set out to do-the reward was even greater. The reward was life as opposed to mere existence, and I was tired of existing. I wanted to live again. "

With the support of friends, including his soon to be hiking companion Dodger, Dan quit his job, emptied his apartment and took what he wanted to keep to his Mom's in Ohio.

"After months of preparation, the time to walk out the door had finally arrived. I had prepared at length, studying maps and reading everything I could find about the many trails cross America. Six years, forty-eight states and twenty-four thousand miles lay ahead of me. America was waiting." (Page 7)

They head out, moving southeastward and the resulting book chronicles the hiking adventures of Dan with his buddy Dodger as they travel together. Sometimes they travel together and as the trip progresses, various events happen to cause Dan to travel alone or with others as he hikes the trails and roadways of America. As he crosses each state, he explains the local or regional history of the area he hiked as well as his own personal experiences. Part travel guide, part history book, the resulting memoir of an amazing 3400-mile walk recounts a journey that began before the devastating tragedy of September 11, 2004 and ended long after.

As he travels America, state by state, the author shifts from past tense to present tense and back again, often in the same sentence. This, along with the occasional typo and grammar problem, makes for a disconcerting read at times. However, these errors are relatively minor in the scope of the work and can be for the most part ignored as the reader follows his journey affected by missing signage, incorrect maps, weather and bodily injury. Through it all, Dan survives the elements and everything else with his goal in mind.

This is an interesting and enjoyable read about an amazing adventure. In a nation besieged by terror concerns and negative politics, it is nice to read how one man literally gave up the everyday working world to chase his dream. That willingness to do it and for so many folks to support it along the way is a reminder of how great people are despite the constant media reports to the contrary.

Book Facts:

America One Step at a Time
By Daniel Rogers
Thirsty Turtle Press
www.sheltoweehikes.com
2003
ISBN # 0-9729038-0-1
Large Trade Paperback
$14.95 US

Kevin R. Tipple © 2004

If you want to know more about the everyday America, you could do not better than to walk along with Dan Rogers from Ohio through Kentucky & Tennessee, cutting across the corner of Alabama into Mississippi. Turning north to Arkansas & along the border of Oklahoma into the panhandle of Texas & on through New Mexico, Arizona, & finally to the Pacific Ocean.

Rebeccasreads has interviewed Eagle Scout Dan Rogers & recommends AMERICA ONE STEP AT A TIME as a lively adventure of a mostly solitary walk along the back roads of this land, full of history & philosophy, simple humor & rare awe.