AUBURN — Liam Burnell left his home in Winthrop two days ago on foot, and on Thursday afternoon was passing through Auburn. He hopes to make it past Portland this weekend.
Then he’s thinking major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and onward.
After writing a book this past winter, he decided to walk across the country to prove that the United States is safe despite the violence and unrest depicted in the media every day. He also wants to encourage people to think for themselves at a time when politics is dividing the country.
“It just seemed like our whole country was panicking,” he said, referring to the latest election. “And I just thought, the world is not that scary of a place.”
Burnell, 40, was along Riverside Drive in Auburn on Thursday. He had a big hiking backpack carrying a tent and other supplies. He was wearing cargo shorts, a worn T-shirt, a baseball hat and aged hiking shoes.
He said when he talks to people in person, “their eyes bug out” when he tells them he’s walking across the country. He’s talked to a handful of people already, even though it’s only been two days. He said when people are shocked by his plan, they’re more receptive to listening to why he’s doing it.
A few people have already pulled over and asked him if he needed a ride.
This past winter, Burnell lived in a house where the television was always playing local television news. He said he wants people to go outside, away from newscasters talking, and instead talk to their neighbors or strangers.
“I was just afraid that the television is just going to scare people into hiding in their homes,” he said. “I want to present a different perspective.”
He wrote his self-published book, “Take Courage America,” during the same time. Earlier on Thursday he was putting flyers for his book in storefronts. He has a copy in his bag to show people.
Asked if he was influenced by similar examples of cross-country feats, Burnell said it was the best way he could think of to spread his ideas.
A former Mainer, author and activist Mark Baumer was struck and killed in January while attempting to traverse the country barefoot. He was trying to raise awareness of climate change and raise money to oppose gas drilling. In 2010, he made a coast-to-coast trek (with shoes) in 81 days, then chronicled his travels in a book.
Burnell said he wasn’t familiar with Baumer.
As a kid, Burnell was constantly relocating with his parents, and traveled with them more on vacation. He said he’s never stopped traveling. When he was in his 20s, he walked down the East Coast, but he took his time. He spent a winter in New York, and stopped for a time in other places.
This time, he said, he’ll be sticking to a stricter schedule, as much as he can handle, he said. He plans to head south, past Washington D.C., into the fall, to avoid the cold weather. If he wasn’t making this trip, he’d most likely be farming, he said. He’s worked on farms for years.
Asked about clothes and supplies, he said he’d have to stop periodically at thrift stores to pick up new things. His hiking shoes may be the first item to be replaced.
Burnell had been living with his girlfriend in Winthrop, and she’s now helping him spread the word about his book through news releases and social media. He said she’ll post updates on a Facebook page. In a Facebook post before he began the trek, he said his book “offers comforting ways to think about a lot of our scariest issues.”
He said he’s most concerned with the “widening gap between conservatives and liberals.”
Asked where he falls on the political spectrum, Burnell said he’s “neither liberal nor conservative,” but he probably identifies more with liberal ideas. He said he urges people to do their own research and make up their own minds.
“Don’t join a faction and just assume you hate everyone on the other side,” he said.
