An American single-handedly walked the whole world: why did she do it and what she experienced along the way

Our life is such that this thought comes to many people’s minds from time to time: to drop everything and go wherever your eyes take you. Angela Maxwell did just that: she abandoned everything she had - close friends, a successful job - and left. One. On foot. Where? Where the feet carried and the eyes looked. I talked to Angela and told her story to Florian Sturm from BBC Travel.

Photo: Shutterstock

In search of a deeper connection with the outside world, she covered 32 km in six years. Did she find what she was looking for? And was this journey worth it, which sometimes looks like self-torture?

Is it a woman's business to walk alone around the world? What shrines was this pilgrimage to?

Such a simple question

"For what?" - This is the simple question people ask Angela Maxwell most often.

Until recently, the American woman found it difficult to answer why she took and radically changed everything, discarding an established life.

But, according to Maxwell, the search for an answer to this question has its own value - even if it requires pushing a cart with belongings in the heat and cold, rubbing blisters, overcoming mountain passes, spending the night with strangers or in an open field under the open sky, being attacked nomad, overcome your fear and continue on your way, no matter what.

In 2013, she embarked on a journey that few had taken before: walking around the world, alone.

Such a long and long voyage was not preceded by long and careful planning: the decision was almost spontaneous. Maxwell started her journey only nine months after she heard from one of her students a story about a man who allegedly circumnavigated the planet on foot.

Interestingly, Maxwell did not go on the journey as a result of some personal tragedy or creative crisis. When she decided on this, she was in her early 30s, she had a successful business, and everything was in order in her personal life.

“I thought I was doing great,” she says. “But looking back, I understand that I was looking for something more... Deeper connections with nature and people.” A more modest life, but in harmony with the world around me.”

And the best way to do this, it suddenly dawned on her, was to simply move forward, step by step.

All I carry with me

Walking minimizes the so-called carbon footprint - the negative consequences for the climate from any human activity, she reflected. Walking will allow you to immerse yourself deeper into the surrounding nature and meet people whom you would otherwise simply drive past. And she will be able to explore foreign cultures in a unique way that only long-distance walkers can do.

During her short training, Maxwell discovered a whole world of women travelers, and this gave her courage.

She fell in love with the style of Robin Davidson, who wrote a novel about her solo nine-month journey through the Australian deserts.

She was inspired by the example of the Scotswoman Fiona Campbell, who became the first woman to travel around the world on foot (in 11 years, Fiona covered 31519 km on the roads of five continents).

She read the notes of Rosie Swayle-Pope, a British traveler, for five years, at the age of 59, jogging around the world (while collecting 250 thousand pounds, which she donated to help orphans in Russia).

“I read their books in the hope that they would inspire me, tell me what joys and sorrows awaited me along the way, teach me how to cope with difficulties,” says Maxwell. “And I found all this there.” Each story is unique in its own way, but they all inspired confidence that I should try it.”

Once Maxwell finally decided to hit the road, she sold all her belongings and bought only what she would need along the way. She loaded the cart with 50 kilograms of traveler's equipment - a tent, dehydrated food, an army-style water purification filter, clothes for any season.

Maxwell left her native Bend in Oregon on May 2, 2014 and embarked on a journey so epic that she could not even imagine what lay ahead.

And, probably, it was for the best.

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Days not alike

When I first connected with Maxwell via Skype in June 2018, she had already been traveling for almost four years, having traveled more than 20 thousand kilometers through 12 countries on three continents by that day.

I asked her curiously what type of person you need to be to walk around the planet. Her face brightened for a moment and she grinned, “Stubborn.”

Then she added: “It’s probably a combination of ambition, a little stubbornness and a pinch of enthusiasm, a passion – not for walking as a sport, but for the process of self-discovery and adventure.”

Maxwell told me that she quickly fell into the rhythm of traveling: getting up at sunrise, two cups of instant coffee and a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, then putting everything in the cart and moving on until the evening; find a place to spend the night, eat instant noodles, climb into a sleeping bag - and that’s it, sleep.

And yet, she stressed, none of the days was like the other.

At first, she tried to strictly adhere to the route, but she quickly realized that it was the deviations from the planned that made the trip interesting and filled it with adventure.

Therefore, despite following the main direction, she always trusted her inner voice, deciding where to turn - right or left.

In the Australian desert, Angela Maxwell suffered from sunburn, heatstroke, and dengue fever in Vietnam.

In Mongolia, while spending the night, a nomad climbed into her tent and attacked her. In Turkey, she heard gunfire not far from her small camp.

All this taught her to sleep with one eye and one ear, always being on alert - deep sleep in her position turned out to be a great luxury, for which one could pay too dearly.

From the very beginning, Maxwell expected all sorts of troubles and hardships - and this did not stop her.

“Still,” she says, “I didn’t set out on this journey because I was so fearless. On the contrary, I was terribly afraid. Moreover, I was more afraid that I would not follow the call of my own heart than that I would lose everything I have and everything I love.”

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“Give up? Never!"

The defining moment of the whole trip was an episode in Mongolia. While trying to cope with the psychological trauma of the rape, Maxwell finally made up her mind to keep going.

And although she was not completely free of the horror of what happened, the stories of other women, their strength and resilience helped her: “I was determined not to let what happened make me give up, give up on my dream and return home prematurely. When I set out, I left everything behind, left nothing behind that made sense to return to, and was aware of all the risks associated with my journey.”

Maxwell stepped forward to understand how strong she was in spirit and body.

The slowness of the journey helped her penetrate deeper (albeit for a short time) into a foreign culture.

She wandered the tiny seaside villages on the Tyrrhenian coast in Italy, soaking up their lively atmosphere and accepting invitations to talk, sit and drink wine.

In Vietnam, exhausted by the climb to the Hivan Pass in the Annam Mountains, she met an old woman who invited her to her tiny wooden hut at the top to spend the night.

New friendships arose in the most unexpected places - for example, on the border of Mongolia and Russia, and these relationships continued: meeting in Switzerland years later or in Italy, at the baptism of a new friend's daughter.

Photo: video frame YouTube / Angela Maxwell

In such meetings and relationships, which could last seven minutes or seven days, Maxwell always remembered two things.

First of all, to learn something, know how to listen.

“Walking taught me that everything has a story, everyone has a story to tell. We just have to be willing to listen,” she says.

So she learned the culinary recipes of one Italian family passed down from generation to generation, the secrets of beekeeping in Georgia and the science of camel management on the historical Silk Road.

Secondly, Maxwell understood the importance of her own contribution. She chopped wood in New Zealand, distributed food to the homeless in Italy. In Sardinia, she helped a farmer renovate a house.

But more often than not, Maxwell's contributions were her own stories. She has performed at social gatherings, at schools and universities, and even on the TEDx stage in Edinburgh, sharing her experiences with others and inspiring them.

She became the voice of those fighting for the empowerment of women, especially after deciding to continue the journey despite the attack in Mongolia.

“I never even considered giving up,” she says.

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The surest path to yourself

Throughout her travels, Maxwell has collected voluntary donations for charities such as World Pulse and Her Future Coalition, which provide support to girls and young women. She managed to raise about 30 thousand dollars.

Openness to everything new and curiosity, according to Maxwell, is the surest path to a deeper knowledge of the world and its inhabitants.

Maxwell chose this path, for a woman full of uncertainty and extreme vulnerability, for six and a half years. And she did it in search of personal happiness and a deeper connection with the outside world. In a sense, it was a pilgrimage.

Photo: video frame YouTube / Angela Maxwell

On December 16, 2020, Maxwell's journey ended where it began—at her best friend Alice's house in Bend, Oregon.

Just as at one time she felt that the moment had come to hit the road, now she knew for sure: it was time to complete it. She also knew that this risky venture had become a way of life for her, to which she could always return.

Today, however, she is working on a book, planning future travels and coming up with new opportunities for women to express themselves, to find the courage to express their beliefs in everyday life.

Whatever our journey - around the world or to the next street - Maxwell showed the importance of slowing down. Slow down to pay more attention to what is around you and give more than you receive on this earthly path.

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