Paul Salopek is a fifty-nine-year-old journalist and writer from the United States. Salopek is on a 21,000 mile walk called the Out of Eden Walk, which is an odyssey walking across the world that is a decade-long experiment in slow journalism. He is walking the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa in the Stone Age and made the Earth Ours. While he is on this journey, he reports all of his experiences and the stories he hears along the way. In addition, Salopek checks in every one hundred miles to give updates on his journey. Below I will briefly discuss some of my favorite moments on his walk so far. 

The first story that I liked was Milestone ten. Milestone ten was on day one hundred and ten-mile nine hundred. On August 4th, 2013, Salopek was aboard the MV Abuyasser II sailing across the red sea. At this moment, he was on the boat listening to the captain talking to a sailor friend on another ship that he hasn’t seen in years, but when he gets the chance, and the timing is right, the captain calls to talk to his friend until the connection is weak. When the call is lost, the captain says they will catch up when the timing is right again. I loved reading that special moment being captured. It is a friendly reminder for us to call someone we don’t get to talk to all the time to catch up and show them that we are thinking of them. There is a 360 view of what Salopek is looking at in the post, and you can see the captain talking on the phone. Having the visual makes it feel like you are there experiencing the moment too. 

The second story that caught my attention was milestone thirteen. This was day two hundred and fifty-six, mile one thousand two hundred on October 10th, 2013. Salopek was walking north of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia through miles of empty desert. During this time, he realizes that he has yet to see any women here. On this day in the distance, he sees little girls and a grown woman walking through the desert. When the woman notices them, she grabs the girls, wraps the clock that she is wearing around them, drops them to the ground, and refuses to get up until they leave. This, to me, was very interesting because it really gives us a first-hand look into other cultures. We must respect how other people live and that to this woman, this was not her normal. Even though this is different in our culture we need to remember to respect other peoples customs.

 The last story that really stuck out to me was milestone sixty. This was day two thousand and fifty—mile five thousand nine hundred on December 28th, 2018. Most of the time, we are used to seeing people post the good things during their travels, but this post stuck out to me because it was a more challenging day for them on their journey. This day was gloomy, and they had to spend the night in rooms that looked like prison cells. They also lost their donkey to a fever which caused them to have an awful day. Not every day will be a good day, and I think it’s important for people to see that.  

The Out of Eden Walk is a great tool to include in any classroom. The stories Salopek shares are heartwarming, but he also shows the struggles people live on a day-to-day basis. Having students research the Out of Eden walk will help expand their knowlege and see what other cultures are about. It is essential to give students the tools to think outside the side of the box and learn outside of the box, and the Out of Eden Walk does just that. 

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