The Out of Eden Walk is an inspiring journey taken by journalist Paul Salopek in order to trace the path of human history. A massive undertaking, Paul walked more than 24,000 miles over a decade, following the trail of human settlements around the world.

One of the main sections that I found interesting was the walk through the ‘Holy Lands.’ I choose this area because this is an area that many of us do not understand. Salopek points out, “Not an inch of this antique vista hasn’t been fought over, cursed, blessed, claimed for one divinity or another. It is a land worn smooth like a coin traded through countless fingers.” Although, a relatively small area, the three dominant monotheistic religions of our world see their origins here. We think of this place as ancient and historical, but in the “Trail Notes: Mound Cultures’ post, we see that the country is littered with piles of construction material. A step in the direction of future building, development, and modernization.

The next area of the ‘Out of Eden Walk’ that I wanted to blog about was the section on the ‘Silk Road.’ Central Asia is yet another area of the world that we do not focus on enough. The expansive grass steppes of Kazakhstan is widely acknowledged as the birthplace for horse domestication. There have been remains found suggesting horse domestication could have begun as long as 5,500 years ago. However, today the horse is no longer a part of everyday life. Sadly, as technology and urbanization have increased, most Kazakh people have no connection with horses anymore.

The final section that I wanted to discuss was contained within the “Riverlands” chapter. While in India, Paul held a four day workshop to teach slow journalism. Shikha Sharma, a local magazine editor, summed up the goal perfectly, “In the deadline-chasing media world of today, this workshop made me realize just what in-depth, honest, literary journalism can bring to the table.” This workshop focused on deeper analysis that produced social significant work. These young journalists have been empowered with the skills they need to find the truth and exposes the corruption and inequality that exists around them.

All in all, this was an interesting dive into a project that we can learn a lot from. Paul Salopek’s journey can teach us about the social and ecological issues that face real people around the world. There is more to learn from this project than can be summarized in a blog post and I hope you check it out.

Thanks for reading! If you like what you read (or don’t like what you read) let me know! @PatrickWCrowell