There are only a handful of people who have properly been around the world but there's an even smaller group who have done it by walking. American LAD Tom Turcich is hoping to add his name to that tiny list as he continues his journey across the globe.
When Tom was 17 years old, he was going through high school and planning his future like any other person of his age. But when one of his mates, Ann Marie, died, it changed his perspective on life.
He's told LADbible: "I kind of knew what death was intellectually, but I never actually thought it could happen to me or anyone I knew. When Ann Marie passed, it put things into perspective and, all of a sudden, I had to reorder how I thought about the world."
Tom knew that he wanted to travel but it wasn't until he stumbled upon Karl Bushby, a British ex-paratrooper who walked an unbroken path around the globe, that he knew how he wanted to see the world. Tom was inspired to follow in his footsteps (not literally), so he started researching possible routes, went through university, worked hard and paid off his debts.
Eight years after first getting the idea, Tom was ready to walk around the world.
Tom walking through Avon, North Carolina. Credit: Tom Turcich/Instagram
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But before setting off from his hometown of Haddon Township, New Jersey in the USA, a company called Philadelphia Sign decided to sponsor him. He said: "There's a lot of little things that they help out with which puts my mind at ease because I can just walk and worry about getting to the next place and going on with the next day and not really have to worry about paying for food or anything like that."
Chief executive Bob Mehmet has also pledged to donate a dollar for every mile that Tom walks to a scholarship fund set up for Ann Marie.
After walking for four months down America's east coast, something was bothering Tom. He told us: "There were several times that I'd wake in the middle of the night thinking I had heard something outside and then I'd get a shot of adrenaline while looking for something and kept thinking, 'man it'd be really nice to have a dog that could listen while I sleep'."
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So, he popped into an animal shelter in Austin, Texas and a few hours later came out with Savannah. The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was just four months old when he adopted her and that meant she spent some time in Tom's cart before having enough strength to walk.
Credit: Tom Turcich/Instagram
Tom, who is now 28, crossed into Mexico, and found that the small amount of Spanish he knew went a long way. He was blown away with how big and beautiful the country was during his 72 days of walking. Tom then crossed through Guatemala in nearly a month, spending two weeks 'hanging out with hippies and practising Spanish'.
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Despite El Salvador going through a bitter period of horrific gang violence during 2015, he found the majority of citizens to be really friendly, although he did come across two dead bodies - a husband and wife - in a field.
It wasn't until he reached Honduras that Tom had his first real encounter with danger. While he was trying to sleep in an abandoned two-storey watchtower, a man appeared with a machete. Luckily, he meant Tom no harm as he was just looking for the person responsible for stealing some local cattle.
Tom and Savannah in El Salvador. Credit: Tom Turcich/Instagram
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He then crossed through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, where the heat and humidity got very intense and he developed plenty of blisters from his time on the road. In Panama City, Tom had another scary run-in with a local man who held a knife to his neck. He remembered: "I looked up and I saw this nasty dude with scraggily hair and red eyes and very abused skin and I jumped up and I realised he was holding this shiv [knife]. So, I start yelling at him 'what the fuck are you doing, man?' and he starts telling me to shut up in English and he's coming towards me."
But for some reason the guy escaped, while another man who grabbed Tom's backpack was quickly arrested by the police.
The 28-year-old then spent more than 100 days travelling through Colombia and Ecuador before hitting Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Peru was a brutal country, mainly because Tom walked through 200 kilometres of pure desert with not much to keep him entertained, except for Savannah, of course.
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He had to pick up 'doggles' for the pup, as he explained: "In North Peru there were points where the wind was pretty vicious and it was throwing sand and I had to put her goggles on to protect her from sand blasts in the eyes."
Credit: Tom Turcich
Credit: Tom Turcich
Tom then ventured to the bottom of the earth and checked
out the tip of Antarctica, which he compares to 'being on a different
planet'. During that time he went kayaking and got to see some whales, penguins
and seals.
Savannah has had only a few issues along the way. Her paws cracked badly in Honduras, but Tom applied some antibiotic cream and kept them tucked inside some boots to keep them safe. Later in Chile, she developed ehrlichiosis, a bacterial infection usually caused by ticks, but after taking her to get treated, she was back to full health.
Credit: Tom Turcich
But Tom said: "She's a trooper. There's never really a doubt that she's not going to keep up with me. She's usually got more energy than I do."
If you're wondering which part of the journey has been the best so far, the trekker told LADbible: "I would say my favourite country in general has been Colombia. The diversity of terrain and the people were so wonderful and everything about it kind of exudes this magic, it really feels like that when you're down there.
"You just feel like there's this potential for something to happen and the landscapes are just gorgeous and it's just a tremendous country.
Credit: Tom Turcich/Instagram
"But then again, south Peru, when I was in the desert and I was going three or four days at a time without seeing a town, that was pretty epic, too. That was a lot of fun and a different sort of challenge. It was raw and rough and I loved that."
Credit: Tom Turcich
Despite him travelling through some economically, politically and socially rough countries, Tom says the experience has strengthened his belief in the human spirit. He said: "I always believed that people are good and that they just wanted to live their life, but [this journey] has definitely reinforced that idea for me."
After travelling through north, central and south America, Tom reckons one thing in particular stands out. He said: "The biggest thing, and it keeps happening every time I cross a border, is the impact that government has on its people. In Ecuador, which is a great country, with people living well, and right at the border it's nice, with nice facilities.
"Then you cross into Peru and literally the only difference is the government that's running it. You're still in the same town, essentially, with the same weather, but all of a sudden in Peru the people don't have clean water and there's no running bathrooms."
Credit: Tom Turcich
Credit: Tom Turcich/Instagram
Tom embarked on the third leg of his journey just two months ago when he touched down in Iceland. He and Savannah then got to experience the rolling green hills of Ireland and Northern Ireland and are heading towards Scotland soon.
His plan is to then go down England, over to Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, up into Spain, over France, Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia, and then figure out how basically to get to Kazakhstan from there.
Tom started his journey in 2015 and expects it to go for another few years. He's an absolute legend. Good luck, buddy.
Featured Image Credit: Tom Turcich