A Windsor-based artist is raising funds for two local youth organizations with a plan to walk 750 kilometres in one month across the province this summer.
Over a 32-day journey, community advocate Teajai Travis intends to walk from Ottawa to Windsor in “the name of peace and unity” and in commemoration of his ancestors who walked the Underground Railroad.
The “750 for Peace” walk is set to start on Canada Day and conclude on August 1, Emancipation Day, a day marking the abolition of slavery across the British Empire in 1834.
“Symbolically the walk is a representation of my ancestors’ walk to freedom and what Canada represented to them,” he said.
During his journey, Travis anticipates walking 25km to 30km every day “rain or shine.” The walk will take him along waterfront paths from Ottawa to Kingston, then through the Greater Toronto Area and towards Windsor.
Travis will raise funds during his walk for the Windsor Youth Centre and the Sandwich Teen Action Group, local community groups that provide mentorship and safe community spaces for youth in Windsor.
Raising funds for youth groups takes inspiration from his own ancestors, who Travis said walked the Underground Railroad “for the legacy and the well-being of the next generation.”
To condition his body for the walk, Travis has been going to the gym five days a week running “at least 15km a day” on the treadmill for the past two-and-a-half months and has been doing intermittent fasting as part of a dietary training plan.
On Saturday, he set out to practice the daily distance with a six-hour, 25km walk from Windsor to Belle River.
The 750-km journey this summer, Travis said, will be “kind of like going to work.”
He will set out at 8 a.m. every morning and walk for six to eight hours with the plan of finishing early in the afternoon, giving him the rest of the day to rest and recover for the following day.
Travis will sleep most nights in a recreation vehicle that will follow his route a few kilometers ahead of him.
According to his calculations, the month-long itinerary will leave him with four “buffer days” for rest along the route.
“The deadline is quite urgent, so I do have to complete the walk in 32 days otherwise I’ll miss arriving at Jackson Park on Emancipation Day.”
Travis’s itinerary, which he created with Google Maps’ walking tool, will take him through parks or city centres along the way.
“My destination for each community that I got through is either a public library, a university, a city hall – that sort of landscape.”
Travis plans to document his journey online – he says he has already received messages from people who are interested in joining him for portions of the walk.
Travis will host a fundraiser for the walk on May 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Emmanuel United Church at 1728 Lincoln Rd. He also organizes weekly group walks along the Detroit River on Sundays at 3 p.m. starting at the Bert Weeks Memorial Fountain.
People interested in supporting the walk can also donate to the ‘750 for Peace and Unity: Ottawa to Windsor with Love’ GoFundMe site.
