Mix 11 languages, 18,000 miles, 7 years, 3 continents, 17 times zones, 14 countries, 36 million steps, one man, a backpack and a dream and you get The Earth Expedition. A man's dream to walk the world's continents on nothing but two feet.

Since 2006 Daren Wendell has been planning, saving, reading, researching, and training for The Earth Expedition; a dream that he has committed many years to accomplish. “I am drawn to challenge and what people say I cannot do. I’m attracted to risk; I’m attracted to the unexpected, attracted to new people, new languages, new cultures, and new places. People always ask me the question, 'Why?'. I guess I should have a pretty good answer for this question considering I will be answering it for the next 8 years of my life. There are many reasons why:

Legacy: I dont have any children, in fact I haven't dated for a year because of the expedition, but there will be a day when I am gone and my children will say 'My father gave back to this world instead of just taking from it, he saved lives, and he was a voice for the voiceless' I cant think of a better legacy.

One of my biggest fears is to look back on my life and wish I would have lived it differently. Therefore I refuse to live a life of mediocrity. I meet so many people who have lost sight of their dreams and ambitions and settle for something else. I feel like I have been given this gift of life and I want to live it to the fullest.

I also want to raise awareness and move people to action when it comes to the Water Crisis and Aids Pandemic that is hitting Africa by advocating for the non-profit organization, Blood:Water Mission.

I want to inspire people to follow dreams and help figure out why they are on this earth. I feel If they miss out on that then they will miss the reason they were created.

I am fiercly wild at heart. I love adventure, change, new people, cultures, mental challenges, languages, physical challenges, and spiritual challenges.

I am sure that I will discover a lot more of the way as I walk. But for now… I stick with just 'Life to the fullest'."

~Daren Wendell, The Earth Expedition

"Dream no small dreams. They have no power to stir the souls of men."

Check out the official website,WWW.THEEARTHEXPEDITION.COM, for all of the details. If you want to reach Daren directly, then you can reach him through the website. Otherwise, you can reach me, Amie, (his support team member), through this site, and I will be more than happy to answer any of your questions and show you how you can get involved in this great expedition! God bless!

I am fiercly wild at heart. I believe in giving back to the world rather than taking from it. I am a minimalist, and have a desire to leave a legacy of "living outside of one's self". To fulfill this philosophy of life I recently left my comfortable surroundings on March 8th, 2008 for The Earth Expedition. My objective is to be the youngest person to walk the estimated 7 year walk around the world in order to raise awareness, funds, and call people to action when it comes to the water-crisis in Africa and the humanitarian organization called Blood:Water Mission.

For more information, visit my official website at WWW.THEEARTHEXPEDITION.COM

Karl Bushby, President, and someone who has $250,000 dollars they would like to donate to The Earth Expedition.

If you're not one of those three, that's okay. Daren loves to meet new people and considering his primary arrangement for eating and sleeping over the next seven years is noodles and a tent, I am sure that he would love to meet you. If you live within 30 miles of Daren's route and would be able to pick him up and drop him off and are willing to host him, then write sue@theearthexpedition.com and she will take care of getting a hold of Daren and making it happen... Thanks!

Also, to locate a description and map of Daren's seven year route in an effort to see if you can participate in hosting him for a day, simply visit www.theearthexpedition.com and click on the "Host Daren" link.

I think Daren is really fond of this quote, "Dream no small dreams. They have no power to stir the souls of men."

But I would say Daren has a few good quotes of his own...

When asked, are you crazy..you'll typically get this response from him.."Define 'crazy'?"

When you ask him what about protection on the trail, he'll casually say.."Well, it was curiousity that killed the cat".

But probably the most impactful thing that I've heard Daren say came after he held his "Everything I own Sale", in which he literally sold every possession he had in an effort to become fully debt-free and begin this expedition. He said this in his journal later that night..."And there we have it...I am sleeping on my Thermarest mattress now, No radio, no TV. I am writing this right now on a borrowed computer and I can literally fit everything I own in the back of my Honda Civic Hatchback! You might think I am crazy.. But here is the way I see it. If I have to sell everything that I own in order for others to live, then it is worth the price of admission."

For me, I knew this man had the passion and drive to succeed at this journey. But even more importantly, I knew he had the natural heart and merit it takes to motivate others.

So that's how I got on board this Earth Expedition bandwagon! I hope that you can take the time to learn more about Daren Wendell and his Earth Expedition and find out how you can be a part of this movement to bring hope to Africa!

God bless!
Amie

Prior to the expedition, Daren has traveled to Haiti, Mexico, Canada, ...

Check out the "route" link under the navigational menu section titled, "Expedition", on the official website...WWW.THEEARTHEXPEDITION.COM...for the enormous list of places Daren will be visiting during his trek across the world on foot.

I have an interest in "living life to the Fullest". For me it is a philosophy of life. Jesus said "I have come to give you life and give you life to the fullest". Life to the fullest for me is helping others live richer, fuller lives, leaving a legacy of selflessness, and living outside of one's self. I plan on fulfilling this life philosophy over the next 8 years as I walk around the world with unbroken footsteps in order to raise awareness, funds, and people to action when it comes to a humanitarian organization called Blood:Water Mission. Their objective is to reduce the impact that the aids virus is having in Africa as well as promote clean water through initiatives such as the 1000 wells project. For more information on Bloodwatermission visit www.bloodwatermission.com

Daren has been (and is continually) equipping himself to speak 11 of the world's most popular languages, in an effort to make his journey around the earth as effective as possible.