Book review: 3 MPH

Subtitled "The Adventures of One Woman's Walk Around the World".
Authored by Polly Letofsky in 2010 (ISBN 978-0-9841543-2-6).

She did not walk on the water. The Guinesss Book people and others who decide the rules regarding amazing feats (elbow-licking is not eligible for a world record) decided that to claim one has walked around the world one must:
* Walk at least 14,000 miles,
* on at least four continents,
* have someone verify each day's walk,
* and start and finish in the same place.
Flying between continents is acceptable; further, Letofsky decided that it would be okay to accept rides to lodging at the end of a day, so long as she could also catch a ride back to that same spot in the morning to resume her walking.

Letofsky's story is both sweet and compelling. She designed her walk to raise awareness about breast cancer after an odd encounter with a doctor who told her that, because she had no family history of that disease, she herself need not worry about it. She told her friends about her good luck, and they set her straight.

Thus started her walk from Vail to Vail, via the desert southwest, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand ... Greece ... Germany ... Britain ... New York and her home state of Minnesota. Twenty-two countries in all.

She had a number of companions and helpers. Her first helper stole her money and the copyright to her walk's name. A second helper, a bisexual woman, left because Polly spurned her sexual advances. Her biggest helpers were the Lion's Club members who accompanied her to New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Britain. They would call the next club down the road; a member would pick her up, drop her off, house and feed her, and arrange for press coverage so she could increase her collection of donations. While walking up to 26 miles per day was expectedly tiring, also draining were the daily press conferences and answering "how many pairs of shoes have you gone through" from every stranger.

She enjoyed the Indian food but she complained about "Indian Hearing Deficit": she found that Indians did not want to relay bad news, and a trip of her magnitude would have bad moments, and she found their unwillingness to admit to mistakes frustrating. She was amused by the constant questions of her marital status (single, no children). Questioners could not believe a 36-year-old woman was not interested in marriage and children. Letofsky said: "if someone doesn't know they're [sic] being offensive, do you have the right to be offended? [The questions are] offensive in my culture, not theirs."

Europe was the most challenging part of the trip, perhaps because she did not expect it to be so. She had no Lion's clubs to lean on. People were not as friendly. Prices were high. Maps were hard to obtain, and more necessary than in places like India and Thailand where only a single road might connect two points.

In addition to raising over $200,000 she raised awareness of the disease in places, especially the Third World, where awareness is low. Her's is a remarkable story and a very entertaining read.

Oh: she used 29 pairs of shoes.