Christmas/New Year Blog
Hello Friends: Our team hopes that all of you had a great Christmas as well as a great New Year here in a few days. Time is sneaking up on us again as there is a little over a week before I head back out on the road again. My feet have fully recovered and I am ready to finish up the home stretch from the border of Arizona to Dahlonega, Ga. This time I am heading out with a support vehicle. Bryan Schlackman (The Earth Expedition’s European Walker) will be joining me for the last 4-5 months driving the support vehicle. Bryan will be drumming up support, media relations, training for his walk, blogging, putting together videos, and simply just being a fellow teammate so I won’t go crazy! Bryan has already been training (check out his Blog below) and is in the process of raising funds for his European section of The Earth Expedition.
I leave again for the road on January 6th. I am flying into Dallas/Fort Worth TX. to meet with Bryan and drive over back to where I left off In Arizona. Merrell has sent me a few pairs of running shoes that fit like a glove and breathe extremely well which I am sure will remedy the problems I have been having with blisters. Now that I am not all by myself I think that the last 4-5 months will start to be fun again….I am excited to get back out there again!
2009: Our Team is really excited about what 2009 is going to bring. There will be a lot of first for the expedition. The first transition of a hiker as well as the first time we are sending a hiker across the sea. Although this can be very exciting….we are also very aware that the dynamics have changed. Logistics like communications, safety, technology, language barriers and cultural differences are all going to begin to be obstacles we are going to face… and overcome. Please pray for this transition as well as for people who can help make this dream a reality.
Support Vehicle: We have found a support vehicle! It was a back-up plan that none of us wanted to use but Bryan allowed us to use his blazer for the expedition. It is an option that we didn’t want to use for a few reasons.. . One of the main reasons is because we want as many people as possible to be a part of this movement. The good news is that there were many people who were on the lookout and had lobbied for the expedition to car dealers as well as car manufacturers but nothing to date has come to fruition. So we thank all of you who took the time to speak on behalf of our need. Thank you.
Jars of Clay Tour: It has been really cool to see the response The Earth Expedition has received through the Jars of Clay Tour. My phone and facebook have been filled with those of you who went to the Jars of Clay “Love Came Down” Tour and saw the video that the band has put together unwrapping stories of people who have used their gifts and in some cases just some sacrifice of some time to address the International Water Crisis.. Our Team is honored that Jars of Clay chose our story to share. Also we are honored from all of the kind words we have received from all of you who follow the expedition.
 Bryan’s Blog: So I just destroyed my body! I ran the Dallas White Rock Marathon with my buddy Jonny Harvell. It was brutal. It was warm and windy which is a bad recipe for marathon weather. Ugh. But we made it fortunately and pushed through all the obstacles. But I'm pretty sore now and it’s going to take me at least a week to recover from this. Yay. Also, on Wednesday I spoke about the Earth Expedition at a church that I used to be a youth sponsor at called Crossbend Christian Church in Plano. It was a great session for my first to speak on the subject. The kids were interested and afterward many of them came up to me with their own ideas to start campaigns with their friends and schools. I was so impressed! So I will be staying in touch with them to see if they need any help executing the campaigns. It’s going to be an amazing year I can already tell! People are really getting excited about this because they know that they can finally be a part of an organization and DO something and not just give money or pray (which isn't wrong of course). I can't wait till I get on the road with Daren! Peace.
Until Next Time “Life to the Fullest” Daren, Bryan, and The Earth Expedition Team!
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Well wish I could say that I met my mileage goal that I had planned on reaching before Christmas came. But unfortunately due to a couple of reason I was not able to. My feet have been giving me some trouble over the past few weeks and I believe that the problem has to do with a few factors such as heat, the shoe size, repetitive motion on pavement, and different friction locations. I had built up calluses on the
Support Vehicle: We still don’t have one. I actually thought that it would be much harder to find a person to drive the vehicle rather than find the vehicle itself. I guess I was wrong. We have not been sitting on our butts with this though. We have been in contact with some corporations and dealers but with the economy we the dealerships are not able to let anything go and we are still waiting to hear back from the major corporation. I do have to say that we have heard from a variety of people who have vehicles but they need repair before we use them. We really do appreciate the offers but The Earth Expedition is still a privately funded project and we are and always have been on a strict budget of basically just food and minimal postage and such. Even the flights have been flights that we have been able to get for free. With all that said we are still looking for anyone who might know of a vehicle that The Earth Expedition may use. If you you happen to know of a vehicle then please contact 
Phoenix, AZ I am still in Phoenix, Az…as mentioned in my last e-mail I was going to head out to Globe, AZ and walk the 75 miles back to Phoenix.
For now I am allowing my feet to heal before I head out again. I am not sure how much time that will be but I do know that I am heading home for Christmas this year. If my feet heal up I will walk some more but if not the plan is to come back out after the New Year and this time I will have a support vehicle driven by the next European walker