WATCH: Married Couple Walking from Maine to Key West Visit Brevard County
By Ron Lighthall, SCD // November 18, 2023
Matt is from Idaho originally. Grace is from Iowa
ABOVE VIDEO: Matt and Grace have been walking from Maine en-route to Key West. While stopping here on our beautiful Space Coast we caught up with this delightful couple to share some of their story.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – An amazing couple will pass through Brevard county this week marking a journey across this great country, sparking imagination and creating memories for a lifetime.
Four years ago, at a mutual friends wedding in Spokane, Washington, Matt and Grace met.
Matt is from Idaho originally and Grace is from Iowa.
While living in Clovis, California, roughly a year and a couple months into their time there Matt read the book “To Shake the Sleeping Self” by Jedidah Jenkins.
A sons story about his parents: Peter & Barbara Jenkins who walked across America, all while being the subject of a National Geographic documentary.
Inspiration struck Matt and Grace, “We thought wow that would be awesome! We looked up stuff online and we hadn’t seen a lot of people document their experience so we decided we wanted to do just that – and take people along on the adventure!”
They liquidated all of their “stuff” (even got rid of cars) and started their walk from Huntington Beach, CA to Myrtle Beach, SC between (2020-2021) They raised almost $100,000 for Time In A Bottle , found a pup named Nemo & their following on social media exploded more than they thought it would.
Upon completion of their journey, they purchased an old daycare bus, gutted the inside and renovated it into a home.
They traveled around for a bit, raising funds for different nonprofits within the states they were residing, But, they still felt a little lost.
Wanderlust once again gripped them,this time they decided to hike the Colorado Trail with Nemo (486 miles through the mountains) to help them realign and find what they love most…WALKING!
They wed in August of 22′ in Wyoming. Moved out to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where they rented a furnished apartment for 6 months (October ‘22 – March ‘23) while planning their next big adventure…the East Coast Greenway Alliance Starting at the Canadian border on April 20 and planning completion in Key West, Florida sometime in December.
They are currently raising funds and awareness for the non-profit Elevate Youth out of Boston.
They help underserved kids get outdoors and they are a great group of humans.
Upon completion of their journey, they plan to take a year off to visit family, renovate the bus, soak their feet, and regroup before preparing to tackle their third walk across America: The Great American Rail Trail from Washington DC to the coast in Washington State 3,700 miles.
