PERRY, Fla. – Even 10 minutes outside in Florida’s May heat would have anyone breaking a sweat. The blaring sun is unforgiving. The humidity alone has native Floridians begging for mercy. But one 22-year-old dressed in long sleeves, lugging a 60-pound hiker's backpack — and on his seventh pair of shoes — is unbothered.
Jack Kadis has been walking for four straight months through three coastal states. In Perry, Florida, he left over 1,000 miles behind him with plenty more to go. His beard is fully grown out with skin tanned like bronze. He’s taken on freezing temperatures, pouring rain, and, of course, an unrelenting Florida sun. For Kadis, the mission is simple: To walk a complete outline of the continental U.S.
The Charlotte native began his journey from Virginia in mid-January. Kadis projects the daunting task could last two to three years — and for every day of those two to three years, Kadis will catch up with his more than 134,000 Instagram followers recapping his daily trek. Thousands of fans ask one question: Why?
“I think a lot of people are looking for me to say I’m walking for the veterans or I’m walking for cancer,” Kadis said. “Sometimes it bothers me when I’ll hear it eight times in a day and the answer is just, I don’t know.”
In Florida alone, audiences watched Kadis walk through Miami’s bustling streets, the quiet shores of St. Petersburg, and the nearly untouched landscapes of rural Perry. Through his Instagram series, Kadis shows each city for what it is. Some days are more exciting than others, but Kadis weaves them all into one cohesive tapestry showing life along the outline of the USA.
“I’m really seeking out a career in storytelling,” said Kadis. He never finished college, he said, but noted that people around him frequently pushed him to “do what you love.” Thankfully, he’s been able to share his love of storytelling as he documents every coastal city in America.
In the few hours WUFT walked alongside Kadis, that colorful life spoke through the people Kadis met walking. One man, Jude, shared his own hitchhiking stories from the trail Kadis walked on, helping him find water before an 8 mile-long journey down I-19.
One self-described ‘trail angel’, Debbie, offered her backyard, complete with an outdoor shower, as a campsite for travelers like Kadis to stop and rest along their journey.
Another young man, one of Kadis’ fans, shouted at him while driving by in his white pickup truck. That’s what comes with being live-tracked on social media, Kadis said. It’s strange, he joked, but it doesn't bother him. He’s not interested in labels, molds or perfection.
“You might look at me and think I’m crazy, but I can assure you that when I look at you it’s just as…” he struggled to find the words. “It’s the same distance both ways.”
Kadis typically covers 13 miles in a day. Along the way, some friendly faces offer company, sticking around for 30 minutes to an hour. Although those friends are usually memorialized on Kadis’s Instagram, a vast majority of his journey will be spent alone.
“When I do go back and watch it I always cry,” he said, thinking about the people he’s left behind. “Even a video from a week ago I always cry, I don’t know what it is.”
Explore Kadis' Journey
Hours spent walking and talking with locals are just a blink in the years-long journey. He said lasting friendships are a distant memory.
“It’s a different kind of alone,” he said. “I feel like I’m the only one I can relate with sometimes.”
The first week of May, Kadis caved to the isolation. He called for a walking buddy on social media.
Enter Griffin Hilliard.
Hilliard, 22, is one of Kadis’ closest friends from North Carolina. His bubbly, care-free buddy was flown out to spend a week camping and walking alongside him. The laughter from the pair, contagious.
The two hometown friends laughed hardest remembering their journey around the tip of Florida. Kadis recalled a mouse chewing a hole through his tent in the Keys. Hilliard regrettably remembered soiling his pants while trying ‘to go’ in a pitch black forest. Embarrassing, maybe, but he said the story made for a good Instagram post.
After looking back, the two started looking forward. Hilliard planned to go back to North Carolina to paint a mural after his week of walking. Kadis has a much longer stretch ahead of him, and has plenty of time to think about his welcome party in North Carolina.
“I’m really big on getting people together,” Kadis said. “I’ll see if I can’t use this as an excuse to get all my extended family in the same room.”
They’re not together in any room now, but they’re still connected. Kadis makes an effort to call his family every day, no matter the weather or the service quality. He says their support gives him strength to take every step of his journey.
“I made videos for so long and my mom watched them, but that was kind of it,” Kadis said. “Now she’s seeing how tens of thousands of people watch them along with her, and I feel like that’s really valuable.”
Kadis’ trek might seem never-ending to some viewers. He still has dry Texas deserts, culture-rich California coastlines, and frigid Montana plains to go. He’s most afraid of Arizona, but Kadis doesn’t let the thousands of miles ahead take him off course.
Millions of steps will only take him a couple years. The new experiences they carry him to will stick around much longer.