"Weight Loss Journey" of Jason Bliss

For the past 13 days, Jason Bliss, or "JayBo" as his friends call him, has been walking across South Carolina in a yearlong journey that will take him to San Francisco.

The 2,800-mile trek is part for weight loss, part for self-discovery to change his life.

"What this does is challenge above and beyond, and the rewards are far superior as well. I get to see wonderful things, meet new interesting people, and yes I will lose weight," Bliss, 27, wrote in his blog on day three.

Bliss began on the pier in Garden City, S.C., on June 16.

Carrying a 45-pound backpack and walking stick, Bliss averages about eight to 10 miles a day. He walks from about 6 to 11 a.m., then rests in the heat of the day. About 4 p.m. each day, he resumes his journey until 7 p.m.

From pictures of scenery to photo-documentation of foot blisters, Bliss' blog gives viewers a taste of what it has been like to walk the highways in the middle of summer: the good, the bad and the sometimes gross.

"So far, it feels like I've been walking for a month-and-a-half," he said. There is no cheering crowd and no modern amenities, save for a cell phone he uses to text and e-mail blog entries.

During his down time, he finds a patch of shade, reads a book or a pocket-sized New Testament and writes in a notebook.

His trek is occasionally eased with one-night hotel stays, but mostly it is just Bliss, his tent, his pack and the occasional breeze as the cars rush by.
After his divorce in 2004, Bliss said he began to self-destruct.

"Alcohol, as a problem, came after the divorce," he said. With the over-imbibing came the weight gain. The final straw, Bliss said, was being forced to file bankruptcy. "I fell to the bottom rung of the ladder," he would later write in his blog.

While hanging out with two friends in Boston, the three discussed Bliss moving there so he could walk everywhere and lose weight. His friend, Chris Hartz, came up with the idea that he should walk across America.

It took the unemployed Bliss a couple of days to mull over the idea and decide to go through with their plans. "I wanted to do something phenomenal."

His friends help Bliss maintain a Web site and keep him stocked with the basic necessities.

He doesn't say how much he weighed when the journey began, only that his goal is to drop to 250 pounds. But he hopes the experience will result in more than weight loss; he hopes it will branch into a new life.

The trip comes with more than a few obstacles. Bliss has battled bugs, blisters and beeping motorists. He relies on kind strangers to replenish his water. Temperatures reach near 100 degrees on the asphalt, and his feet and ankles once swelled so much he walked barefoot.

But there has been extraordinary sweetness, too. He won't take money, but he gratefully accepted healthy-food "care packages" from a motorist or two.

His motivation is not letting down family and friends who support him. "I think about giving up each day. If the walk was just for me, I would give up."

Via www.charlotte.com

Jason Bliss blog

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