He braved rattlesnakes in the desert, and creepy hotel clerks in the Midwest. His wife left him, and he has stress fractures in both feet. But for Steve Vaught, a morbidly obese man who set out to walk across America to lose weight and find his soul, journey's end was in sight yesterday.
At 6pm today, 48kg (7.5 stone) lighter and with nearly 3,000 miles behind him, Mr Vaught is expected to cross the George Washington bridge into New York City. He is not as trim as he thought he would be when he set off from his home in California more than a year ago, and he still has no solid answers on how to beat his addiction to food.
But Mr Vaught was in good humour yesterday as he set out from Parsippany, New Jersey, to conquer the last 28 miles between him and Manhattan.
"There are no sidewalks in New Jersey - well, maybe there are two. It's a crazy place," he told the Guardian. "I am actually walking in the roadway a lot of the time. Wouldn't that be ironic to get all the way to New Jersey and get run over?"
But it would not be entirely out of keeping for an odyssey that has resolutely resisted conforming to America's tidy notions of redemption. Mr Vaught is undeniably fitter than the 186kg man who set off from San Diego in April last year and, after tossing his depression medication into the desert, says he is a lot happier. He has acquired a cult following in the US and on the net, where imitators are planning cross-country walks of their own, and he is booked for appearances on breakfast TV.
Otherwise the journey has been a lot rockier than he could have imagined. His wife, April, filed for divorce last month. Within the past few weeks, he regained 9kg. The book deal, which was to have been the big prize at the end of his walk, has run into trouble over editing.
As for breasting the tape at the end of his walk, Mr Vaught said department of homeland security regulations have quashed any plans for a party on the bridge. "Getting to New York is the ritual. I am not going to kiss the ground." He admitted that the prospect of reaching journey's end after more than a year on the road has left him feeling disoriented.
"It's a little confusing right now. On one level, I am really glad it is over and done with. I want to get back to my family." He has plans to take his son and daughter swimming and to the cinema next week. "This is their time," he said.
"On the other hand, travelling and seeing different people every day, it's kind of sad having that come to an end."
Then he changed direction once again. "It's like everything in life. You can't overstay your welcome. There is a certain time to do something like this, and then it's over and you have to move on."
At a glance
Vaught, 40, left Oceanside, California, on April 10 last year. It has taken him 394 days to reach New York, covering 2,843 miles and wearing through 14 pairs of shoes.
He weighed 186kg (29st 4lb) when he started, and was 127kg (20st) by last month. He has put on weight recently and is now 140kg (22st).
His website, fatmanwalking.com, receives 2m hits a month and he has been sent 80,000 emails. He has suffered a knee injury and kidney stones, and separated from his wife.
