Only 10 People Have Walked Around the World—and One Dog.

Travel Tales by AFAR

Tom Turcich and his dog, Savannah, completed their world walk in 2022. On this week’s episode of Travel Tales, we hear their story.

We first talked with Tom and Savannah back in 2021, when they were in Kyrgyzstan, six years into their journey, which began in 2015. They had been held up by the pandemic, which was only one of many ordeals they faced on their circumnavigation. A year and a few thousand miles later, they were done and back home in New Jersey. And now, two years later, Tom has released his memoir, The World Walk: 7 Years. 28,000 Miles. 6 Continents. A Grand Meditation, One Step at a Time.

In his Travel Tale, Tom reads an excerpt from the book, a moment set in the Peruvian desert about a year and a half into his journey. At that time, he’d already been held up by knife point and chased by semi-feral dogs in South America. The novelty of his walk had worn off and as he shuffled through the desert, he started to lose sight of why he was attempting this journey. And then he encountered a special restaurant with a special individual, one that revealed that he was indeed on the right path.

Tom and host Aislyn Greene also talk about what it was like to return to “real” life after seven years of walking, his relationship to walking now, and where he wants to go next.

Copyright © 2024 Tom Turcich. Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Resources

Read the transcript of the episode.

Listen to the episode on YouTube on August 29th.

Buy Tom's book on Amazon and on Barnes & Nobles.

Follow Tom on Instagram.

Read our feature on Tom and Savannah.

Be sure to subscribe to the show and to sign up for our podcast newsletter, Behind the Mic, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, Unpacked, which unpacks one tricky topic in travel each week.