How many pairs of shoes does it take to walk around the world? According to Dave Kunst, the first verified man to do so, the answer is 21.
Over the course of four years, three months, and sixteen days, Kunst travelled across thirteen countries by foot, including the U.S., Portugal, India, Afghanistan, and Australia. But he didn’t walk the 14,450 miles alone. During different segments of his journey, he had the help of his two brothers, John and Pete, two dogs, four mules, and an Australian schoolteacher named Jenni Samuel who he later married. While Kunst joined a small list of pedestrian circumnavigators before him who claimed to walk around the land mass of the world, his walk is the first with proof on record.
Who was the man who accomplished this monumental human feat? A globetrotting spectacle that made headlines throughout its course, marked by his boundless determination, outspokenness, and tragically, the killing of one of his brothers. How did he change through those four years, and who would he become?
