Kyndal Ray isn’t the ordinary traveler along Interstate 84 through Northeastern Oregon.

Drivers on the freeway might have seen Ray earlier this week, walking west and pushing a three-wheeled cart on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes.

And those who haven’t see him yet might in the next few days as he climbs the Blue Mountain en route to his goal of plunging his feet into the chilly water of the Pacific Ocean.

Ray, 29, whose road moniker is A Walking Testimony, started his walk across America on Jan. 1, 2022.

His cart is filled with supplies and flyers announcing the purpose of his journey — Walking Across America For Mental Health Awareness and Recovery.

“The reason why is it has been a dream of mine since 2013 when I came across a newspaper article while I was doing a year in the county jail,” Ray said on Tuesday morning, March 21, as he paused briefly during his day’s 23-mile walk from Durkee to Baker City. “The newspaper article was titled ‘America On Foot’ about a guy named Harrison Milanian who walked from Tallahassee, Florida, to one of the coasts in California.”

Inspired, Ray decided that one day he would also cross the country on foot.

He started with his feet in the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville, Florida. When he arrived in Baker City his mileage total was 2,948. He has been delayed by inclement weather and for about two months while recovering from hernia surgery.

Ray has a T-shirt that lists 180 names of people who died from drug overdose or suicide.

“So even though they aren’t with us, they’re still being remembered, still getting one more journey,” he said.

Ray said the 180 names represent the idea of taking a 180-degree turn in life, from destructive behaviors to healthy ones.

“I don’t just walk because people are losing their lives or people are struggling, I walk as somebody that over the last thirteen years, I’ve tried to take my life twice, I’ve overdosed numerous times,” he said. “I’ve lost my heartbeat, I’ve had seizures.”

Ray said he’s spent time in county jails 11 times, and in prison twice.

“I have 13 felony convictions on my record and I’m 29 years old,” said Ray, who turns 30 on March 30. “I’m not proud of any of it but I’ve been through a lot, I’ve put myself through a lot but I’m a firm believer that my past does not define me, that there’s always hope and that we do recover.”

He said he likes to let people know they matter, no matter how much they’re struggling.

During his trip he has met others who undertook similar challenges, including a man who walked across America in 1989 to raise awareness about child abuse.

“That was really cool,” Ray said.

A challenging trip

His journey, now well into the second year, has had its ups and downs, including cart maintenance.

He has gone through two broken carts and was stuck for three weeks due to that issue. He ordered a new cart while staying in a motel, and it was delivered to the wrong place.

“I finally get the new cart, I was like, OK, I’m going to take off tomorrow, get the new cart put together,” he said. “The very next day I walked ten miles and the whole front welding shattered. I got stuck in the woods for a few days.”

He is prepared for all scenarios, though, and was able to have a new cart shipped to a house when someone offered to let him use their address for delivery.

Ray’s cart is stocked with a tent, a sleeping bag, lanterns, firestarters, handwarmers, appropriate clothing for cold weather, and bear spray.

He alternates between camping out and staying in motels.

Ray recently acquired a donated laptop on which he’s started to write a book.

“I just started writing a little bit of drafting every day for the last couple of days. I’m going to put a book together, I think it’s going to be pretty cool,” he said.

Ray has worn out three and a half pairs of shoes.

On the positive side, Ray met a woman in Oklahoma who became his girlfriend. He has spoken to groups of recovering addicts.

And of course he has seen all manner of things.

“In Moab, Utah, I got to go base jumping off of a cliff,” he said.

One near constant, though, is beauty.

He said that every day brings something beautiful to see.

Well, almost.

“Except for in Kansas. It was nothing but really, really hot farmland with not one lick of shade on the side of the road,” he said.

Inspired by people

Although the sites and experiences have been memorable, Ray said he has particularly enjoyed the people he has met.

And most of those have been good and helpful.

“You gotta think, we’re at over 8 billion people as of just a couple months ago in the world,” Ray sid. “What we see on the media is only one or two percent of what’s really happening. So much good in the world, so many good people that want to help people.”

While the people have been wonderful, he has had a few run-ins with animals that were less so.

“The longest I got chased by a dog, I think it was almost two miles, and it was a little three-legged dog just running behind me, barking at me the whole time. It was the funniest thing,” he said.

“I had a whole pack of coyotes, I think, outside my tent back in Alabama right before I got into Mississippi. That was pretty neat,” he said.

In Colorado he saw a herd of 200 to 300 elk.

In the same state, in Leadville in the Rocky Mountains, Ray accepted a ride out of town when the temperature was 11 below zero.

The hottest weather was in the aforementioned Kansas, with temperatures hitting 105 for three straight days.

“It was almost a hundred miles in a hundred and five degree weather, it was bad,” Ray said.

Ray was in Colorado when he was sidelined by the hernia.

While recovering from surgery, he said he averaged around 10 miles per day.

But since then he has more than doubled that average, to about 22 miles per day, depending on weather.

Ray’s goal is to reach the Pacific at La Push, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula, on April 12.

That date is significant to him as he will be his four-year anniversary of being drug-free.

He’s also looking forward to celebrating his 30th birthday on March 30.

For anyone who wants to follow Ray’s journey, you can find him on TikTok under Kyndalrayy, Instagram under a_walking_testimony, and Facebook under A Walking Testimony.

“I don’t just walk because people are losing their lives or people are struggling, I walk as somebody that over the last thirteen years, I’ve tried to take my life twice, I’ve overdosed numerous times.”

— Kyndal Ray