6
MAY 18�25, 2022
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
Travelin’ man raises money for PTSD vets
By Cheryl Hoefl er
GO! Magazine
E
ver had a dream to just chuck
it all and spend your life — or a
good chunk of it — traipsing around
the country?
Yeah, me too!
How many of us have ever done
it?
Jake Sansing has, and by now he’s
darned experienced at it.
However, Sansing isn’t just wan-
dering. This is a man with not only
a purpose, but a book full of some
intriguing, wild and harrowing tales
from his roadside ventures.
“Walking America: 10,000-Mile
Journey of Self-Healing” chronicles
Sansing’s numerous cross-country
treks, the fi rst of which was nearly 10
years ago, in the summer of 2013.
An Army veteran from Tennessee,
Sansing is on a healing mission not
only for himself but for other vets as
he meanders throughout the United
States. He’s hoping to raise enough
money through his book sales to
someday open a free campground
— location still-undetermined — for
veterans with PTSD.
Sansing’s current on-foot trek,
which he launched in Newport in
early April, took him along Highway
26 through Grant County recently,
befriending folks along the way as he
explores the country, sells his book
and shares his purpose. His destina-
tion this go-round is Maine.
So, what on earth makes a guy
want to keep doing this?
As Sansing explains in his book,
he tried maintaining what most folks
would call a “normal” lifestyle, but
it just didn’t seem to be for him. He
actually established a successful
audio engineering business a couple
of times, but he discovered that he
needed change to keep his PTSD
at bay. For him, increased stability
just created more restlessness and
depression. Soon enough, he’d fi nd
himself yearning to hit the road again.
“I had gotten so caught up with
making money that I forgot how great
simplicity was. I was beginning to
hate material things and longed for
an escape,” Sansing said in his book.
“I knew walking across America
wouldn’t fi x my situation, but it would
change it.”
Mostly he makes his way on foot
but he’s also traveled by bicycle,
train and plane. The latter was
several years ago on his quest to
reach Alaska.
His book is a collection of
memories, experiences, observa-
tions, lessons and accounts of the
good nature and kindness of people
everywhere. It was fi rst published
in 2017 under the title “Jake Does
America: 10,000-mile trek.” The
newer version with a slight title
change, published in April 2020, is a
bit more polished.
Readers will fi nd occasional
grammatical errors and rambling
passages, but they are almost un-
noticeable in this easy-going read.
This wanderlust girl found the book
hard to put down. Sansing speaks
from the heart and says it like it is.
Some of his accounts and experi-
ences seem almost too unbelievable
or coincidental to be true, but how
am I to know and who am I to judge?
I decided it didn’t matter. I was along
for the roadside adventure.
Whether you’re a real-life wan-
nabe trekker or you’re content to
read from the armchair sidelines,
this is an entertaining book, which
supports a worthy cause, to boot.
Special deals on Sansing’s book,
links to all his social media connec-
tions and more information about
his story are all available at Jake-
WalksAmerica.com.
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