Russ Cook

And I'm sick of just living in the routine that, that also feels meaningless.

So I'm going to, I need inspiration.

I'm going to go out, I'm going to quit everything, saved up a couple grand.

And I just one way flights just around the world, just hoping to be inspired really more than anything.

And then it was that journey that,

that I went to Kenya, started running with all these big dog Kenyans that were absolutely rapid, and then met this Italian man who'd been cycling around the world.

And it was just a conversation with him

that was way out of the zone of conversations I had or role models that I'd had in my life before.

And, you know, he had a bike and a pannier bag and he had all his possessions in his bag and he'd just camp around.

And it sounded mental to me at the time and it often sounds mental to people that, you know, don't live in that world when I tell them the story.

These guys, six years, just six years, got a long time, you know.

And he just gave me a new perspective on life.

that I took and just thought, right, I'm going to apply that.

I could do something like that.

I would love that.

I would love the adventure.

I'd love to see what I'm made of.

I would love the challenge of it.

And it was then I decided, right, I'm going to run home from Asia.

And I just packed a camelback for hammock and phone charger and a bar of soap and a toothbrush.