Dan Hoyt/Daily Globe |
Polly Letofsky has been walking around the world for the purpose of spreading that one important fact. She has been raising awareness by giving speeches, talking to the local media, participating in fundraisers, and starting awareness groups.
She is currently taking a break in Dodge City before beginning the homestretch back to her hometown, Vail Colo., where she started her journey on August 1, 1999.
She started by going west over the Rocky Mountains and through the deserts of California to the coast. She then flew to New Zealand, where she had once lived for five years. In New Zealand, she was greeted by her old friends. She has traveled to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, New York, Canada, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri. Trips to Burma and China were either denied or postponed.
She entered Kansas April 1, 2004, in Kansas City, Kan., and has been on U.S. Highway 50 since.
Three hotels in Dodge City -- the Boot Hill Bed & Breakfast, the Bel-Air Motel, and the Dodge House Hotel -- offered her rooms to stay in free of charge.
Letofsky said most hotels are happy to donate a room to her on her journey, and she has very rarely had to camp outside.
The most helpful group of people has been the Lion's Club, because it is an international group that has helped her locally in many of the countries she visited by providing her food and a home to stay in she said.
Letofsky said she thinks there are many parallels between her journey and breast cancer.
"When you are walking around the world you have to think of the journey in small steps," Letofsky said.
She also said, if you think of it in a big picture you would get overwhelmed. This is very similar to overcoming cancer because you have to think of it in small steps. It would overwhelm you if you thought about how terrible cancer is.
The small steps Letofsky takes are in about 15 to 20 mile treks, depending on what the weather is like.
To carry all of her things she has Bob, a specially designed stroller that can carry up to 70 pounds of weight. Bob was designed by Phil Novotny of BOB trailers and John Cutter, who designs tents and backpacks for NorthFace. The two combined forces to create Letofsky's only companion on her journey, Bob. Bob has solid rubber tires, which prevents it from having a flat tire and reducing the amount of maintenance necessary.
"He's been relatively hassle free the whole time," she said.
Letofsky said she thought going across Kansas would be easy because it's flat. What surprised her is that the wind makes up for the lack of hills.
"I love that you can see the grain elevators that are 12 miles away, and you can look out there and see the next town and you just aim at that thing all day long," she said.
Letofsky said she was looking forward to stopping in Dodge City because, "As I was coming across the country I wanted to find the real America ... I wanted to hit the west and this is as west as you get. This is the picture of the west."
Not only does she increase awareness of breast cancer, she has also helped raise funds for local cancer groups and the Breast Cancer Fund, whose sole focus is to sponsor research programs dedicated to finding a prevention for breast cancer.
Since Letofsky began her journey, she has learned that she needs to be careful of her health. She has changed her diet to include mostly fish, fruits, vegetables, and protein. Pharmacist's Ultimate Health in St. Paul, Minn. has been providing her with vitamins to help her on her journey.
Letofsky said she has learned some very important lessons while on her journey. She said she is very thankful of her pepper spray. And once when a man tried to mug her in India she was ready.
She said he reached out to shake her hand and then grabbed her and tried to pull her behind a tree. She pulled out her pepper spray and went historically reacted by yelling, screaming, and spraying him until he ran away. She then ran after him still yelling angrily and brandishing her pepper spray.
Letofsky said she was planning on going through Pakistan and Iran but had to skip those two countries.
"I thought I'd go through India and then Pakistan and Iran etc. and then war broke out and tensions heated up and I still thought I would go, but then they wouldn't let me in," she said. "Well you gotta make a tough decision and I flew over Pakistan and Iran and landed in Turkey."
Letofsky said she has thought of writing a book when she is finished. She already has a journal stored on a laptop computer -- held together by duct tape -- which has been with her throughout her journey.
After completing her journey -- which is scheduled to end July 30 -- Letofsky doesn't have any set plans on what to do before starting it. She worked in radio broadcasting, advertising, the travel industry and hotel industry, but after being unemployed for five years working again will be interesting.
For more information on Polly Letofsky and Global Walk go to www.globalwalk.org.
If you would like to make a donation please make a check out to Breast Cancer Fund/GlobalWalk and mail it to: Breast Cancer Fund/GlobalWalk, 2107 O'Farrell Street, San, Francisco, CA, 94115-3419.
