July 30, 2004
Vail Daily
Vail, Colorado
Vail's wandering daughter comes home
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Polly Letofsky receives many hugs
from family, friends, and supporters as she returns to her
starting point in Lionshead in Vail.
Shane Macomber/ smacomber@vaildaily.com
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by Tamara Miller
"I walked from Vail to East Vail and it took me five
years."
A lot has changed since Polly Letofsky left Vail on Aug. 1, 1999, intent on
walking around the world to increase breast cancer awareness. But nothing, not
even time, has changed her sense of humor.
"There are 14,115 miles between Vail and East Vail, via the India
route," she said with a laugh.
The petite 40-something who has dreamed of walking around the world since she
was 12 finished the task Friday with a 9-mile walk from the Gore Creek
campground in East Vail to Ford Park. She's trekked across four continents, met
people from all walks of life and has survived a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, she
said.
And for her last few miles, she had friends and family by her side.
Welcome home
Friends gathered down the road from the campground Letofsky had slept in
Thursday night. As they waited for her to stroll down the road and meet up with
the group, many who hadn't seen her since she left wondered aloud how the
now-worldly woman would adjust to everyday American life.
"I'm excited to see her and I wonder what she's going to do now that she's
back," said Micki Schnieder, who hasn't seen Letofsky since she left Vail
five years ago.
"Obviously, she's learned a lot," said Stephanie Padden, who attended
high school with Letofsky in Minneapolis. She was able to visit with Letofsky
when she traveled through Minnesota. "I walked with her for five days. She
has a huge, worldly sort of insight."
Padden and three other high school classmates joined
Letofsky Thursday night at the campground where she stayed. They also picked up
on the challenges ahead.
"I think she is very emotional, every excited, and has some anxiety,
too," said former classmate Dawn Schulte. "I think she's a little
overwhelmed. There are people here she hasn't seen for years."
Indeed, even Letofsky had some concerns about her return to the "real
world." Her journal entries, which were printed regularly in the Vail
Daily, started to touch on that issue as she crept closer to home.
"Last year a stranger in a cafe in London, Ontario, said to my face,
congratulations on your walk but I'm scared for you," Letofsky wrote in a
June 3, 2004 journal entry. "He said that 10 years ago he went on a
five-month bike trip across America and getting settled afterwards was the
toughest time of his life. He plugged himself right into the life that he had
had but he was different, he didn't belong anymore."
As she greeted friends who had gathered near the Gore Creek campground Friday
morning, Letofsky was all smiles and hugs, but at times, teary-eyed.
"I'm going to have a moment," she said, as she broke away from an
embrace. "I've been having a lot of moments."
In that June 3 journal entry Letofsky acknowledged that while she was
"nervous about this upcoming re-assimilation process, there's the much
bigger part of me that is sooo ready to just sit down in one place and know that
I'm going home every night."
"The only travel related words I want to hear for years to come are
'package tour' and 'daquiris by the pool,'" she wrote.
Touching the lives of many
At one point during her walk, Letofsky told friend Vicki
Tosher that she didn't think her travels were really making a difference in the
world. Tosher said she wanted to set Letofsky straight.
"Wherever Polly has gone she has made a difference," she said.
"If one woman has a mammogram who hasn't had one before, she's made a
difference."
Tosher is a breast cancer survivor and advocate herself. She helps run Sense of
Security, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to breast
cancer patients to help pay for things like groceries, child care and
transportation. Tosher walked with Letofsky in Glenwood Springs, in parts of
California, New Zealand and Australia. She also vacationed with Letofsky in
Turkey - Letofsky's favorite place.
"It's a wonderful mix of west and east, of ancient times," Letofsky
said as she and a troupe of friends and family walked toward Ford Park.
"The people there are so friendly. The food is good, the infrastructure is
good."
When she started out on her trip, she was surprised by how open people were to
talking with her and inviting her into her homes. Letofsky started to get used
to it and when people didn't react so positively to her, she said she was
disappointed.
Her trip has had some less-than-obvious side effects. Her high school friends,
many of whom hadn't kept in touch, rekindled a connection with each other as
they followed Letofsky's travels, said Julie Bendixen, a former high school
classmate.
Some of those walking with Letofsky were strangers. One man came up to her and
explained that while he had never met her, he and his wife followed her journal
entries in the Vail Daily and grew to admire her. He offered her a place to stay
if she needed it.
What's next?
Letofsky has said she may write a book about her five-year adventure. Her
friends say she should, adding they were impressed by her journal entries.
"I didn't know she could write like that,"
Schnieder said. "I feel like she's right next to you, telling you the
story. It's honest."
Ask Letofsky what her plans are, now that she's accomplished the goal of a
lifetime, and her answer seems open-ended.
"I'm going to go down to Denver and get my life together," she said.
Staff writer Tamara Miller can be reached via e-mail at tmiller@vaildaily.com
or by calling 949-0555, ext. 607.
Good cause
Polly Letofsky has reportedly raised around $200,000 for breast cancer support
organizations around the world. Money raised has remained in the country of
origin.
The International Lions Club helped gather funds for the effort in Europe, Asia
and Australia. Lions Club members have assisted Letofsky in the United States.
as well, accompanying her during travels through towns and cities and offering
her lodging.
She has kept a journal for the past five years. To take a look, log on to www.globalwalk.org.
