On Tuesday, more than 2,500 miles and 149 days after he began walking on foot across the country, Bronxite Chantz Rivera made it to San Francisco.
He left his dishwashing job in May with the goal of getting to the Pacific Ocean. Before that, he had only left the five boroughs twice in his life.
"The inspiration behind the trip was just free will, you know," Rivera told us last month from Ely, Nevada. "Just gotta experience life, be free."
Late capitalism has drastically lowered the stakes for this kind of cross-country, identity-seeking journey. You have a $50,000 Sprinter van, an email job, and an Instagram account—we're supposed to give a shit?
In contrast, Rivera's trip seemed ill-planned, spur-of-the-moment, mildly dangerous. That is to say: He left for the right reasons, and he has both the discipline to endure thousands of miles across this country's often-hostile highways and the uncynical heart to appreciate it all.
Despite having been stopped by the police and having his stuff stolen the moment he walked into California, Rivera was in good spirits when we spoke to him on Wednesday evening.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.