When I was young, there was a decades old collection of National Geographic magazines which grew along one wall of the tool room in our basement. I loved to sit in that tiny tool room and pour over photographs of places very far away from my little New England town.

One story that has stayed with me more than any other over the years was that of a young man who walked across America in the 70's with his dog. He met a girl along the way and took her with him. At the tender age of seven, I couldn't imagine walking to the next town, so this man stamped himself in my memory as superhuman. When I crossed the US for the first time solo in my twenties, without a dog and in the comfort of my Toyota, I often thought of that young man from National Geographic.

So it was a lovely surprise to stumble upon his son, Jed, when an article he wrote for good.is landed in my inbox last spring. Jed is currently making his way from Oregon to Patagonia on his bicycle and sharing the journey on instagram. If you haven't discovered him already, I highly recommend following his photostream. This is traveling done in my favorite way; really getting to the heart of a place through its people and their hospitality.

Photo from Jedidiah Jenkins on Instagram @jedidiahjenkins