Seven years ago, Tom Turcich left his home in New Jersey and started walking, since then, he has barely stopped his long journey. Throughout Tom’s long journey, his best friend Savannah – a dog – has always been by his side.
On May 21, 2022, Tom became the 10th person in the world to achieve this impressive feat, while his four-legged companion Savannah became the first dog to do so.
Tom and his beloved dog were welcomed back with a homecoming party attended by family and many friends.
Tom’s decision to walk around the world stemmed from a painful loss in 2006 when his longtime friend Ann Marie died in a jet ski accident at the age of 17. “This had a huge impact on me. I realized that I could die at any time. I began to reassess everything.”
After reading about Steven Newman, who was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the first person to walk around the world, and the walking explorer Karl Bushby, who has been walking around the world since 1998, Turcich decided to take on this challenge himself.
“Walking seems to be the best way to understand the world and explore new places,” Tom said. “I didn’t just want to go to Paris and Machu Picchu; I really wanted to understand the world and see how people live every day.”
When he decided to set off, Tom began mapping out his route while also trying to save money for his trip.
Tom worked during the summer while in college and moved back in with his parents after graduation. Later, upon learning of Tom’s plans, his company even provided additional support.
Almost 9 years after he first had the idea, Tom Turcich took his first steps on his journey around the world.
He set off on April 2, 2015, just before his 26th birthday, carrying a child stroller filled with hiking gear, a sleeping bag, a laptop, a camera, and a plastic container for food.
The Loyal Companion
The entire journey lasted 7 years, mainly due to two significant delays. The first occurred when Tom got sick from a bacterial infection and took several months to recover, and the second was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before embarking on this lifetime journey, Tom had traveled but not much, aside from visiting England, Ireland, and Wales on a high school exchange trip, followed by vacationing in Canada and the Dominican Republic.
Tom also didn’t have much hiking experience, although he had hiked for 10 days with a friend and done a few weekend hikes.
The first leg of Tom’s journey was from New Jersey to Panama. About 4 months later, he got his companion, the puppy Savannah, from an animal shelter in Austin, Texas.
After the first year of wandering, Tom set up an account for followers to help fund his trip.
Most of the second year was spent traveling from Bogota, Colombia to Montevideo, Uruguay, then taking a boat to Antarctica.
Around this time, Tom returned home briefly to get necessary paperwork to travel to Europe with Savannah.
After arriving in Europe, the two traveled throughout Ireland and Scotland but had to pause when Tom got sick.
Tom wandered through Spain, France, and Portugal. Then he and Savannah crossed North Africa, walking through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
From there, they moved through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece. After Greece, they went to Turkey.
Next, Tom and the dog traveled to Georgia to Azerbaijan and were forced to stay there for 6 months due to COVID-19.
The Journey Home
After walking through Kyrgyzstan, he and Savannah flew to Seattle in August 2021 and began their journey back home to New Jersey.
Among all the places he traveled during the journey, Tom said that his time in the sparsely populated state of Wyoming was the hardest.
“It was so desolate,” he recalls, mentioning that there were times he walked all weekend without seeing a store or even a person, until he finally came across a small gas station.
The Guinness World Records sets the requirements for walking around the world as having to complete 18,000 miles (about 30,000 km) and crossing 4 continents – a goal Tom has achieved.
On average, Tom and Savannah walked between 18 to 24 miles (about 29 to 38 km) a day.
According to CNN, SMH