Poorman walking

Man finding hospitality trekking across the country

Misty Watson

Garth Poorman isn’t afraid of strangers.

He relies on them for a place to sleep and for many of his meals.

Poorman, 36, of New York City, is on a 1,600-mile trek on foot, from his birthplace of West Hebron, N.Y., to New Orleans. He was in Ringgold Saturday night, Dalton on Sunday and plans to head to Calhoun today. His trip started Aug. 29 and he is scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on Jan. 5.

At each town along his way, Poorman stays with a host family — many times having never met them until he arrives.

“I had a real curiosity about experiencing hospitality in America,” Poorman said of why he decided to begin the walking cross-country trip. “People are more fearful of strangers now.... I’ve found that a lot of people are really hospitable. That’s not something you see in mainstream media.”

Poorman sometimes doesn’t know who he will be staying with until just a few days before he arrives in each town.

Until just a couple of weeks ago Poorman wasn’t sure where he would sleep when he arrived in Dalton. But after Ben and Lynn Laughter received an e-mail from a family member that told about Poorman and what he was doing, they offered him a room at their home.

“We’ve been taking people in all of our married lives,” Lynn Laughter, a financial advisor in Dalton, said. “We’ve had a lot of people stay with us. We have a big house, and we feel God wants us to use it for that.”

The couple has opened their home to foster children and adults, who have needed a place temporarily.

“Lynn has the gift of hospitality,” said Ben Laughter, an attorney in Dalton. “She makes people feel comfortable... God has blessed us in a lot of ways.”

When Poorman was still in the Northeast, he was able to find a place to stay by using his friends’ and family members’ networks of people. But as he’s moved away from that area and into the South, he’s found places to stay using his hosts’ networks of people. He also sends e-mails to pastors of churches in the towns asking for help.

“My father (Sturgis Poorman) was a Presbyterian minister for many years,” Poorman said. “It seems like a logical place to go when I have no contacts in a town. I have stayed with over 70 people.”

There have only been two nights since Poorman began his journey that he hasn’t been able to find a host. So he paid for a motel room.

Virginia was a hard state for Poorman. He had trouble finding host families.

In one town, the pastor and church officials tried to find someone willing to let Poorman stay with, but no one was able.

“The pastor paid for me to stay in the only hotel in the town, and it had bed bugs. I got bitten pretty badly,” he said, noting that was one of his most frustrating moments in his journey thus far.

He is worried about finding hosts in some of the towns he will pass through in Alabama.

“I will spend Christmas with someone in Mobile. I just don’t know who,” Poorman said.

For the most part, the journey has been just as he expected. He’s covering 15 to 18 miles a day and is experiencing ideal “walking weather” with temperatures in the low 60s. Sunday was an exception, as temperatures were in the low 50s and it was raining, but Poorman said he’s only had a few rainy days in the past 12 weeks.

Poorman uses a Google application on his iPhone to plan his journey. He also carries a mini-laptop to update his blog www.poormanwalking.com and a few clothes.

As he wears out a pair of shoes, his mother ships another pair. He says another pair will be waiting in Atlanta.

Poorman came up with the idea to walk cross country about five years ago but said he did not have the time or the finances. He quit his job as an executive secretary at American Bible Society to make the trip and plans to look for another job when he’s finished.

“I enjoy cross-country trips,” he said. “I did one by car and one by bus. I wondered if I could do it by foot... I wanted this to be people-centered. I knew I could do it physically.”

Poorman says he’s not focusing as much on site-seeing as he is visiting with people.

“All the hosts have been wonderful,” he said. “They’ve shown a lot of compassion. They feed me. We have great conversations, and I’m grateful for that. Seeing that side of people is optimistic and fulfilling.”

When Poorman concludes his trip, he plans to write essays about it to post online.

Breakout box:

To follow Garth Poorman’s journey walking from West Hebron, N.Y., to New Orleans check out his blog at www.poormanwalking.com. He also lists which cities he’s stopping in and if he has a host yet or not.