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Following in the footsteps of early humans, this man is walking 21,000 miles around the world – what he’s discovered so far

  • Currently trapped in Myanmar by Covid-19 restrictions, journalist Paul Salopek set off from Ethiopia seven years ago
  • In India, he learned from farmers about ‘a vast and almost existential water crisis’ waiting to explode

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Journalist and National Geographic fellow Paul Salopek walks past the Karakus royal tomb, built in the first century BC, in eastern Turkey on his 21,000-mile trek around the world following in the footsteps of early humans. Photo: John Stanmeyer / National Geographic
Charukesi Ramadurai

In January 2013, Paul Salopek set out on what was supposed to be a seven-year, 21,000-mile (33,800km) walk across the globe. He is not yet even halfway through.

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The journey, which he calls the Out of Eden Walk, was to follow in the footsteps of mankind, the first humans having moved out of Africa to begin exploring the world several millennia ago. Salopek’s route would take him from Ethiopia to Argentina, via war-torn West Asia, the Silk Road, the Indian subcontinent (which he left just over a year ago, for Myanmar), across China and Siberia, and along the west coast of North and South America, down finally to Tierra del Fuego off the southernmost tip of the South America mainland.

Salopek is a journalist who walks from one topical story to the next instead of driving through them or flying out to them. In this age of tweets masquerading as news, and clickbait that screams for attention, he practises slow journalism: storytelling in a style that is anthropological while still newsworthy.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner and National Geographic fellow, Salopek, 58, studied environmental biology but has been working as a journalist since 1985. He has reported for publications such as the Chicago Tribune and National Geographic, covering wars, the illegal weapons trade, public health issues and the impact of overfishing, among other topics.

Salopek’s route takes him from Ethiopia to Argentina. Photo: Ryan Morris/National Geographic
Salopek’s route takes him from Ethiopia to Argentina. Photo: Ryan Morris/National Geographic
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The stories of the people he meets and regions he crosses on the Out of Eden Walk come together in online chapters. The four complete chapters so far include the Saudi Arabia, Jordan, West Bank and Israel stretch, titled “Holy Lands” – the birthplace of three of the world’s most powerful monotheistic religions – and the Central Asian “stans”, from Kazakhstan to Pakistan, under the title “Silk Road”.

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