Mississippi Solo Series #6 - a World of Kindness

I’m an adventurer, thrill seeker, and life enthusiast with a shorter life expectancy than your mother’s cat - Follow my never-ending journey.

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Mississippi Solo Series - After friends and family label him a serial quitter, Henk sets off on a wild ride down the Mighty Mississippi as he paddles from Source to Sea to prove to himself and other that he can stick with something.

Read previous post in this series: Part 1 | Part 2| Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

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I'm often asked if it's dangerous to travel alone, and I always answer the same:

"No, it's not."

The world you see on TV is not the real world. The real world is filled with kindness and hospitality.

Let me show you what I mean.

Even though I paddled the Mississippi River by myself, I was never truly alone. I learnt that the most important part of any journey is the people you meet along the way.

I met Brian, a local campground host who helped me tow my kayak across a long stretch a land.

Then I met two police officers from Minneapolis. They had just returned from a fishing trip and gave me all their remaining supplies.

On the first day of my journey— at Lake Itasca— a man helped me carry my boat across some obstacles. His name was Jason, and he lived in a town along the river about a two-hour drive away.

Jason offered me a place to stay for when the time came, and so several weeks of paddling later, I ended up staying at the home of the Walkowiak family.

In their home there was a quote hanging on the wall;

"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel."

Ironically, I don't remember what we ate that evening, and I don't remember what we talked about, but I do remember that they made me feel very welcome.

When I got to Minneapolis, I met with Jim and Alaine. They had been following my journey online, and as I passed through their city, they welcomed me with a cake with my name on it.

Not long after I met Bobby, a retiree who spent most of his time either on the river or in the local boat club.

I spent a Budweiser-infused afternoon with him and his buddies and afterwards slept off the drunkenness on the couch of his boathouse.

Then I met Mark— who worked for the National Mississippi River Museum— and talked to him about the ever-growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. (Something I'll be talking about in depth in a later post.)

After the interview, Mark invited me to dinner and let me stay on the William M. Black, an old steamboat from the 1930's.

Currently, Mark is on a quest to paddle a very long stretch of the Mississippi River. Every year— together with his brother— he paddles a week-long segment and they will continue to do so until they reach Dubuque, Iowa.

When I got to pool 26, an area further down the Mississippi River, I met Doug, Donna, and their family, who invited me to lunch on their very own island.

I also met David, an avid sailor who replenished my supply of river's elixir— a.k.a beer.

Then I met a man known as River Bill. Bill is very passionate about keeping locals up to date on all river-related activities that happen in the St. Louis area.

He had been following my journey through social media and kept locals up to date on my progress. He even managed to predict my arrival through use of river webcams. Together with Mary, Bill organised a surprise party that completely blew me away.

After the party, Pat and Phyllis let me stay on their boat for several days.

That was great because it gave me the opportunity to edit and upload the next episode of the documentary series I was making.

And last but not least I met Bob. After telling him about my broken solar charger, he went out of his way to buy me a new one, and then came looking for me downriver in his speedboat.

All these acts of kindness happened to me on the upper Mississippi River, but on the lower Mississippi River, things were no different. People continued to offer me food, water, and shelter.

Their kindness restored my faith in humanity. I learnt that when you go on an adventure, when you try something new; you are never alone.

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.

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NEXT TIME >>

The Mississippi River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. In my next post, you'll find out why.

And I ran into Chad Pregracke; CNN's 2013 hero of the year. In the past 15 years, Chad has helped pull more than 67,000 tires from the Mississippi River and other waterways across the USA. He's also helped retrieve 218 washing machines, 19 tractors, 12 hot tubes, four pianos, and almost 1,000 refrigerators.

Follow me so you don't miss the next post.

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