in her early 30s, living in Oregon with a successful career as a life coach and a happy relationship. On the surface, she may have looked like the polar opposite of the women who embarked on epic adventures as a way to escape grief or crisis.
Yet, deep down, she wrestled with a sense of dissatisfaction, that there should be something more to life.
“There was still this sense of climbing through this rat race…to make more money in the six figures,” she said during an interview with media outlets. Adventure, Maxwell decided, was how she would escape the discontent. The idea of walking came during an art class when she overheard a conversation about a man who had walked around the world.
Nine months later, she would set out to attempt something similar with just one goal; to truly connect with the world and what it had to offer. I wanted to discover what I was truly capable of, what the world is made of and how sharing our stories can connect and inspire each of us,” Maxwell wrote on her website ‘She Walks the Earth‘.
As for why she walked, Maxwell said it would reduce her carbon footprint, test her physically and allow her to properly experience the people, culture and nature that you’d otherwise miss – speeding past on bikes, trains and cars.
The journey was also about more than Maxwell’s pursuit for meaning; the traveller used the opportunity to fundraise for Her Future Coalition; an organisation that help survivors of gender violence in Nepal and India.
This involved using social media, speaking at events and even attaching a sign to her cart to encourage people to donate online. Walking the full length of New Zealand 20 times would be a challenge for any seasoned hiker, yet, before departing, Maxwell had no previous experience.
Over nine months she didn’t just go on long hikes but thoroughly researched camping equipment, read the memoirs of famous female explorers and sold most of her belongings to cover the costs. All with a sudden sense of urgency.
“When I knew I wanted to set out on a long pilgrimage, as crazy as it seemed…it was a now or never decision,” Maxwell said. Eventually, the day came around and Maxwell walked out of Bend, Oregon on foot, pulling a rickshaw pram of essentials behind her.
As expected, Maxwell said the years of journeying around the globe held dozens of highlights like herding camels in Mongolia, learning beekeeping in the Republic of Georgia and being given treasured family recipes from an Italian family whose house she helped renovate.
Day to day, Maxwell had a $7.40 budget to live off, which meant most nights were spent freedom camping and eating meals like porridge and noodles.
Through the kindness of strangers, Maxwell occasionally experienced a little more luxury.
“In Mongolia, a family slaughtered and cooked a sheep and offered me the delicacy, which was the sheep cheek, paired with a slice of pure fat,” she said.
In travel, as in life, challenges and tragedy are bound to happen. Maxwell endured heat stroke and sun blisters in Australia and contracted dengue fever for a month in Vietnam.
However, these trials paled in comparison to her very worst moment, about a year into her journey, in Mongolia, where she was sexually assaulted one evening. “A nomad came into my tent in the middle of the night…it was terrifying,” she said. The moment was decisive for Maxwell who was emboldened by the women she knew who had endured similar.
“The one thing that helped me to keep going was that I thought about all the women who had shared their stories before,” she says. For the remainder of her journey, Maxwell had no other issues travelling as a solo woman and certainly no regrets.
2,421 days later, on 16 December 2020, Maxwell walked back into Oregon, an experience she described as surreal. The city may still be the same but Maxwell said the journey has changed her and given her the chance to start a new chapter of life.
“I feel like I’m just starting a new adventure and I think that’s something that we can all hold on to,” she said.
“We never really know what’s lying around the corner. And so ultimately, life truly is an adventure if we let it be.”
