Man walks through Alhambra on cross-country trip
Chris Bailey has a mission. It is to help others find the strength to fight their drug or alcohol addiction with the help of a friend and faith in the Lord.
Bailey knows what it is like to lose family and friends when the need for drugs overcomes all others. He was an addict. But through the power of prayer and positive thought, he overcame his dependency. Now, he is walking across the country telling his story to others, offering hope to others that they too can overcome their problems.
Bailey’s journey began with a fall. He hit his head. He needed help. But he had no one left in his life to call. After 10 years of addiction the only “friends” he had left were alcohol, oxycodone and methamphetamine.
“How did I end up here? What is my way out?” he thought.
He began to pray.
“I got clean,” Bailey said.
But that was only the first step. The next was to put all of his thoughts in order. He also reconnected with his body.
Bailey is a firm believer that exercise is needed to get to know what your body needs, and it helps to get rid of the need for drugs.
To get that exercise, Bailey and his twin brother Bobby, a director of several documentaries, decided that he would walk across the U.S. Bobby would follow along filming his brother’s travels. They hope to use their movie in helping others fight addiction.
The journey began in Los Angeles on March 14. Every Sunday, Bailey visits “whatever church God provides,” and he says the Lord has never let him down. This Sunday, he stopped and worshiped at First Baptist Church in Alhambra, where he was welcomed, taken out to lunch and offered a chance to shower and use the laundry of one of the parishioners.
He typically covers 40 miles a day, and he hopes to get to New York sometime in November.
His day usually begins around 6:30 in the morning. After bathing with baby wipes and eating peanut butter and granola bars for breakfast, he packs everything away. He puts feet to pavement about an hour after waking up and continues walking for about 12 hours.
He uses a BOB jogger stroller, which was donated by the company, to carry his tent, clothes, food and bare necessities. After trying several types of strollers, and even a grocery cart, he said the jogger stroller works the best. He also has a Fitbit, another donation, that tells him how far he has traveled in a day.
Bailey looks like a man who has walked half way across the country. He has a slender, muscular body and shoulder-length hair.
He said his appearance has caused some problems with the police, as they have gotten calls saying that a women with a child in a stroller is walking along the shoulder of the road. He said the officers who have stopped him have gotten a huge chuckle out of seeing him from the front with his close-cut beard and masculine features. He laughs over the fact that they always have to check the stroller to make sure there is no baby in there.
To hear more of Bailey’s travels and experiences check out his website www.walkwithchris.com.
This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Man walks through Alhambra on cross-country trip."