The Idiot’s walk around the Mediterranean Sea has always been a one-step-at-a-time project. The modus operandi continues to be “the goal is the path, the path is the goal” in an effort to maintain the MedTrek mission as a mindful and meditative pursuit.

But sometimes it’s worth acknowledging a milestone. On June 5th The Idiot reached the 10,000-kilometer (6,214 miles) mark on Nanu Beach near the village of Gazipaşa in southern Turkey.

It wasn’t until he was atop Alanya Castle a few days earlier that he realized he could reach 10,000 kilometers on his current MedTrek outing.

The Idiot took a selfie atop the Alanya Castle when he realized how close he was to MedTrekking 10,000 kilometers.

Looking back: The Idiot MedTrekked over 9,950 kilometers in Morocco, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey to reach Alanya Castle.

Looking ahead: The MedTrek path The Idiot will take beyond Alanya.

The first day out of Alanya kicked off an hour after the 4:30 a.m. call to prayer by a muezzin at a mosque near The Idiot’s $25-a-night downtown squat.

The Idiot’s alarm is the morning call to prayer.

It was a typically hot June day and the flat, easy and relaxed coastal MedTrek featured a gözleme — a thin pancake-like pastry filled with cheese, spinach and hot peppers — for lunch at a vacant beach beyond the usual tourist route.

Enjoying a gözleme during the first day of the MedTrek from Alanya to 10,000 kilometers.

The Utopia World Hotel, filled primarily with Russians, was the last major tourist resort beyond Alanya.

The second day began on a glorious two-lane coastal road beyond Yeşilöz that, due to a four-lane freeway through the mountains, was virtually carless and passed the ancient village of Iotape. The seaside at times resembled a mini-Big Sur and the weather was wet, windy and wild as Zeus, the god of thunder among his other jobs, threw multiple thunderbolts and unleashed sporadic torrents. It wasn’t clear if The Idiot, who was either constantly drenched or ducking out of the rain with minimal success, was being applauded by the gods or simply made to look like, well, an idiot.

Walking in the rain towards the 10,000th kilometer.

Looking back towards 9,986 kilometers.

During the intermittent downpours, The Idiot sought refuge under a tarp covering a pile of fertilizer for a banana plantation, in a seaside ruin, in a cave, under tree limbs and in an infrequent cafe until he MedTrekked through the Gazipaşa suburb of Kahyalar, past an airport that opened in 2011 and onto Nanu Beach.

Seeking a ruined refuge in a storm.

Other less-heralded 000 milestones were reached in Spain (after the 900-plus kilometer walk along the French coastline), Morocco, Italy, Greece and northern Turkey.

How did The Idiot celebrate the 10,000th? With a day off in Alanya that began with a shave, haircut and massage followed by a visit to the city’s archeological museum.

In case you missed it: 10 fingers = 10,000 kilometers

An urn in the garden at Alanya’s archeological museum.

Ever omward to Alexandria, Egypt.

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."