The Idiot couldn’t walk from Redding, California, to Los Angeles due to an affliction that currently limits his ability to hike long distances. But he did manage to take a road trip that was almost as slow as a MedTrek due to numerous short urban and rural walks, a few zippy presentations about “The Idiot and The Odyssey” and dozens of long chats and meals with family, friends and new acquaintances, including neurosurgeons in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

He certainly hasn’t completely stopped walking due to severe spinal stenosis that has forced him to postpone a resumption of the MedTrek from Gaza to Egypt until November.

The Idiot took an urban stroll in San Francisco.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

He hiked in the hills above San Luis Obispo.
(Photo: Craig Sandefur)

He walked with an old friend on the sidewalks in West Hollywood and…
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

…with a new friend and his dog Oscar in the hills.
(Photo: Marilyn Moore)

The Idiot made his annual visit to the bucolic Henry Miller Library (“where nothing ever happens,” says a sign at the entrance) when he drove through Big Sur along the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

Naturally such unstrenuous exercise demands constant hydration and sustenance. In fact, research indicates that The Idiot eats much more when he walks short distances in California than when he’s on a long MedTrek averaging over twenty miles a day.

Paparazzi caught The Idiot dining with MedTrekker Liz Chapin and pal-since-Stanford Jimmy Stewart at Catch in San Francisco.
(Photo: TMZ)

The Idiot and Liz Chapin, Craig Sandefur and Marilyn Moore were seen dining on lasagna at La Locanda in San Luis Obispo.
(Photo: Mustang Daily)

The Idiot hosted a surprise birthday party for partner Liz Chapin at Cafe del Rey in Marina del Rey.
(Photo: Eric Smith)

A baby’s first birthday, a dinner of pulled pork, and a dirt & worm birthday cake encouraged smiles in a family photo in Yucaipa, CA.
(Photo: Eric Smith)

After a few days cavorting, strolling, entertaining, spaing and swimming in Los Angeles, The Idiot began to walk, talk and eat his way back up the Pacific Ocean coast to get some rest in the hippieish town of Arcata, CA.

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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."