by Michel Viatteau, September 30, 2011
KINGSTON, Canada (AFP) - A 56-year-old Montreal man looking to shake off a mid-life depression walked around the world in 11 years, returning this week to Canada, looking radiant after realizing a dream.
A bit thinner and with a few more gray hairs, Jean Beliveau was pushing a three-wheel stroller that carried his sleeping bag, clothes and a first aid kit when AFP caught up with him 290 kilometers (180 miles) west of Montreal.
Walking at a brisk pace, he expects to come full circle, arriving in Montreal on October 16 after skirting the north shore of Lake Ontario and passing through the capital, Ottawa.
He stopped only briefly to nibble on some food and described some of his adventures on this trip to curious strangers, radiating a joy and peacefulness he gained from total freedom.
He did not know where he would sleep that night, depending on no-one and with little money in his pocket. But he was not worried in the least -- it has been this way for the past 11 years and he is fine with it.
In Montreal, he will reunite with his longtime girlfriend Luce Archambault, who has supported him throughout his extraordinary adventure and even created a website detailing his travels: wwwalk.org
Beliveau left Montreal on the day of his 45th birthday, August 18, 2000, after his small sign business went bankrupt. He decided to run around the world to try to escape that painful episode in his life.
Archambault and his two children from a previous marriage did not try to hold him back. "It was cool," said his son Thomas Eric, who was 20-years-old at the time.
Beliveau ran all the way to Atlanta, Georgia before slowing his stride for what would become the longest uninterrupted walk around the world: 75,000 kilometers (46,600 miles) across 64 countries.
At one point, Archambault encouraged him to use his voyage to promote peace and non-violence for the benefit of children in support of a UNESCO proclamation. Suddenly what started as an escape from his weary life had a purpose.
Over 11 years, he traveled across deserts and mountains. He fell in love for nine days in Mexico, wore a turban and a long beard in Sudan, ate insects in Africa, dog in South Korea and snake in China, and was escorted by armed soldiers in the Philippines.
Beliveau only fell seriously ill once in Algeria, was mugged only once by two young drunks in South Africa, and was detained only once in Ethiopia for no apparent reason (he was released the next day).
It was also in Ethiopia that he was once gripped by despair, which nearly caused him to quit and go home. He said he felt very alone. Archambault back in Montreal egged him on, convincing him to persevere.
"After food and shelter, man needs to feel like he belongs," Beliveau explained.
In the end, he would be enthralled by the sympathy of strangers, the huge number of people he met along the way.
Certainly, Beliveau slept under a few bridges and in shelters for the homeless, and even saw the inside of a rough prison, but much more often he was invited to eat with people intrigued by his adventure and to sleep in their homes.
He left Montreal with CAN$4,000 in his pocket and ended up spending that amount each year (graciously provided to him by Archambault, with whom he kept in constant contact through online telephone service Skype), and also relying on the kindness of strangers to get by.
Today, he is penniless, but insists he is richer for his experiences. "I left with nothing, but I return now with a wealth of knowledge and understanding," he said.
Beliveau said he aims to write a book and give lectures on his experience, and extol "harmony between people, listening to one another and accepting of others' differences."
On a personal level, his is a love story that ends well.
"I'm his Penelope and he is my Ulysses," said Archambault, who flew to join Beliveau wherever he was once a year to spend Christmas together, but is giddy that he is finally almost home.
