"World Beneath My Feet"

On Friday night Don and I saw the movie "World Beneath My Feet" about Matt, a man who spent six years walking every street in New York City. After 8,000 miles he called it quits to work on the movie (follow the above link), but in the past three years he has walked at least another 1,000 miles and still has more to go. In addition to the streets, Matt walked every pier, park, cemetery, bridge, abandoned property, etc. After two and a half years of walking, his friend Jeremy tagged along to document part of his journey over a three and a half year span. They then compiled the 600 hours of footage into a 90-minute documentary. He blogged off-and-on about his experience.

To put 8,000 miles into perspective, Matt's previous journey was a cross-country walk that was 3,500 miles from Rockaway Beach, New York to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, which took four months. 

Matt's New York experience included talking to a lot of people, engaging with them, photographing his surroundings, and researching what he saw. He sustained his lifestyle by cat sitting, couch surfing, and watching apartments. I see his website has a link for donations.


After the movie there was a Q&A with the director and the star. I wish we could have stayed later. I wondered how many shoes he went through, and other logistics. Someone did ask about bathrooms, and he admitted as a guy he had a biological advantage over a woman doing the same trip. 

The movie was shown at the newly renovated Hopewell Theater as part of Princeton Public Library's annual Environmental Film Festival.