Local resident Conrad Carr was on a plane in September when he decided to undertake a 1,000-mile walk from New York to Florida for charity.
“Me and my buddy Rick … flew out to New York. We were on the plane about a month and a half ago…,” Carr told The Malibu Times in a phone call from day 31 of his walk. “…He’s gonna [sic] donate 100,000 dollars. We kind of just turned it into a movement.”
The friend—Rick Salomon (infamous for his links to Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton)—promised to donate $100,000 if Carr walked the 1,000 miles, and that was all it took. Carr was in Manhattan, where he left his friend and girlfriend to head out onto open road.
According to the GoFundMe set up for Carr’s “Walk For Animals,” Salomon will donate $100 for every mile Carr walks. All donations received—$13,495 of a $15,000 goal from 64 people in 24 days by the time The Malibu Times went to print—will go toward The Humane Society of the United States. Those interested can donate at gofundme.com/walk-for-animals.
The charity has teamed up with Happie Hippies, a nonprofit organization to fight injustice founded by singer-actor Miley Cyrus, in hopes of raising $1,000,000 to help animals affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Wearing clothes with the Happie Hippies logo, Carr walks about 40-45 miles each day. During the long stretches of time, he listens to music, talks to his friends and films his adventures.
“I get that runner’s high later in the day,” Carr said.
He carries a mat to sleep on and finds space where he can—even if that means sleeping out in the open behind a Waffle House restaurant.
Many people have been actively following along his journey through his YouTube channel and Instagram account, where he posts live updates of his whereabouts.
He documents his journey from the strange (seeing shelled peanuts in a long trail on his walk) to the scary (climbing barbed-wire fences to get to the highway in the dark).
Actor and friend Liam Hemsworth shared a photo of Carr, which immediately sent the movement viral; Carr currently has 16,600 followers on Instagram.
Various people have reached out to Carr in support. Some have even driven out to his location to chat, bring food or even accompany Carr on his walk.
One of his biggest supporters is his family.
“My mom, my sister … they’re all worried. My dad thinks it’s cool,” Carr said. “They’re real supportive.”
He was born and raised in Paradise Cove. Similar to many Malibuites, Carr picked up surfing and has gotten the chance to travel around the world through the sport.
Carr predicts the walk will last around 40 more days, though he isn’t sure exactly where in Florida he’ll stop.
“I don’t know yet. [I’m] trying to figure that out.” Carr mused. “It’s kind of up in the air.”
