Experiencing life step by step
Walking America Couple passes through Clark County
Finding joy in the present moment, living simply and taking time to truly connect with others — these are all lessons to be learned along life’s road. Or, in one young couple’s case, on a literal road.
Torin Rouse and his wife, Paige, call themselves “The Walking Couple.” They have been touring America on foot, walking approximately 2,000 miles in the last year. They recently made their way through Clark County. In 2022, they spent May through November traveling through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. They brought nothing except their trusted companion, Jak the 14-year-old border collie, and what they could fit on two convertible dollies, walking about 10 miles per day.
They took a break for the winter and about a month ago, they started a new journey. They plan to make a big loop covering the Midwest and the East Coast. They expect it to take a year and eight months. They began in Cascade, Iowa, and made their way north, traveling through southeast Minnesota and crossing the Mississippi River at Winona into Wisconsin. They continued northwest, in our area passing through Hixton, Hatfield, Neillsville and Granton.
In Granton, they stayed at Pastor Dan and Courtney Schoessow’s place in an RV. When I caught up with them, they were staying at the property of Preston and Dawn Wolf near Chili. They spent the night there Sunday and their next destination was Spencer. They spoke highly of this area.
“People have been really, really friendly. Friendlier here than in other states,” said Torin.
“It’s not just that the towns are closer together (than out west), but the people are friendlier and I would guess that there’s more community and maybe even more family focus in the area,” said Paige. “And the community that churches bring seems to be a really big deal not just for the belief system but bringing people together.”
The Rouses plan to continue working their way north until they reach Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and then start heading back south through Wisconsin again.
“We’re chasing the seasons, so we have to plan around that,” said Paige.
They hope to reach Kentucky or Tennessee by the time winter comes around. They plan to make their way across the southwestern states of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia during the winter, and then travel up the East Coast.
The Rouses are funded mostly by donations. They try to plan a couple of towns ahead and will contact local churches to see if they can camp in their yard for an upcoming night. Or they will reach out to the local sheriff’s office to see what free camping sites are available. They’ve slept in campgrounds, in backyards and in people’s homes.
Although the trip has been rewarding for the Rouses, it’s been far from easy. The first few days of walking were marked by dehydration, ticks and sleeping under bridges. As the journey has continued, the couple has dealt with sore muscles, poison ivy, being caught outside during a tornado and nearly becoming roadkill, among other challenges. Through it all, Paige and Torin have learned to trade comfort for connection and security for serendipity, and have grown to truly love life on the road.
It all started with Torin feeling a general discontent with modern American life.
“I had been working for corporations for most of my life and didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted to figure out what I could live without and still be happy,” said Torin.
He started by backpacking several hundred miles on the Colorado Trail. Although he enjoyed it, he knew it would not be sustainable long-term. So he bought a van and turned it into a place to live, insulating it and installing solar panels.
“So I started traveling the states for a while in the van, several years. But it didn’t really scratch the itch that the trail had created in me,” said Torin.
Paige and Torin Rouse, shown here at a recent pit stop near Chili, have spent the last month traveling America on foot with their border collie Jak, carrying nothing but the basics, including a couple changes of clothes apiece, food, water, sleeping gear, a skillet and camp stove.
VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO
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He ended up going home to Missouri to make some extra money working for a friend's roofing company. While he was there, around the end of 2020, he met Paige when she was his waitress.
“I had never been camping before, backpacking or anything. I had never left my hometown,” said Paige. “And just a few weeks after getting to know each other, we were dating and he said, ‘You should sell everything you own and come live out of a backpack with me.’ I just laughed at him.”
Little did she know what the future had in store. They started their new life in stages. First, Paige moved to Denver, Colo., with Torin and they stayed there for eight months while working and saving money. Then they moved into the van together and traveled in that for about a month-and-a-half. They spent most of their time in Louisiana and Texas. Torin is a painter and Paige makes jewelry, so they built a walking easel for Torin to push and jewelry display for Paige to carry. Their goal was to walk through the big cities making and selling art to make money.
They wanted to spend time in nature, but most of their money was going toward paying for gas to drive around the cities. They weren’t getting the experience they wanted.
“I was nervous to go into the van and then I adjusted really fast and was like, ‘Oh this is nothing. This is not enough adventure for what I thought it would be,’” said Paige.
After a short discussion while spending time in a national park in Texas, they came up with idea of backpacking across America. They were a bit concerned about what to do with their dog, because with his age they knew he wouldn’t be able walk the whole time. But they came up with a way for him to ride in one of the dollies.
On their way back home from Texas, they happened upon a man who was walking across America with his dog. They spent half a day with this man, learning a lot and becoming convinced that they too could walk the country.
Torin and Paige asked their newfound friend lots of practical questions like how to make money and find places to sleep while on the road. He responded with a simple, seemingly evasive answer: “The road always provides.” At the time, Torin and Paige weren’t satisfied with that answer, but they would see it prove true time and time again.
“Even when we have hard days, it always works out in the end,” said Paige.
As an example, despite their best efforts, on one particular night Paige and Torin weren’t getting any leads for shelter. Exhausted and hungry, they slugged through the pouring rain and wound up in a Burger King in Farmington, New Mexico, at 11 p.m.
“We’re calling random stores at this point, asking ‘Can we camp behind your store?’” said Paige.
A Navajo couple overheard what Paige and Torin were talking about, came up to them and invited them to stay at their place. The two couples became good friends and the couple took Paige and Torin to a campsite in the Angel Peak Scenic Area, a sandstone canyon with sediment layers in a variety of hues, similar to the Grand Canyon.
“If it wasn’t for that horrible night, we never would have met them and never been to the best campsite we’ve gotten to be at,” said Paige.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” said Torin.
Another example of “the road will provide” came when the Rouses were walking the San Luis Valley in Colorado. It’d been a couple of weeks since they’d showered or stayed in a house. As they reached the end of the valley, they were getting dehydrated and Paige started feeling sick. They stopped in a park in Alamosa, a town of about 10,000. Torin got talking to a man named Matt who was there with his wife and son. Soon Matt invited the Rouses to stay in his AirBnB free of charge. Paige also met a friend of this man who gave her just the right medicine to make her feel better. Matt and his family took the Rouses to the store to get what they needed and back to their place. Once Paige was feeling better, they took her and Torin to the AirBnB, a cozy yurt on a 35-acre camel farm. The host family gave the Rouses a free tour of the farm and they got to meet the camels, mini donkeys and ducks there.
“That was probably the second coolest place we’ve stayed,” said Paige.
Other random acts of kindness have included getting a ride when it was pouring rain, receiving a delicious home-cooked meal or being invited to share life with strangers turned friends.
“I don’t think we can ever repay all the kindness we’ve been shown by people along our way. People have been so helpful, taking us in even though we’re complete strangers,” said Torin.
He and Paige went on this journey to find adventure and enjoy the outdoors, but it became much more than that.
“We’ve been able to have great conversations with people of all walks of life. We’re able to get behind other people’s intentions. Most people want to be good,” said Torin. “When we started the walk, I was a lot more introverted and cynical… But the walk has just changed my perspective on everything — on people, on religion, on my various ideologies that I previously held.”
They’ve also learned the value of challenging themselves and leaning into uncertainty.
“Security is something we have to give up to be happier and more content sometimes. Being the safest you can be is not always going to bring you to the happiest you can be,” said Paige.
“A lot of people will look at an obstacle as a thing to avoid or go around. But you can have a lot more personal growth and resiliency if you look at the obstacle as the way forward, as something to overcome,” said Torin.
The Rouses encourage people to check out their website, WalkingAmericaCouple.com. On it, Paige has a photo journal chronicling some of the highlights of the trip and life lessons learned. Also on the website is Torin’s journal of two- to three-sentence philosophical reflections and a free novel which explores some of the common threads he’s observed in many world religions and belief systems. People may also purchase the Rouses’ artwork on the website, and find information on how to donate to the trip.
Follow the “Walking America Couple” on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok for updates on their journey.
