Yale Grad Celebrating 22nd Birthday By Walking Across Country In Silence
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - While many people celebrate their birthday and college graduation with a loud party, one graduate of Yale University has decided on a quieter approach.
Greg Hindy of the class of 2013 is going to walk all the way across the United States without saying a word, but documenting the entire journey.
He told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau that he'll only be carrying a field camera and the basics of survival.
Yale Grad Celebrating 22nd Birthday By Walking Across Country In Silence
He also said that along the way "the golden rule is that unless it is walking, photographing, or completely necessary to my survival, I am not allowed to do it."
He is scheduled to leave Nashua, New Hampshire Tuesday afternoon, which is his actual 22nd birthday, and expects to arrive at a friend's home outside Los Angeles on his 23rd birthday.
Midway through his time at Yale, Hindy switched his focus from medicine to cognitive science. He was inspired by the performance art of a Taiwanese artist.
Now, Hindy is trying to create his own performance art.
"I will be both photographing the country as I see it and any people that I encounter along the way that are interested in my project," he said in his Kickstarter campaign. "Separately, I will be photographing myself every day in an attempt to document to performance through imagery."
Schneidau asked him what he'll be thinking about on his trek.
"I think I'm going to think a lot about, I guess, what led me to this point and kind of trying to understand my own intuitions that have driven me to do this," he told Schneidau.
He said he has the support of his parents.
"We spent a few months discussing it and I think they came to realize that I was really intent on doing it," he said.
He won't even contact them during his walk. They'll be tracking him via his debit card transactions.
For those who demand an explanation, he will have preprinted note cards to explain his silence.
"I'm prepared for, like, emergencies and, I think, anything. Whatever happens is really just part of the adventure, I guess," he told Schneidau. "Right now, I'm really excited to just do my best at simply walking, staying silent, taking photographs, and surviving, I guess."
Hindy has set up a website for people to track his adventure. It is greghindy.com.
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