Constantino Diaz-Duran is a fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University. He is chronicling his walk from New York to Los Angeles to celebrate his eligibility for American citizenship. Follow Constantino’s progress.

I am there. Well, almost there. I’m about six miles short of one thousand. I’m not sure what the average guy walks in a year, but I think it’s safe to say I’ve walked more than him. So pardon me if I gloat a little.

I made it to Atlanta over the weekend, and now it is time to take a short break and recharge my batteries. I have friends here, who will host me for a week, so that I can get some rest. This is the first time I’ve been outside the airport in this city, and I look forward to exploring it.

It is also time for new shoes and new clothes, so I’m going shopping. I’m not a huge fan of shopping to begin with, and spending money makes me nervous these days, but I have no choice. It’s getting chilly, so I need warmer clothes, and my shoes finally have holes in them.

Speaking of shoes, a lot of people have asked me what kind I have, and how many pairs I’ll need. I estimate that I will go through about four pairs. The ones I’m getting ready to retire (they’ve been with me through a lot — I can’t bring myself to toss them in the trash, so I’ll be sending them home) are neutral running shoes. When I first saw them at the store I told the clerk that I thought they were hideous, but they’ve kind of grown on me. I even feel a little weird parting with them.

I think going with running shoes was the best decision I’ve made so far. When I started planning for this trip I heard a lot of horrible things about what would happen to my feet. A guy I met online who is walking from Delaware to California posted pictures on Facebook of his feet wrapped up in duct tape to cover blisters. My doctor told me to expect at least a couple of toenails to fall out. I was ready for the worst. As it turns out, I’m yet to get a single blister, and my toenails are intact. I attribute it to the fact that I am not wearing hiking boots.

Since the entire point of this walk is to meet people, and not to meet some kind of crazy endurance challenge, I will continue to walk mostly on roads and through populated areas. I don’t expect to be doing much wilderness hiking, so I will go with running shoes again for my second pair. These should take me at least through Texas.

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*Photo by Constantino Diaz-Duran.