FOOTSTEPS TO MEASURING CELESTIAL BODIES: A giant leap towards understanding the Universe

Today, December 4, 2020, at 12:38 p.m. local time in France, I completed my first circumambulation of the planet Neptune. No rocket science was involved. I walked the 154,704.6 km length of the equatorial circumference of the planet in as little as 27 years, three months, and 27 days after I had started walking on August 9, 1993. During that same period, I had already circumambulated our own planet Earth three times, which takes no more than seven years each time, and am well on my way to complete the fourth round next year. But what does it mean to me?

Undertaking such journeys on foot impacts one in ways I find difficult to describe. It must be experienced. Knowing that the Earth's equatorial diameter is 12742 km and its circumference 40,030 km is one thing, but having walked those distances is something totally different. Over the past fifty years, I must have flown around the world several hundred times. It made hardly an impression on me. The more sophisticated the flying machines became, the more boring the journeys. I love flying, though, on small single-engine aircraft at low altitude, where one feels still connected to the Earth. But nothing beats walking. Walking has shown me how precious small our planet is, but also how beautiful it is, a sacred celestial object that I can circumambulate respectfully, leaving only light removable footprints behind.

Over the past four weeks, I have enjoyed walking in Yusraland, the land where half a year ago we buried Yusra and where the memories of her are vibrantly alive. To enter it, one crosses a small ancient bridge that dates back to the Middle Ages. From there, narrow winding trails go up and down through the mountainous terrain. Walking those paths, creating them where there aren't any, makes one breathe deeply in ways that awaken the spirit and make one feel at ease—'ease,' the profound literal meaning of Yusra's name.