venezuelan scouts walk to america

My new favorite blog is quickly becoming Shorpy.com. If you haven’t visited it yet, I encourage you to check it out – if only for a quick escape to yesteryear. The blog posts pictures from the end of the 19th through the 20th century. One of today’s pictures especially captured my traveler’s attention.

It is a photo of Rafael Angel Petit and Juan Carmona in Washington D.C. examining their boots (pretty awesome boots, I might add). The 20-something Venezuelan boy scouts are taking a breather after walking for 2 ½ years from Caracas, Venezuela to Washington D.C. They started their journey January 11, 1935 passed through Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, before arriving in the United States and getting to D.C. in June 1937.

The photo’s caption reads:

June 16, 1937. "Walk 800 miles to attend Boy Scout Jamboree. Two Venezuelan Boy Scouts, Rafael Angel Petit, left, and Juan Carmona, examining their boots after tramping 25 miles a day for two years in order to attend the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington. They left Caracas Jan. 11, 1935, arriving in Washington today."

And one of the comments shares an article with the scouts' story which is definitely worth reading. I googled these two and came across a blog post in Spanish recounting the history of the Venezuelan Scouts with a special mention about this incredible journey. According to this account the scouts went through 12 pair of boots each.

This makes me wonder, if I had 2 ½ years to walk 800+ miles where would I start, where would I go and what would I see along the way?