Student backpacks 900 miles to Naropa
No car to get to college? No problem for one man
Students around the country are packing up all their belongings into minivans or trucks and moving to where they will start fall classes in just a few weeks. Nigel Knutzen, 30, is not one of those students.
When the St. Louis native found out he had been accepted into Boulder’s Naropa University, he didn’t know how he’d get there with no car and $30 in his pocket. He realized “walking is free.”
Knutzen decided to walk from campus to campus — from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to Naropa — more than 900 miles.
“I admit, it was a bad idea,” Knutzen said. “I thought I would just take the chance and the opportunity that was right in front of me and go for it.”
Knutzen left his home July 26 and set off toward his goal of reaching Boulder by Aug. 20, just in time for the start of his masters in fine arts program.
“I packed my bag, grabbed my last 30 bucks and didn’t tell anyone except my mom that I was leaving,” he said. “I got up early, and I just started going.”
His pack, weighing about 50 pounds to start, was filled with only the essentials: tent, clothing,
"I am not some mysterious adventurous hiker on some big trip," says Nigel Knutzen, wearing only pair of shoes he owns. "I am just a homeless guy trying to get to school."
first aid kit, solar charger, duct tape, hammock, laptop, five water bottles, dry foods, a water purifier, Gold Bond, sunscreen, a towel and, of course, a hacky sack.
At first, he was walking up to 40 miles a day.
“Going into it, I felt great,” he said. “The first day was fine. Then, the blisters started setting in. My feet were basically a hodge podge of bandages every day.”
Despite the sore muscles, Knutzen was perfectly fine with walking the entire distance. He never hitchhiked, but he was offered many unsolicited rides, one of which shortened his trip by hundreds of miles.
Teri Cohorst and her husband were passing through Marysville, Kan., when they met Knutzen, who was pitching a tent for the night.
“We were eavesdropping on his conversation with somebody else,” Cohorst said. “And it just so happened we were leaving for Colorado the next day.