Arjen Ulrich in Kobbefjord, near Nuuk, Greenland. Arjen Ulrich In March, Arjen Ulrich left his hometown of Alkmaar, the Netherlands, and headed to New York City — on foot.

"For many years I've thought about going for a long-distance walk," Ulrich, 32, says. "I'm not sure how that came to mind, but walking gives a sense of freedom, and the challenge is, to me, quite appealing.

"Two years ago, in April 2013, I flew to New York to visit a friend, go to a music festival and to generally experience the big city by drinking a hot chocolate, having lunch and stroll through downtown or Central Park," he recalls.

"On my way back in the airplane, the map of Europe and North America was shown with a projection of the route. I looked at it and saw it was (nearly) flying over the UK, Iceland, and Greenland, countries that have been at the top of my travel list for a long time. I immediately thought of doing the same trip over land, going from country to country — walking this route had, at that moment, not crossed my mind but quite soon I combined the urge of doing a long distance walk with going to New York over land," he explains.

Ulrich gave notice at his job in February, and set off only weeks later. He has documented his travels on his website, walk2nyc.com, and his Instagram, @arjenulrich.

Keep scrolling to read more about his adventure, in his own words.