If only he had worn a pedometer.

Edward Mjelde is a 26-year-old sales manager for a plastic molding company who spent almost two years tracing the American Discovery Trail on foot.

Mjelde, who goes by the username WalkUSA on Reddit, shares on his blog that during his senior year at California State University San Marcos, a hypnagogic reverie inspired his cross-country quest:

“One night … after writing a terribly long paper, zonked out and half asleep staring at the computer screen … the screen saver was activated [and] swapped between pictures of America hill sides, deep desert canyons, and spectacular cities. It suddenly dawned on me what I wanted to do. I wanted to walk across America.”

Though he embarked on March 26, 2013 and finished in October 2014, Mjelde only recently decided to share photos of his travels with Reddit’s Pics community—but his fellow redditors were so curious about his trip, the comments section of his photo gallery quickly turned into an impromptu AMA (Ask Me Anything).

While Mjelde was happy to dish on the specifics of what he ate, the most interesting character he met in West Virginia, and even how he ended up dumpster-diving with a black eye in Nevada, his main message to aspiring adventurers remained the same:

“It’s never too late,” he writes in a comment. “I often heard tales of an older couple in their late 60’s that completed the trail. If life is touching you to go do something that brings value to you and others, do it.”

Inspirational takeaways aside, here are a few highlights from Mjelde’s comments describing his journey across America—from singing the catchiest one-hit wonder in Scottish history to coming face to face with “a dirty tub of soaking squirrel meat.”

How Much Did It Cost?

How Many Shoes?

Did He Cheat?

The Story Behind the Black Eye

The Song That Got Him to Mile 1,000

Most Difficult States

What Did He Eat When Nothing Was Around?

“A Dirty Tub of Soaking Squirrel Meat”

To read all of Mjelde’s answers to redditors’ questions, check out the original discussion in Reddit’s Pics community.