“I wanted to be excited about doing something and put my words into action,” Wendell said, explaining why he embarked on the seven-year trip, which he started planning two years ago. He visits schools, churches, and community groups as he travels, all in hopes of raising awareness about water- and blood-borne diseases in Africa. “I don’t 100-percent love hiking, but this is how I have a platform to speak. I’m trying to be a voice for the voiceless.”

The 27-year-old native of Ohio has put himself through plenty of physical challenges before. In 2005 he bicycled across the country, leaving the coast of Oregon in early June and arriving 74 days later in Virginia Beach, where his father was waiting with a bottle of wine. Then last October, one year after breaking his leg playing soccer and having a titanium rod inserted into the entire length of his right shin, he ran the Chicago marathon on a day when record-high temperatures forced officials to shut down the race with thousands of runners still on the course. Hundreds were hospitalized from heat exhaustion.

He decided to walk around the world after his cross-country bike ride, and he spent much of his two-year preparation time looking for a cause and for sponsors. “Most humanitarian groups have skeletal staffs, so it was hard to find one that would call me back,” he said. He ultimately partnered with Blood:Water Mission, a Nashville-based organization that fights HIV-AIDS and promotes clean water in Africa. And after perfecting his pitch—“I practiced it like a hundred times,” he said—he went to an outdoor-gear convention and found more people willing to help. Kelty donated backpacking and camping gear, Merrell gave him all his hiking shoes, Chaco sent him sandals for his non-hiking hours, and Highgear supplied him with watches, compasses, and altimeters.

Dell sent Wendell a laptop for the trip, which he uses to maintain his Earth Expedition website and blog. He only has access to the computer every week or so—he’ll update the blog and answer email, then put the laptop in a box, address it to himself, and mail it to a post office another 150 miles up the trail. “I’m not sure how that’s going to work once I’m overseas,” he said.

But even with all this assistance, he’s just barely making his finances work. He’s hoping to keep his personal costs to $2,500 for the five months he’ll spend on the Appalachian Trail. He’s not quite sure what will happen after that. “All my gear is covered,” he told me. “But everything else is coming from my pocket. The money will run out in about eight months. I’m hoping to get some financial sponsors after the Appalachian Trail leg is over.”

After Maine and Nova Scotia, Wendell will head to Africa and Europe, then walk the length of Russia—the longest leg of the trip—before crossing over into Alaska, south through western Canada, and then across the United States to finish up where he left off, in Georgia.

He’ll be raising money for Blood:Water Mission along the way. Those interested in donating to the cause can click here.

So far he’s been overwhelmed by people’s generosity. He hiked through hail in Georgia, snow in North Carolina, and 100-degree heat in Virginia and Maryland. He concedes that he might not have made it through it all if not for the help of strangers—other hikers provided companionship, scores of people gave him free rides into towns to pick up supplies, and many others fed him and put him up for the night when he wasn’t on the trail.

In eastern Pennsylvania in late June, Wendell was joined by Erika Schuler, a 24-year-old with striking blue eyes and long red hair who decided she needed a break from graduate school at North Dakota State University, where she’s studying for a masters degree in communications. Wendell and Schuler had met on Facebook a few weeks before he began his trip, and they stayed in touch as he made his way north from Georgia. She had grown up camping and hiking in her hometown of Bismarck, about 200 miles west of Fargo, where she’s now in school, but she wasn’t exactly prepared for two weeks on the Appalachian Trail.

“I had definitely not trained enough to walk eight hours a day up and down mountains,” she said in Bryant Park, clearly happy to be drinking a good cup of coffee and surrounded by city life. Her feet had swollen two sizes and were covered in blisters and bruises. At least one toenail was blackened and ready to fall off. She said that after about a week of hiking she’d been relieved to come across a grimy public restroom with running water and a dirty bar of soap. “I’ve never felt more disgusting in my life,” she said, and then related how happy she’d been to wash her hair in the sink. “I just wanted to feel like a girl again.”

“She almost had tears in her eyes,” said Wendell, grinning. When I asked Schuler if she’d packed appropriately for the trip, Wendell’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “I found makeup,” he said. He’d come across it when he moved some of her gear into his backpack to help lighten her load. “When you’re cutting off the handle of your toothbrush to cut down on weight and then discover makeup. Well…” He laughed.

“It was one ounce of mascara and I didn’t even use it,” Schuler said. “But I’ve been hearing about it for two weeks.”

On the night before Wendell and Schuler took the train into Manhattan, they’d been treated to yet another act of kindness. While doing laundry in Pawling, New York, they met a man who called himself Johnny MC. “He’s the head of a biker club,” Wendell said. “One of those groups where you call your fellow members ‘soldiers.’ I wouldn’t want to be his enemy.”

When Wendell asked if they could pitch a tent in his yard, Johnny MC gave them his own bedroom. Then, after hot showers, he took them out for Chinese food. After dinner they went back to his house, and the three of them watched Scarface together before going to sleep.

So Wendell and Schuler looked surprisingly clean and well-rested as we sat in Bryant Park and talked about the Earth Expedition. Next to us a few men were throwing metal balls in a game of Pétanque. Sixth Avenue honked and groaned with taxis and busses. A beggar came by twice in 30 minutes to ask for spare change. “I’m used to trees and silence,” Wendell said. “This is sensory overload.”

Schuler’s flight back to North Dakota was a few days off. When I asked what they planned to do in New York in the meantime, Wendell looked at his watch. “It’s my birthday,” he said. “I think I want to see a movie. Maybe we’ll see Wanted. Angelina Jolie.”

He glanced up at the buildings surrounding us, and then got a hungry look in his eyes. “And I want to eat some ice cream.”

Read more about Daren, track his journey, view photos, and make a pledge today at www.theearthexpedition.com