Woodbridge Man Plans to Walk from Portland to San Diego

While many Woodbridge residents spent Monday morning getting back into the routine of things after a long holiday weekend, one Woodbridge man embarked on a cross-country walk from Portland, Maine to San Diego, California.

Thomas Francine, 26, of Woodbridge has hitchhiked 26,000 miles since 2008, but he won’t stop there. At 8 a.m. on Monday morning, he set out to walk from Fort Allen Park in Portland to San Diego by relying on the kindness of strangers along the way, the Bangor Daily News in Maine reported.

Francine said he believes the world is a lot safer place than most people think. His goal is to spread that message by traveling with very limited resources and not using money but relying on generosity from others, according to the Bangor Daily News.

“Although bad things are a part of life, humanity is by far greater good!” Francine writes on his website.

Check out Francine’s website GoGreaterGood.com and his Facebook page, for more on his message to the world.

He will bring along a camera to document his adventures and a cell phone to make phone calls to his parents, who are very leery about their son’s adventures. In the past, Francine did not carry a phone with him.

While on his journeys, Francine passes out a card that states ‘change the world,’ something he told the Bangor Daily News is what he hopes these adventures teach people. Since venturing on a hitchhiking trip with friends for the first in 2008, he has gained a greater sense of spirituality and faith in humanity.

For more on Francine’s hitchhiking adventures, view his interview on TV-35 with Assemblyman Craig Coughlin. Search "About the Town."