‘Weebok,’ a New Jersey man walking cross-country to California, passes through Albany

ALBANY — Some childhood dreams are realized, others fall by the wayside. Brian Sebok, at 29, took the first step toward achieving his dream last summer.

He’s taken thousands more steps since then, and has thousands more to go.

“Just been walking, walking all the way from New Jersey,” Sebok responded when asked what he was doing.

The Netcong, N.J., resident is chasing his dream, but at a rather deliberate pace. He’s attempting to walk across the United States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

As darkness fell Monday evening, his journey brought him into Dougherty County. He was resting outside a building that has some of the first lights a person reaches when entering the county from the east along U.S. Highway 82, Acree Beverage Company.

“It was a dream of mine,” Sebok said, “a childhood dream when I was younger. I had the opportunity, finished my apprenticeship back home. I spackle for a living and I’ll be a journeyman when I get back. I saved up the money — worked hard for it — and here I am.”

Before heading west, Sebok walked south down the East Coast. He hitched a ride through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel, which is inaccessible to pedestrians, but otherwise, he says, he has walked every mile of the way from Long Branch, N.J., to Dougherty County, more than 970 miles. It’s about 2,020 miles from Albany to the California state line.

“I came south to keep warm,” he said. “If I went directly west I would’ve frozen to death.”

While the weekend cold snap brought lows in the mid-20s and wind chills in the mid-teens, Sebok’s decision to travel south allowed him to avoid the cold weather, in particular the last two winter storms that crossed the country.

He’s about four and a half months into his trek, which he started Aug. 23. He expects to reach California as early as July or as late as October.

Along the way, he said, he’s meeting nice people.

“People are awesome and kind, especially down South,” Sebok said. “Southern hospitality is such a real thing. I’m so blessed and grateful for it.”

His “Weebok Was Here” Facebook page allows him to share his experiences with others, he said.

“I’m trying to get as many people as I can to see this awesome journey,” he said. “I’m doing the legwork so people, from the comfort of their homes, can see what it’s like, the real deal.”

No doubt those interested Facebook followers include members of his family. He stopped by to visit with some cousins on his way south. His parents, he said, have some concerns about his decision to pursue his dream.

“They’re worried sick,” Sebok said. “They’re proud of me, but they’re probably saying their prayers. I love you, mom; I love you, dad. I love my family.”

At night, he might stay over at a motel or sleep by the side of the road.

“Campsites, motels … but not all the time,” he says of his overnight accommodations along the way. “Sometimes it’s on the side of the road, in the woods at night, under a bridge. I’ve slept under two bushes, a hunter’s tree stand, in an abandoned house. Sometimes people do take me in, and I’m very grateful for that.”

There’s a sense of freedom in Sebok’s conversation. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, seeing the act of the journey itself as the goal. Asked what has left the biggest impression on his walk so far, he did hesitate.

“The sunsets,” he said. “The sunsets are very beautiful.”

But the people he’s met are high on his list as well. He said he got to meet and hang out with a guy who makes slipknot masks — “Jason, a good dude.”

“Just meeting good people,” he said. “It’s a funny thing. It’s like I run into people I know I’ve met before in my life — that’s the weirdest thing — from far away. And they say the same thing.”

He also says he’s not sure what he’ll find and do when he reaches the West Coast, but it appears he might at least take a stab at the entertainment industry.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I could meet the girl of my life over there, the love of my life. I maybe could find a job in special effects makeup.” He added that he’d “won a couple of titles” in New York for his makeup work, including placing at Webster Hell, a New York City Halloween event, for a yeti costume.

In fact, he says he’s not sure what he’ll do after his walk is completed. Asked whether he might settle in California, Sebok said, “I might. I don’t know what I’ll find out there. I’ve never been west.”

What he is sure of is that he is living his dream.

“It’s the perfect age to do it,” he said. “It’d been on my mind a while and I had the opportunity and I’d worked really hard, saved the money. I got my gear and checked it, did as much research as I could. I know I’m not the only person to do it, but it’s a dream of mine, and I’m a man of dreams.”

His next stop?

“Wherever Google Maps points me,” Sebok said. “Just west, town to town.”

Walking toward those sunsets.