ABBEVILLE, S.C. — Horns blew as cars passed Torin and Paige Rouse walking down Highway 81 heading north to toward Lowdesville, South Carolina.
As they walked, those horns were not in spite of the couple, rather a sign to keep going as they walked across America.
The couple, who reside in northeast Missouri, made the decision to start walking across the country a year ago in an effort to change how they perceived the world in a time of such uncertainty.
“We really want to be the example. I don’t see anything else that better showcases the mind than walking across the country. Right now, hitting South Carolina, we are on state 18, so we're maybe at or over a third of the way through it,” Torin told us as he and his wife walked across the South Carolina state line into Abbeville County.
“Prior to starting the journey, I was a lot more cynical and much more of a negative person. And I looked down on the fellow man,” Torin admitted.
That was one reason why the Rouses wanted to change that mindset by challenging themselves to cultivate an outlook on life where they felt hopeful, confident, and appreciative in a world of uncertainty.
“We went through a tornado in Kansas and we’ve learned to do it without stressing. And we’ve learned to be content in such an uncomfortable and uncertain lifestyle,” Paige said. That learning curve has come from the realization that discomfort enacts change.
“We’ve realized that you don’t find happiness in being comfortable or getting what you want. We’ve learned that we can change as people more than we thought, and we hope to show people that you’re not strong enough to walk across the county, you become strong doing it. We are all more malleable than we think,” Paige said as she reflected on their last year of travel.
That malleability and courage, which has been showcased daily on their social media, was what caught the attention South Carolinian Chrissy Boles, who has followed them on Facebook.
“I wish them all the best and I support them. I think its pretty rad what they are doing,” Boles said after ironically finding them at a gas station pausing their journey to use the restroom.
And Boles wasn’t the only one who had been following.
As folks noticed them walking down the roadway, honks continued to be given left and right. Some even stopped to give donations towards the couple's journey.
Whenever the couple was asked “why” they are taking on such a unique task, the answer was short.
“You must change the inside in order to change the outside,” Paige said.
And that change, according to them, starts with one’s perspective.
“We think it’s all about perspective, we can have a more positive perspective, we can be more content in our own minds, and we can learn how to empathize more and judge less and become friends with any type of person. We want to be the example and share the tools that we've learned to help alter that previous perspective,” Paige said.
The couple plans to finish their journey within a 4-year time period but told News19 the timeline isn’t the overarching goal. Rather, their goal is to hit all 48 states while sharing what they learn from living in uncertain circumstances, all to prove change is possible but it starts with mind and the perspectives with which we chose to see the world.