Halfway home: Windsor man walking 750 kilometres across Ontario to honour ancestors and support youth

Walking from Ottawa to Windsor, Teajai Travis reached what he views in the halfway point of his month-long trek. (Source: Teajai Travis)

At times mistaken for a powerline worker, a hitchhiker, or just someone down on their luck, Teajai Travis is actually on an intentionally long walk home.

The Windsor native reached the halfway point in a 750-kilometre walk across parts of Ontario this past week.

“It’s taking the first step to start the walk and then and then getting to getting to the completion,” Travis said of his mentality.

On July 1, Travis embarked on a 750-kilometre walk from Ottawa to Windsor as part of “an ancestral pilgrimage” to pay homage to ancestors who escaped the Fugitive Slave Act.

Along the way, he’s helping to raise funds and awareness for Windsor-Essex organizations supporting youth.

“They sacrificed so that I could have everything that I have today, and they were thinking about the future generations. So, I’m walking the 750 km in their memory, but also to continue their legacy of service,” Travis explained, speaking from a hotel in Mississauga.

CTV News Windsor caught up with Travis via Zoom on Saturday as he prepares to complete his walk to Windsor on Aug. 1, Emancipation Day.

As he has made his way through small towns and rural communities, Travis said he’s been struck by how many people face the same barriers and equity challenges he has seen in Windsor.

Often, while walking along stretches of highway, conversations with residents in various communities have been short yet impactful.

Many have included what he describes as “small-town gestures of kindness.”

“A fellow in a pickup truck pulls up beside me on the highway. It’s so hot, and he says, ' Oh, buddy, you need a ride? ‘I said, ‘Oh, no,’ I showed him my sign. I said, ‘I’m walking,’ and I was like, ‘I have to get my steps in,’” he recalled.

“He gives me two cans of iced tea and then kind of goes on his way. I’ve had a few people who thought I was hitchhiking. They tried to pick me up.”

A cross-province walk has come at a time of extreme shifts in the weather.

Early days of the walk included extreme heat, before turning to rain strong enough to cause flooding, and more recently, dangerous amounts of smoke caused by wildfires.

“I was also thinking about all of the communities, all the people, all the families who are losing everything right now due to the water from the wildfires and how this also kind of becomes an opportunity for me to walk in solidarity with them,” he added.

In his pocket, Travis keeps cards with QR codes linked to Windsor-based causes he’s trying to support.

When he embarked on the walk, Travis set out to raise funds for the Sandwich Teen Action Group and the Windsor Youth Centre.

The first being an organization he accessed growing up, and the second a program he saw in action firsthand as part of the founding board.

“I just figured, you know, while they’re doing all of this good programming, it’d be so nice if they didn’t also have to concern themselves with having to fundraise and find donations,” he said

With the help of four different pairs of shoes and his wife, who’s been driving nearby, Travis said he’s in good shape to spend the next two weeks on his feet.

Despite what many might consider days of daunting travel ahead, he feels “almost home” even with hundreds of kilometres left to walk.

Throughout it all, Travis said he’s been appreciative of the people who are supporting him through social media and daily updates on his progress.

Once the walk is complete, he’s hopeful to engage with businesses and corporations to help further raise funds for youth organizations.

In future years, he wants to complete similar walks in Canada’s other nine provinces.