That stranger changed everything.

Buck, a 26-year-old Army veteran, was tired of seeing the same things every day. He quit his “meaningless manual labor,” flew to Los Angeles, and started walking with one goal: touch the salt water on both sides of the country.

So he started walking.

For five months, he traveled mostly alone. He met plenty of people, but called them “single-serving friends”—people who entered his life for a day and then disappeared.

The loneliness was the hardest part.

By the time he reached Idaho, Buck’s feet were covered in blisters. He was hurting, exhausted, and trying to figure out how to go home.

That was when Jimmy called out from the side of the road and offered him some cold water.

Jimmy was a veteran who needed help around his house. Buck stayed on his couch for a few days, helped with some projects, ate, slept, and recovered.

Then, while Buck was outside helping Jimmy repair dog chains, another backpacker came walking down the road. His name was Noah.

Noah admitted later that he hadn’t planned to stop. But Buck walked over and asked where he was going. That night, they discovered they were both headed toward the East Coast.

They have traveled together ever since. Buck believes the universe sent Noah because it knew how badly he needed someone.

And he said that has happened throughout the entire journey.

In Montana, Buck and Noah met a wildlife photographer and former Marine near Yellowstone. When the man learned they planned to walk through the park—with its bears and moose—he couldn’t let them do it.

He had already reserved campsites, so he brought them along. Buck got the guided Yellowstone experience he never imagined he would have, including seeing Old Faithful and standing on top of a supervolcano.

Other strangers offered rides, meals, drinks, places to sleep, and work in exchange for lodging. Along the Appalachian Trail, less than an hour of moving wood earned Buck and Noah two bunks, showers, laundry, an entire pizza each, and pints of ice cream.

Eight months after landing in Los Angeles, Buck reached Virginia Beach.

He had taken rides for portions of the trip, but he had made it from one coast to the other—with everything he needed carried on his back.

He didn’t even document it. For most of the journey, he didn’t even have a phone.

“It was all for me,” he said.

Buck doesn’t know exactly what comes next. He may return to the Appalachian Trail. Underwater welding—the dream he once had—may still be waiting for him too.

But for now, he sleeps near the beach and gets into the ocean every day. And after experiencing both sides of the country, Buck has reached one very important conclusion:

“California has better waves. The East Coast has better people.”