CENTRAL, Texas — After 28 years as a firefighter, John Martin is looking for a new adventure. He wants to revisit and reconnect with as many Central Texans as possible after making the decision to retire and travel the nation in his RV.
Martin first toured the nation in 2019 with a then 90-year-old man in the Coast2CoastRun2019.
“I have a very dear friend named Ernie and he is a World War II Navy veteran," Martin said. "Back when Ernie was 93 years old, he became the oldest person to walk coast-to-coast across the United States."
While on that journey, Martin documented everything and tried to meet as many people as possible. Martin says he met them as strangers, but they later became friends. “They were so wonderful, so supportive and just so kind and generous.“
Now, Martin is working to meet his friends from across the nation and in Central Texas once again, face-to-face.
“I have decided my retired life now was going to be living full time in an RV and traveling the country," Martin said. “I guess you can call it, I'm reliving memory lane.”
On his first go around in Central Texas, he visited many cities, from Mexia, Waco, McGregor, Goldthwaite and Bellmead to name a few. He says it took him nearly a year to walk across the state of Texas alone. Now, he looking to continue to visit those he met on his first journey, this time, in his RV.
“Face to face, shaking hands, hugging that's way better than typing something on a keyboard," said Martin. “I am really living the dream.”