BERLIN — Backpackers are hardly an unusual sight in European cities, but American traveller Daniel McKevitt is going about his trip in a much different way — and for something more important than just another summer adventure.
McKevitt is walking from Hamburg to Rome, without any electronics like a cellphone or a tablet, and relying solely on his wits and the kindness of others.
But his pilgrimage is one to discover his roots, to lay his past to rest and pave the way for his future.
“I always feel embarrassed admitting it because a lot of people don’t understand what PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is,” he said when Global News caught up with him on a street in Berlin. “When you say to somebody that I suffer from PTSD, people automatically think the worst about it.”
READ MORE: ‘Self-stigma’ remains a barrier for military mental health: psychiatrist
McKevitt said he served three combat tours as an Army Ranger, in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was during his last tour in Afghanistan that he says he was injured.
“I took four bullets, two in my left leg, one in my upper left thigh which ricocheted off my pelvis into my stomach… and I took a stray bullet in my left ankle,” he told Global News, lifting his pant leg to show the wounds he said ended his military career and left him with not just physical wounds but emotional scars.
The U.S. Army could not verify the details of McKevitt’s military history when contacted by Global News.
But according to McKevitt, that dark chapter in his life was followed another low point that led him to finally make a change in his life.
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“Last year was the straw that broke my back,” he said.
He had just gone through a divorce when the San Diego newspaper he worked for downsized and he lost his job.
“For about a year, I just lived off credit cards and racked up a huge debt. I was not happy and sinking farther into depression.”
READ MORE: Afghanistan trauma takes a greater toll on military careers than other disorders
To move forward with his life, he’s set out on this journey. He chose this particular path for a deeply personal reason.
“My grandfather always said when your life is lost every road will lead you to Rome,” McKevitt said. “So, I decided to take a pilgrimage to Rome,” he said.
He set out from Hamburg last month, trekked his way to Berlin and is now en route to Frankfurt.
He carries the weight of his backpack like its filled with feather, rather than the weight of what he says are his only remaining possessions.
He stops people on the streets of Berlin to ask for directions: food, spare change or even just a word of encouragement. Even when passersby are skeptical of his story, they wish him well as he walks a bit closer to his ultimate destination.
McKevitt said the journey has been his own personal therapy.
“I thought going through the military, going through combat, I had myself figured out and I knew who I was and I knew what life was about,” he said. “This has definitely been life changing for me.”
Global National assignment editor Melanie de Klerk is currently living in Berlin as one of the 2016 Arthur F. Burns Journalism Fellows.
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