A Night in Prison

by FERENC IVANICS
We spent one of our most bizarre nights in Sabinas Hidalgo so far. Our tents were already put up at the edge of the small town, when a police car stopped by. We tried to convince the policeman but after a long chat (in a mixture of languages) we gave in. We understood that he wanted to take us into some public park, but finally we ended up at the police station, which was a small prison at the same time.

We were allowed to sleep on the corridor of the prison—in front of the bars, not behind them, that’s quite a difference for us :)—, probably the police thought that it was safer there for us. It was fun, but it was hard to fall asleep due to the hot night and the continuous work at the prison. Phones rang, women cried, villains joined us... We hope it was a once in a lifetime experience.

A Quick Step From Houston to Laredo

It was a close call, Ferenc and István had to leave the United States by the 17th of August, but they didn’t want to jump into some suicide mission without resources and a proper gear. They made it, but not without the help of others. Many individuals and communities helped. How many of them? Well, it’s hard to tell. Here’s a small list of them, hope it’s as close to complete as it gets. Unfortunately, due to some mysterious problem we lost many photos from the storage card.


The Veres, Hursán and Tanyi-Lapis families. Rózsa Lapis helped with a place to stay and an exquisite Hungarian chicken stew amongst other things. The boys spent some really good time in their company. To help the boys, Rózsa threw in her social capital as well.


Mariann Hochuli left Hungary after the Second World War and during the last few decades she has traveled around the word. Yet, she still speaks an impeccable Hungarian. The boys were amazed by her sharp mind, she was really generous and was a great company.


The WorldWalkers spent a week at Nancy’s place. A superb company and a true altruist. Ferenc and István received countless and invaluable help from her and her friends.


Like Rebecca, head of the Elves and More Foundation, an organization that collects and gives bicycles and gifts to impoverished children. So far they have handed out some 100.000 bikes. Rebecca helped the boys by creating more fruitful contacts, and the boys helped the foundation assembling a few bikes.


Drew Roberts (left) and his wife, Rebecca helped with important donations, the same as the Academy Sports and Outdoors in Houston. Louis A. Vetrano Jr. bought the boys their next pair of shoes. John E. Shirley (right) passed around the hat in an Independence Bank branch, the guys chipped in more than 250 bucks.

Drew was a key figure in the success of the story. Not only he helped financially and with his contacts, but he was the man who gave the boys a lift to San Antonio (where they visited Alamo), then to the Mexican border at Laredo. And Ferenc and István even tried a real Texan steak on their last night in the United States, thanks to him.


We’d all like to express how much we appreciate all the help Ferenc and István have received from all of you. Not forgetting our online community and our friends in Hungary and Serbia. So, there’s a small gap between Houston and Laredo, but the WorldWalk-Peacetour project goes on.

Houston Media Update

Since our last media update we’ve received news about various press appearances of the WorldWalk brothers. Though you have a list of these articles on the WorldWalk-Peacetour website, from time to time we give you an update of the media interest.

• Carolyn Risner: Williston was but one of hundreds of stops on way to New Orleans in Williston Pioneer
• Rachael Anne Ryals: Two brothers on a 6-year, worldwide walk for peace pass through area in High Springs Herald
• Courtney Griffin: Taking small steps toward peace in fsunews.com
• Deborah Buckhalter: Brothers walk for peace in Jackson County Floridian
• Alex Pappas: Walkers for peace pass through Mobile in Press Register
• WorldWalk Peacetour – Two Brothers from Hungary Walking Around the World for Micro-Peace in Flywheel aka Ortonom (Video Interview)
• Prianka Mansur: Around the World in 2,190 Days in Lagniappe: Something Extra for Mobile
• John Guidroz: Hungarian brothers pass through LC on 6-year quest in American Press
• Julie Koehn: Their journey began with one step in Houston Chronicle

They were not difficult to spot, two guys walking down the road with large camping packs strapped to their backs. They were friendly enough to a random stranger driving up to them in a black car with tinted windows. Anyone else might not have been as open. But that is the very reason these brothers decided to walk around the world in July 2007: friendship. (Prianka Mansur)

The WorldWalk Peacetour is a nearly no-budget endeavor and the brothers rely primarily on the generosity of local people to get enough food and water to survive each day. The brothers said that they occasionally receive support from their village in Serbia and from Web site donations, but they never know when it will come. (Courtney Griffin)

Thank you all for the support!

Burger Plan Update

We’re pretty happy to announce that the Burger Plan has been a success so far, the boys received six subcscriptions during the first month. We’ll reset the burger counter every month, hopefully to receive another seven donations every thirty days. Since the beginning of the second month we have two more subscribers already. Thank you!

Thank you Jennifer: goddessoftheconfluence

Two Years on the Road: Over 6500 miles

Ferenc and István started their walk around the world more than two years ago, on the 15th of July in 2007. Two years, 6500 miles in Europe, Africa and in the U.S.A sprinkled with the lack of resources, extreme climatic and geographical challenges, small periods of starvation, almost hopelessly dead-end situations; but on the other hand sprinkled with the goodwill of others. Walking for peace, friendship and brotherhood, they are on their fourth pair of running shoes. But will it be the last?

There were no fanfares, no celebration on the two-year anniversary. It was overshadowed by the fact that the boys have to leave the U.S.A in ten days now. In ten days they should start the next stage of the walk from the Mexican border to Chile, another 6000 miles or so. But currently they are on hold in Houston, TX, the WorldWalk-Peacetour team try to use the next week to try to raise something that might be called the financial basis of that next stage. Let us hope we succeed...