FORT MORGAN — Through the harsh summer weather in coastal Alabama, Jack Kadis walks down State Route 180 toward the historic Fort Morgan to catch the ferry to Dauphin Island.

Kadis, with sweat visible across his face, walks down the road in long sleeves, a hefty hiking backpack strapped to his back and a bandana wrapped across his neck to protect himself from the endless barrage of horse flies and mosquitoes.

Walking beside him for a portion of his daily walk, Kadis and I talked about life, the local area and tech YouTubers such as Linus Tech Tips, Unbox Therapy and Marques Brownlee.

Then the topic of sports came up. Kadis, an avid Carolina Hurricanes fan, asked me about hockey and what my favorite team is.

The Hurricanes had been playing against the Vegas Golden Knights in a Stanley Cup Final series that had been largely neck-to-neck. At the time we met, the series was tied 2-2, with Game 5 scheduled for later that night.

Anticipating his reaction while I also thought about the puck displayed on the bookshelf in my living room, signed by Conn Smythe Trophy Winner and Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Marchessault, I told him I was a Vegas fan.

As I expected, he was at a loss for words and sputtered as he thought what to say next. Deciding to not think about the subject further, he quickly changed the subject to the weather as he laughed. I was the first Golden Knights fan he met on his journey.

My time walking with him was just a taste of his everyday life. Kadis, 22, has spent the past five months hiking, camping along roads and occasionally spending the night at hotels as part of one task: to walk a complete outline of the United States of America.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Kadis was working at a Jersey Mike’s before deciding to start a journey that will likely take between two to three years to complete. Through the over 1,000 miles he has walked and the nine pairs of shoes he has gone through, he is commonly asked one question: Why?

“I don’t know really,” Kadis said. “I just start new things all the time, and this one just happened to continue, so here I am.”

Starting in Virginia, Kadis has so far walked down the coastlines of the Carolinas and Georgia, followed by navigating around the entire perimeter of Florida, marching through the historic sites of St. Augustine, to the beaches of the Florida Keys, all the way around to the Panhandle. There, he visited the Pensacola Aviation Museum and saw the famous Blue Angels, a highlight of his trip.

Despite the brutal heat and humidity the South is known for, Kadis said it was an intentional choice to begin walking south.

“I really like big cities,” Kadis said. “I’m addicted to them. I think that they’re really cool with skyscrapers and the skylines and the density of people, so I saved New York for last.”

He walks around 14 miles a day. He estimates his backpack weighs around 50 pounds. In it, a couple changes of clothes, water, electronics and his tent. He has no room for souvenirs. That's what the videos he records and posts along the way are for.

Kadis documents his daily experiences on his Instagram page, @jlkadis, which has amassed over 135,000 followers. Through his videos, he shows each place he visits along with the people he meets along the way, whether it be a follower stopping by to say hello, a couple taking him to get dinner or someone courteous enough to give him a roof to sleep under.

Despite the people he meets and the friends that join him along the way, there are some stretches he admits can get a bit lonely. Kadis said he calls his mother every day, no matter where he is, adding that he plans to take a brief break to visit his family in July.

When he arrived in Alabama, he met with Gulf Shores Beach Rescue, with whom Kadis did his daily pushups. The number of pushups he does is equal to the number of days he has been walking, split up into increments.

“You’re just sort of forced to realize that everyone is so different,” Kadis said on his travels. “It’s one thing to know it, and it’s another thing to see it, and I’m very grateful for it.”

With thousands of miles ahead of him, it may be hard to set the end in sight. What will Kadis do once this is all over?

“I don’t know,” he said with a smile. “You’ll have to keep watching.”

To any fellow Golden Knights fans out there, you're better off watching his journey than reliving the rest of the Stanley Cup series. Congrats, Kadis on you walk and your win.