Lubbock Teen Walks 1,600 Miles from the Hub City to Washington D.C.

Forrest Gump who? In efforts to raise awareness for social security reform, this Lubbock High School senior made an incredible trek to Capitol Hill.

Steps Towards Reform

Eliseo Jimenez, 17, decided to walk over 1,600 miles from Lubbock to Washington D.C. in the name of social security reform.

According to the nonprofit New Life Foundation website, he hopes to "draw attention to the lack of support from the federal government for these vulnerable populations."

The individuals Jimenez hopes to help include those with disabilities and senior citizens who would benefit from social security reform.

His journey was slated to take about 38 days, including stops for resting and eating along the way. Taking nothing but a single backpack, Jimenez traversed five states in 40 days: over 1,600 miles in total.

To add a little more challenge to his endeavor, Jimenez is still a minor, so he could not legally check into any hotel. This required him to rely on the kindness of strangers who let him stay the night or public benches/gyms.

To put this into perspective, the walk from Lubbock to Capitol Hill is similar distance to the following:

• Lubbock to Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 1,603 miles
• San Francisco, California to Omaha, Nebraska - 1,693 miles
• Madrid, Spain to Volmerpad, Netherlands - 1,677 miles

Now all Eliseo has to do is invest in a shrimp restaurant and take up ping pong...