The Highway Hiker

QUINCY — There is something to be said about that feeling we get when we see someone out on foot while we pass by in our cars.

Sometimes it’s an inspiring and motivational feeling, like hey I should probably do that myself. Seize the day. Enjoy the outdoors.

Sometimes it’s gluttony and guilt, like ‘Hey I should do that myself’.  Exercise. Cardiac health. It is important.

Mine is usually a mixture of both.  Sometimes, I wonder what their story is. Are they doing this leisurely or out of necessity? Do they need help? I try to put myself in their shoes probably out of guilt because I’m passing by on wheels.

Empathy. Makes me sick. 

And then I remember one of those Hobby Lobby décor quotes, “Not all those who wander are lost.” (And for the real the nerds reading this…originally quoted by Gandalf to Frodo). 

This foot travel concept is not all doom and gloom. Some of the most notable members of the community were happy walkers. We had the late, great Dave Oakley, who was known for his determination, mile marker sweatsuits, and the kind gesture of a simple wave. We also had the famous banned mall walker, Larry “Tool” Toolate, known to many as “The Dancing Man.” There were the Santa Claus stylings of power walker Charlie Hall.  And now that list continues to grow as social media has helped to discover the latest pedestrian star.

He is Dominic Regner, “The Highway Hiker.”

I discovered Dominic’s love for hikes or “adventures” as he refers to them after reading a Facebook post stating that he had walked over 40 miles from West Quincy to Palmyra, over to Hannibal and back to Quincy…for fun. Intriguing.

How can a forty-mile walk be fun? I could understand if he was training for a marathon, working on survival skills, or a military feat, but for fun? I can barely muster up the motivation for my barely two-mile dog walks. There had to be more to this story. Oakley walked for those numbers, maybe even excessively. Toolate walked in honor of his late wife, who loved to dance. Hall walked for his health. So what is Regner’s reasoning for walking these medal-less marathons? I had to know his story.

Regner never really thought about a mile marker goal until the night before our interview at Electric Fountain Brew, his favorite coffee shop, where he spends time journaling about his adventures. So, it’s not the recorded number of miles that’s motivating him. He smiled and proclaimed it was going to be 500 miles as he had calculated that he was at 411.5 miles.

Wait. Did he just PROCLAIM a 500-mile goal?  Man, I LOVED that song as a kid! I remember my dad playing it back when you could plug your disc man into the cigarette lighter and skip to the song you wanted in the car. Dominic had never heard of it. I chuckled and almost spit out the Iced English Breakfast drink that I tried per his recommendation. I’m obviously having whatever it is he’s having if it makes my dog walks any easier. And he promised to add The Proclaimers to his playlist. Clearly, we had a lot to learn from each other.

So, if it wasn’t for the mile marker recognition, then what was his motivation? Was it lost love? Or lots of loves? Maybe, Regner was just a Travelin’ Man. He did recognize that tune, and assured me he wasn’t really Ricky Nelson, reincarnated.

I really thought I had solved it with that one. However, he is single, ladies…

So, what drives Regner to walk long, uncomfortable distances? He claims it’s his love for venturing into the unknown. He said that he actually “enjoyed not knowing his full surroundings.”  It’s as though he likes the feeling of being uncomfortable. Walking along the highway, against high-speed passing vehicles doesn’t give Regner a feeling of panic. Instead, he explained that because he has been doing these hikes for so long, it is now more a feeling of exhilaration.  Thrill, curiosity and adventure seem to be the themes that push this pedestrian. The discovery in those themes is his reward. 

“I’ve discovered that you can gain so much more from walking the earth than speeding by in a car. In a car, you can only gain so much information from sight alone; but to take your time walking across the land, feeling the breeze of wind brushing past you, to feel the ground beneath your feet, once in a while finding wildlife in different forms, experiencing the change of your environment as all things change from day to night, hot to cold, clear to rainy, sunrise to sunset. I’ve discovered change and gained the ability to accept change whatever the form and adapt with it. I’ve discovered that adventure doesn’t just happen in books or movies to that one main protagonist. Anyone can go on an adventure. Every adventure always begins with stepping out that door one step at a time and setting out into the unknown.” – D. Regner. 

 He is completely aware of the dangers that present themselves with this pastime and takes all the precautionary measures to assure safety for everyone. The mom in me went over the checklist of bright clothes, water, and sunscreen, when he assured me, he had it all down to a tee. Regner’s parents also went down that checklist as any good parent would at any age. They contribute to his hikes by being backup in case of emergency and sometimes dropping him off at a starting location to start his journey. He said they didn’t worry too much about him as they had confidence in his ability to always find his way back home.

Regner has been taking these highway hikes since 2019. His adventures have taken him to many of the satellite towns surrounding his hometown of Quincy and many of the towns surrounding Bloomington, where he attended Illinois State University for his degree in Music Performance. They range anywhere from 12 miles up to 50 miles at a time, all usually by foot and occasionally by bicycle.  Regner noted that the proclaimed 500-mile goal is strictly on-foot, solo highway miles, as those are not the only miles he travels. He spends a lot of time walking here and there around town and recently was invited to tag along with the Quincy Bike Club in their annual Fourth of July trip. The hikes he takes are thoroughly planned, as he learned his lesson the hard way walking back to Bloomington from Tawanda at night, in the pitch black, with a dead phone, that served as his flashlight and map. Millennials…

He now packs backups of everything, along with plenty of snacks and lots of water. The recovery time to these adventures usually consists of twelve hours of zombie legs, lots of rest, and comfort food, his favorites being meatloaf and those prepackaged frozen cakes that his grandparents sometimes have on hand. 

When Regner isn’t highway hiking, he can be found hosting at The Abbey or working on his music career. He recently performed in Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love” presented by Muddy River Opera Company. With that being said, his walking playlist is not what you would imagine it to be. Pretty modern day, with a few oldies like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Coldplay. And he is adding The Proclaimers to his playlist. Again, Millennials…

And we are adding him to our list of iconic hometown walkers. 

Next time you see Dominic out know that he probably doesn’t need a ride.  But you might ask him if he wants one anyway.  Like Cain from Kung Fu his journey is seated in an effort to understand the universe and his own place in it.  And with that growing understanding comes some pretty profound thoughts on life. 

Slow down, take the long way home, understand that life is much more the journey than the destination.

That’s enough havering out of me. Now the only question really is if he walks 500 miles, will he walk 500 more?

Brittany Boll is a Millennial, a mixologist and a mom. She also contributes written and video content for Muddy River News.