How Walking the World Changed Everything - With Tom Turcich

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In this Highlights Episode, we revisit key moments from Chris's conversation with Tom Turcich, who spent seven years walking around the world with his dog, Savannah. 

FULL EPISODE

Tom shares profound insights on facing the inevitability of death, the freedom it brings, and the life-changing bond he formed with Savannah. From surviving near-death experiences in the desert to finding peace in the realization that "one rich, beautiful life" is enough, this episode captures the essence of his incredible journey.

Chapters
00:00 Facing Fear & Embracing Risk
01:31 Death & Fearlessness
03:19 Antarctica: An Alien World
06:20 Savannah's Near-Death Experience
07:35 Life's Bigger Forces & True Meaning
09:35 The Moment I'd Relive & Call to Adventure

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Chapters

• 0:00 Facing Fear & Embracing Risk
• 1:31 Death & Fearlessness
• 3:19 Antarctica - An Alien World
• 6:20 Savannah's Near-Death Experience
• 7:35 Life's Bigger Forces & True Meaning
• 9:35 The Moment I'd Relive - Call to Adventure

Transcript

 Facing Fear & Embracing Risk

As we prepare for the launch of the Adventure Diaries Podcast, season five at the end of February, 2026, we are revisiting highlights and cult adventures from each episode in season four to keep you entertained and inspired to get you outdoors.

And now here are some of the short highlights from my episode with Tom Turcich and his incredible seven year world walk with his dog, Savannah. Enjoy.

  It was, it was scary initially walking through Mexico and El Salvador and Guatemala and Honduras and all those things. And I knew going into this that, you know, there's a chance that I go out there and I don't make it back. And, you know, who knows? You never know what could happen. But because I knew that death is gonna come and it doesn't matter when it comes, it gave me a sort of recklessness, which allowed me to embrace life more fully and take risks maybe that I wouldn't if I was more fearful.

When Savannah and I were at 15,000 feet up in the Al Plano in between Chile and Argentina, and I collapsed from exhaustion and Savannah came and laid beside me and it was just like this perfect moment of how far reflecting on how far we've come and just, it was just a, a beautiful moment that we got to share and.

That I had pushed my body to the point of collapse, and I knew where my physical limit was, and that was 

Death & Fearlessness

it. 

   It was that I knew what could happen at any moment. And so it was more like a spur, a call to action kind of thing. And I don't know if it was. Necessarily fear, you know, 'cause it's inevitable. And so it's hard, I think, to really, truly fear the inevitable when you have an understanding of it, because it's just gonna happen and there's really no use in fearing it.

And I think one of the great realizations of my life, one of the most valuable realizations of my life is that acceptance is that death is inevitable and that it makes really practically no difference whether you die at 70 or seven. And of course that's not, you know, totally true. When you're leaving people behind, obviously you don't want any parent to lose their child.

And it's always painful to lose a grandparent and you know, to lose anyone. But when life is over, you don't take anything with you. So that. Acceptance allowed me to live with a sort of fearlessness that I didn't have before because you know, this thing is coming, it's absolute when it's over. And so then when I eventually settled on the world walk as this thing I wanted to do, it was pretty easy to overcome.

Any fear I didn't, I it, you know, it was scary initially walking through Mexico and El Salvador and Guatemala and Honduras and all those things. And I knew going into this that, you know, there's a chance that I go out there and I don't make it back. And, you know, who knows? You never know what could happen.

But because I knew that death is gonna come and it doesn't matter when it comes, it gave me a sort of recklessness, which allowed me to embrace life more fully and take risks, maybe that I wouldn't if I was more 

Antarctica - An Alien World

fearful.

But when you're in Antarctica, it's a boat. And the boat, you know, you, I remember going out on the smaller zodiacs and looking back to the bigger ship. Realizing this is your tether to the world. It's a pretty, and you have these big mountains surrounding you and penguins jumping on the water and whales swimming by.

So it's really the most alien experience that I've had, I would say. 

Yeah. And you've got a photo in your boot, you know, in a kay. You went on a kayak as well, didn't you? 

Yeah. That was a good add-on kind of thing. So yeah, gotta add that on. 

Yeah. Fantastic. 

Yeah, didn't think I'd get down there again, so take advantage of it.

After four months or so, camping in strange places, having some odd interactions, I kept thinking, most nights I'd be thinking, man, it'd be really nice to have a dog that could listen while I slept. And eventually when I got to Austin, my cousin's there. Her eight cousin there and I was staying with her and her husband.

The first day I thought, you know, I'm just gonna go to this adoption center and kind of just like toy around with this thought that I've been having, not really expecting to get a dog. And I spent two hours maybe hanging out with these different dogs and I was about to leave and I thought, I'm gonna take one last lap.

And as I'm taking this last lap, the volunteers brought out Savannah and her sister, who were just puppies, like four months old at the time. They'd found 'em on the side of the highway. They were taken to a kill shelter. And then this shelter saved them from the kill shelter. And I held Savannah. I asked, you know, hold her.

And she was na, she was all manji and pretty beat up and not in the best shape. And I thought, man, you know, I gotta sit on this for a night. I can't just adopt a puppy right away and I'm about to enter Mexico in a month and you can't just throw this big thing in the mix. So I'm about to leave and this other woman who was there who I think goes to the shelter every day just to hang out with the dogs, she said.

If you leave, they'll be gone. They won't be here the next day. The puppies never last. And so she very grateful for that, but she kind of forced my hand and so I, you know, thought, okay, what are the benefits, pros, cons of getting an older dog versus getting a puppy? And though I knew it would be painful in the beginning, getting her up to speed and training her and her just, you know, getting least trained, even that would be difficult.

But the reward was that she would know no other life, but a life of walking around the world. And so I ended up adopting her. Her sister was being adopted basically the same time, so they were there for like 10 total minutes. Had incredible fortune that she was there, and she turned out to be the perfect walking dog, 45 pounds.

Size and she was a beast man, by like, man, like after I remember in the desert when I'd get her hair cut, this is in the, like after a year when we were in Peru and in Chile, get her hair cut. And so she'd be good for, good for the sun. And I would look at her muscles and she'd just like rippling. Yeah. And even her, like her little forearm before her paw was just, you could see the muscle even 

Savannah's Near-Death Experience

there.

 Was that Central America? 

Yeah, in South America, in southern Peru, she picked up Osis and then we were in the deserts of Chile, the atacam, the dry desert in the world. And that infection dropped her platelets to zero so her blood can coagulate. And then she got a nosebleed and we're in the middle of nowhere and eventually able to wave down a car.

And it was this whole, you gotta read the book for that story. Very intense. And the, but it'll keep you turning the pages for sure. It's very stressful. 


Yeah, I mean, could always find dog food. I remember even in like. Having, being in this really remote Argentinian village and going into a shop and they just have a massive, you know, like 80 pound bag of dog food that you can buy a kilo from, or two kilos, whatever.

I was like, man, they even have dog food here. And so pretty much everywhere except North Africa where it's majority Muslim and they just don't keep dogs. And then when we were there, she was eating like beef patay and sausages and so she loved it that. So it was eating better, eating otherwise. And in like in Kyrgyzstan, actually in Kyrgyzstan.

Where in arson ba, like a mountain village and there's no dog food. And so then she was eating horse meat. This is the only like, yeah, canned food. I could find a canned of meat. So she was also loving 

Life's Bigger Forces & True Meaning

that.


 They're, I met wonderful people all around the world, but they're in a little village, little conservative village in Algeria, or they're in the deserts of Peru with no running water, wherever they are. People who work harder than I do, who are more intelligent than I am, who are definitely more generous than I am, I always hope so much early on in particular.

And I was like, I would've been, I wouldn't have helped me. I would've been suspicious, but they're helping me. And yet I'm the one with an American passport, with American dollars passing through their home and experiencing their home. So you realize just this incredible privilege that you had, but also just how much life is decided by these bigger forces.

And also when I started the walk and when you're young in particular, I think you have this real desire to prove yourself and to become something. And I probably like four and a half years into my walk. I knew I was gonna finish the walk. I was living my dream and I always thought that I would become something more than I was.

I thought if I was living this life that I dreamed of, that I would maybe even ascend my humanity, that I would become this other, being beyond human. And then you're out there long enough living your dream and you realize, oh no, this is, it's just you. And that's all there ever is. And really, you don't need to try it all.

Like you don't need to do anything. And that's enough. You are existing right now. That is a beautiful, incredible thing. That's all you need to do. And even though you can't see it right now. The people who love you are going to forget you. They're gonna die. They're gonna forget you. Then they'll be forgotten and the people who remembered will be forgotten and it'll all be wiped clean.

And then someone will be passing through your town and go, Hey, this is a nice little town. Not thinking that all these lives have already passed through there and lived in this place and had full, rich, meaningful lives. And that's happening all over the world. And it's okay just to have that one rich, beautiful life.

That is all you need to do. You don't need to become anything else. You don't need to become anything more. Just try and be nice. Pay attention and just do your 

The Moment I'd Relive - Call to Adventure

best

 It would be when Savannah and I were at 15,000 feet up in the Al Plano in between Chile and Argentina, and I collapsed from exhaustion and Savannah came and laid beside me and it was just like this perfect moment of how far, reflecting on how far we've come and just.

It was just a, a beautiful moment that we got to share and that I had pushed my body to the point of collapse and I knew where my physical limit was and that was it. So yeah, I would go back to that moment. 

From my mom? She said pay attention.

She would always say that. She'd say, pay attention. Pay attention. And I think it's just, that's carpe diem in a certain way where you're not gonna control everything. Not every day is gonna be hyper motivated, but if you can pay attention, that's the best you can do and, and that'll move you forward and you'll be able to appreciate life


 call to adventure. So an opportunity for you to suggest an activity, a place, or anything adventurous to listeners and viewers. So what would you say is a call to adventure? 

Yeah, this is, I'm gonna go a very cliche one on this one to turn it back from Georgia into something more mainstream.

But I would just say the Camino. The Camino is amazing. And especially for any older listeners, it's so accessible. You can have your pack sent ahead, walk 15 miles, have some good olives, have a Rattler sit in the shade for a little bit. Yeah. And you know, take your time and then meet some people and have a nice dinner every night if you want it.

But I think if you are considering walking and you want that experience of walking, but you don't want the hardship of 24 miles a day. Yeah. And not sleeping in a bed each night, the Camino is, I would say, the most accessible. Beautiful way to get the benefits of walking while also living a pretty nice life of luxury.

Fantastic. You're such a natural storyteller. I've got, I could picture that as you were articulating it, so thank you.

  

. so I hope you enjoyed these short highlights from my episode with Tom Turcich, and if you haven't listened to the full episode, then I highly encourage you to go and do that, and a link to the full interview initial notes below.

Now, if you're enjoying the Adventure Diaries Podcast, could I please ask that you give it a quick rating or a written review? 'cause it really helps the show more than you think. It's the simplest way to kinda support the show for free.

Now, one more important update. When season five launches at the end of February, there will be a new Patreon that launches alongside that as well. And it launches with one simple single tier, which is $5 or three pounds 70 as it exchanges.

And if you join in Patreon when Season Five launches, you'll get some after show content. So q and a quickfire sessions, you will get a new monthly extended newsroom episode. So look out for the new weekly free episodes that are coming. But with Patreon, there'll be an extended monthly episode. There will be occasional short audio stories dropped in as well.

And then there'll be two supporting meetups each year as well. So if that sounds like something you want to get involved with and you want to support the show, then you can sign up on Patreon. And to do so, just go to adventure diaries.com/go and you'll see the Patreon button. And, uh, get ready for launch.

The content isn't there yet, but you can sign up for free and get ready for when that launch is with season five.

All right, next up. More highlights coming soon from Johnny Hanson and his incredible book, living With Lynx. So a fantastic natural world, uh, highlights episode. Speak soon. Peace.