44: Dave Kunst – Walk Around the World – Part 1

Who was the first person to truly walk around the world? If your search the Internet the answer that will likely come back is: Dave Kunst, an American who claimed to do it in 1970-1974.  Dave Kunst, originally from Minnesota, claims that he is “the first person verified to have completed circling the entire land mass of the earth.”

The previous parts of this series have hopefully taught the reader to be very skeptical of such claims. Is his claim true? Did he really walk around the entire world in 1970-1974? Was he the first, was it truly independently verified, and how? Well, with any such bold claims there are problems with it, even if Guinness was at some point convinced to include it in their record book.

The Kunst tale must be told and it will be covered in two parts. He was not the first to walk around the world. Konstantin Rengarten of Belarus and Latvia was the first in 1894-1898. (See Part 3). But I believe Kunst was the first to walk around the world in the modern, post-war era. His walk had the usual route and verification issues as other globetrotters before him. Kunst published a 1979 book about his walk, but I will tell the tale primarily from the hundreds of newspaper articles published between 1970-1974.

Dave Kunst’s walk inspired and entertained hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed it, read about it in the newspapers, and heard about it on television and radio. But sadly, the walk left within its wake, tragedy, death, heartbreak, deception, and betrayal. Thousands around the world thought the purpose of the Kunst walk was to support a humanitarian cause and they freely financially supported him. But actually, the walk was motivated by a man with a huge ego and with selfish intentions. The truth eventually came out and it surprised and disappointed many people with a very surprising ending. Nevertheless, the walk happened, and in the decades that followed, Kunst would inspire thousands of youngsters to dare to fulfill their dreams.