Hold On To These Moments
The most beautiful walk in the world
I wrote a poem about my 2024 trip to Normandy, France, with my daughter, Lucy. On that adventure, we rucked 80 kilometers, 50 miles, to honor the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. The poem below says what I’m about to try to detail far better.
Rucking is the military-inspired act of walking while carrying a weighted backpack. It’s been a daily part of my life since 2011. Then, during the pandemic, Lucy and I started rucking together—urban hiking—walking and talking outside of time, through the silent, deserted streets. Rucking for me and Lucy became a bond.
When I decided to travel to France to do the D-Day Ruck, I mentioned it to Lucy, and she was all in. We agreed that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
We started in Brooklyn, New York, sans rucksacks. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and up and down Manhattan as a warm-up. Then we flew to Paris, rented a car, and drove to Pegasus Bridge, where on the eve of D-Day, British Airborne soldiers landed gliders in a daring assault—capturing and holding the strategic landmark which was critical to the success of the beach landings.