I was watching this video and thought “How long would it take to walk around the sun?” And, how long would it take to walk around the Earth.

Circumference of the sun: 2,713,406 miles.

Circumference of Earth: 24,901 miles.

Average hiking speed is 2-3 miles per hour. Since these are going to be huge numbers and it is improbable that anyone would ever be able to set foot on the sun, or walk across an ocean, we are taking some liberties. The first one is average hiking speed. We will say 2.5 miles / hour.

Let’s say our hiker is motivated… and is willing to hike 8 hours per day. (Believe me, this is a really long day of hiking.) Good thru-hikers max out at 20 miles per day on the Appalachian trail. Many average 8-10 miles per day. (20 miles per day at 3 mph is 6.7 hours of hiking.)

How long does it take to hike around Earth?

24,901 miles / 2.5 mph = 9960.4 hours.

9960.4 hours / 24 hours per day = 415 days. Now that is hiking 24 hours per day. Let’s try the 8 hours / day.

9960.4 hours / 8 hours per day = 1245 days.

1245 days / 365 days per year = 3.4 years.

Well… how does that compare to the first person to ever walk across the Earth?

This guy walked 14,450 miles around the Earth, flying over the oceans. It took about 4 years. Sadly, his brother, who joined him for the journey, was shot and killed by bandits in Afghanistan. It is a compelling story and worth the short reading.

Ideal conditions might take you 3.4 years to walk across the circumference of Earth, with no days off. No days of rest. No sleeping off the hangover from fermented mare’s milk. No vacation. No sick days. But, if you just hiked weekdays (5 days / week & 52 weeks = 260 days / year. 1245 days / 260 days hiking per year = 4.8 years. This is more realistic. Let’s use this formula for hiking around the sun.

How long does it take to hike around the Sun?

2,713,406 miles / 2.5 mph = 1,085,362 hours.

1,085,362 hours / 8 hours per day = 135,670 days.

135,670 days / 260 day hiking per year (you know, weekends off, sick days, et cetera) = 521.8 years.

There you go (571.8 years / 67.2 years per human lifespan (in 2010 for the world) = 7.765 full lifespans)…. about 7-8 full lifespans to hike the circumference of the sun. Ah… but wait… that’s silly… you can’t hike when you are really young or old. Start when you are 11 years old (puberty-ish)… and hike until your body falls apart… maybe 60, if we are lucky? Yeah… and that gives them 7 years of retirement. That’s a pretty horrible life of 49 or so years of “work”. Let’s be kind to our solar hikers and say 40 years of hiking. Thus: 571.8 years / 40 years of work per lifespan = 14.295 lifespans. (This doesn’t really take into account child birth or child rearing. Apologies in advance.)

If you hiked your 40 years…

1. You

2. Your Child

3. Grand child

4. Great grand child

5. Great great grand child

6. Great great great grand child

7. Great great great great grand child

8. Great great great great great grand child

9. Great great great great great great grand child

10. Great great great great great great great grand child

11. Great great great great great great great great grand child

12. Great great great great great great great great great grand child

13. Great great great great great great great great great great grand child

14. Great great great great great great great great great great great grand child

15. Great great great great great great great great great great great great grand child. Yeah! Back where we started.

Might make better sense to have two children and send them off in opposite directions. Nearly the same result… only in half the time.