Why thousands of people are watching one man walk across Sacramento | Opinion
Two months ago, Marcus Abundis, 28, gave himself a challenge that he would document online in short-form videos: To walk dozens of miles across the greater Sacramento region in 60 days and rebuild his life after moving home without a job or a direction.
Now, he currently has nearly 8,000 followers on Instagram and more than 2,000 on Tiktok; and Abundis says his videos have received more than 1.9 million views across both media platforms in the last two months. Normally, social media rewards speed and spectacle, but Abundis’ videos flip the script and reward patience, distance and observation.
We think we know our city, but perhaps we’ve only ever seen it though windshields and windows. What does it look like when it’s experienced with our own eyes? What does it reveal about our community? Where do the sidewalks end?
Abundis’ videos document what Sacramento looks like from the ground — the things we usually drive past. They slow us down and help us recognize the beauty and contradictions of our city through its most overlooked details.
So far, his adventures have taken him 23 miles from Sac State to UC Davis, 27 miles from Grant High School to Granite Bay High School and 32 miles from the Forest Hill Bridge to historic downtown Folsom — just to name a few outings.
Each video is peppered with short clips of what he sees: Crossing railroad tracks and babbling creeks, overturned lawn chairs and wildlife, pristine trails and trashed alleyways, construction workers, trails and city signs. He stops for food and water, and occasionally a dip in the river. Each walk takes him several hours to complete.
“I think that’s the hardest thing I ever did in my life,” Abundis says in his video of the 32-mile hike between Forest Hill and Folsom. “But I did it. I did it!”
The Sacramento native grew up in Citrus Heights, but he has spent the last several years in Los Angeles where he was working as the co-owner of a fashion brand that sold products to artists like Justin Bieber and SZA. But after receiving news that his grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer, he said he felt a calling to return home.
He sold the equity in his company and returned in January, where he was his grandmother’s caretaker until she died in April. “I knew I needed some space to kind of figure out whatever was next for me,” Abundis said.
“ I just wanted to give myself time to see whatever was next without rushing into the next thing,” he explained. “I use the walks kind of like a vision quest or journey… I’m learning more and more about how life is a fluid process and there’s no end point where you have everything figured out. I’m just getting more comfortable with that fluidity.”
A lifelong proponent of healthy living and exercise, the sudden lack of direction spurred Abundis to do something radically different with his free time that would merge all of his interests.
“I’d been talking about it with friends and family and they all thought I was crazy, and that’s when I knew I had something good on my hands,” Abundis told me as we took a walk through Midtown together in early July. “There’s still a polarizing aspect of like, ‘Why?’ But the most common reaction (from people) is that it’s motivating for them. I think it’s igniting pride in people for where they’re from.”
And while you might not think that videos of Sacramento from ground level would be entertaining or inspiring, there’s something magical about Abundis’ videos that spurs hometown pride for his followers.
“This has become my favorite series,” wrote one viewer. “I LOVE SAC.”
“Great job, but I think I’ll drive,” another viewer joked.
Others noted the subtle differences in economic disparity during his walk between Grant and Granite Bay high schools, or the streets and trails they recognize. It’s true that Sacramento — along with many American cities — is designed more for the ease of traffic than the walkability or safety of pedestrians, but Abundis told me he’s never had an issue with cars. The most dangerous spots for him have where the sidewalks just abruptly end.
Sacramento may have been built with cars in mind, but Abundis’ experiment shows us there’s a different city waiting for us when we venture out on foot. And by reconnecting with his city, one hike at a time, he’s also helping thousands of his followers reconnect, too.
Though his 60-day challenge is ending soon, Abundis has even bigger plans in store: On July 18, he’ll be co-hosting a 5K charity walk with H.E.R.E., Humans Experience Reserve Earth — a local lifestyle brand and collective formerly known as HOF, Hall of Fame. The walk will benefit the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, and is only $10 to join.
And Abundis has found a metaphorical path forward in the last 60 days, too. He’s now working as a consultant chief operations officer, merging his love of the city with his small business experience. He’s also gaining more experience with content creation.
For his 28th birthday in late June, Abundis walked 28 miles, including the entire length of Watt Avenue, from Roseville all the way to Elk Grove, ending at the historic Warren House in old Elk Grove. The video has received more than 8,000 likes.
“I know some of you think I’m crazy,” Abundis says to the camera after his marathon hike, while hunched in the shade of a bush outside the Warren House, “but these walks do something special for my soul. I hope everyone can have this feeling.”
