A Florida man on a 3,000-plus-mile journey to walk across America to raise awareness about mental health and addiction recovery was in Southeast Idaho last week.

Kyndal Ray has left behind a life of crime, addiction and constant depression and is instead focused on sharing messages of love and inspiration as he travels from the Atlantic Ocean in Florida to the Pacific Ocean in Washington. The name of his expedition: A Walking Testimony.

“Over the last 13 years of my life, I’ve dealt with depression, addiction and a life of crime,” Ray said. “In the last 13 years, I have tried to take my life twice, I’ve overdosed numerous times, I’ve lost my heartbeat, I’ve had seizures and I’ve been in county jail 11 times and in prison twice. But I’m a firm believer that no matter how deep of a hole that we dig ourselves into that we can get out, that there is always hope and that we do recover. One of the biggest things is that our pasts do not define us.”

Ray, who was in McCammon, Pocatello and American Falls last week, said he is walking for mental health and recovery awareness and as a brand ambassador for Habits New York, formerly known as Habits 365, which is a streetwear apparel company based in the heart of New York City that combines the edgy and wide-ranging elements of streetwear with a meaningful message to promote positive habits.

Ray didn’t come from a dysfunctional family, he said, but instead one that was fairly strict — so strict, in fact, that he sought a life of freedom.

“But I took that level of freedom to an entirely different level,” he said. “I tried to join a gang when I was younger. I wasn’t just the normal druggie; like, I was like a real deal thug. ... My mom would pull up my pants all the time. It was bad. I was just the biggest piece of crap for the longest time.”

This journey he’s on now took years to manifest — almost an entire decade actually. The idea to walk the country first came to Ray while he was serving one year in county jail in 2013.

“I came across a newspaper article titled ‘America on Foot’ about a guy named Harrison Milanian who walked from Tallahassee, Florida, to the California coast,” he said. “I saw the newspaper article while I was locked up and I fell in love with it, the pictures, this, that and the other and was like, ‘Man, I want to do that.’ So, early 2014 I got out of jail and I reached out to him on Facebook and he told me it was a life-changing experience and something that he highly recommended but that the only thing he would have done differently was walk for a cause.”

Ray set a date to depart Florida on Jan. 1, 2015, but he was still hooked on drugs and fueling his habits by breaking into houses, he said, and ended up getting arrested again and put on probation for six months.

“So I planned to leave instead in June or July but as it turned out on Jan. 1 and 2, two days in a row, I went and broke into a post office and got caught,” he said. “The FBI and Homeland Security showed up and I got sent to prison.”

He added, “There went the walk.”

After serving some time in prison, Ray was released on probation and was living at his family home in Florida in 2017 when poor decision-making again caught up with him.

“A lot of LSD and cocaine was involved but I ended up getting in an argument where my parents were telling me to leave and I didn’t want to hear it.” Ray said. “My dad and I got in a fight after that pretty much to the point where I had to give him chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth. He ended up making it and I ended up going to jail. Got out on probation a few months later and was doing more criminal stuff and ended up back in prison for five years.”

Ray ended up serving all but nine months of the five-year prison sentence. It was during this prison stint that he put on some significant weight and earned the nickname BBK, an acronym for Bad Body Kyndal.

“I hated that because I had already dealt with depression from being fat when I was young,” he said. “And that’s one of those false sense of security that you get with addiction is a lot of rapid weight loss that can make you confident in ways.”

He started working out, however, and went from only being able to do 10 pushups to doing 200 burpees.

“That changed my whole outlook on things,” he said, adding that he was later transferred to a work-release center on an ankle monitor and was allowed to be out in the community working.

Ray said, “I’m going to a job and making money and while the prison is keeping a majority of my money, I was able to save up a little bit. It was at that point I realized I don’t have a girlfriend, I don’t have kids and I don’t have probation. I’m a free man. I have a little bit of money saved up and I’ve been wanting to walk across America for a long time now but I realized I didn’t want to walk for any of the causes I had originally wanted to walk for.”

And that’s how A Walking Testimony was born. While Ray was in prison, his best friend died of an overdose. The A Walking Testimony shirt he wears throughout the journey is imprinted with 180 names, including that of his best friend.

“These are the names of beautiful souls that are no longer with us that have lost their lives due to depression and/or addiction,” Ray said. “Even though they aren’t with us, they’re still being remembered. They’re still getting one more journey. The 180 names specifically stand for taking a 180-degree turn in the opposite direction from the things that are taking the lives of the people that we love and care about. As somebody who should be on this shirt numerous times, I made that 180-degree turn.”

Ray left Florida on Jan. 1, 2021, and hopes to have his feet in the Pacific Ocean on April 12 — the date that marks four years of sobriety for him. His journey has taken him base jumping in Moab, Utah, and on a crazy adventure in Oklahoma and Arkansas where some nefarious characters took him back and forth across state lines, left him temporarily stranded only to be rescued and then have his walking cart destroyed.

He paused his journey on day 208 for two months to undergo hernia surgery but picked up where he left off. He never intended to walk the Rocky Mountains in the dead of winter, but he’s dedicated to walking the entire 3,000-plus miles. In fact, whenever he gets a ride into town because of the weather or other limitations, he is sure to count the miles and make them up, either doubling back or walking various trails or roads in town while taking in the sights.

He relies on the kindness of strangers and his online shop to fund his journey. When it was warm he was camping along his route, but he’s been forced to find shelter wherever he can during the winter.

He’ll never ask for money or panhandle, but won’t turn down some generous offers (he was given a free night stay in the Jungle Room at the Black Swan Inn and stayed at a local Airbnb for just the cleaning fee while in Pocatello).

For those wishing to contribute to his journey, he asks that people sponsor up to $0.25 per mile for the remainder of his walk, but no more than $250.

“I’m not doing this for any money and am only asking enough to keep me afloat as I walk,” he said.

Additionally, he started an online fundraiser where 90 percent of the proceeds will be donated to To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. The GoFundMe campaign is accessible by visiting gofund.me/4d21b0f7.

Those interested in following Ray along his journey can do so by searching “A Walking Testimony” or “Kyndal Ray” on Facebook. He is also on Instagram and TikTok with the handle: KyndalRayy.

“In my mission statement I say we because it’s not about me, it’s as about us as a whole making a difference,” he said. “But if we can keep one person from putting a gun to their head and pulling the trigger or putting a needle in their arm not knowing that they’ll never wake up again then we did our job. Of course, the more lives saved, the better and that’s why I’m out here.”

He continued, “It’s not about fame or money. For me it is about awareness and trying to get the word out there. I know that there’s nothing I can do to personally change somebody’s lifestyle or mindset, but if I can come out here and share my story of inspiration and hope of somebody who’s been through a lot of what a lot of people have also experienced and they are inspired enough to start making better life choices that could save them then I’ve done good and that’s all I can aim for.’