Chad Caruso skateboarded more than 3,000 miles across America, pushing off from Venice Beach, California, on May 1 and rolling into Jacksonville, Florida, on June 8.
The journey took him through Joshua Tree, across Arizona, deep into the heart of Texas, and along Florida's panhandle — averaging 72 miles a day, skating up to 16 hours with no days off.
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"I'd basically wake up and try to skate by 4:30 in the morning and finish by like seven at night. So, I would do 12 to 16 hours a day with no days off, and I'd probably do I think I averaged about 72 miles a day," Caruso said.
The trip nearly never happened. Caruso tore his meniscus before the journey, underwent surgery and recovery, and then re-tore it just 2 months before his planned departure.
"Right before the trip, I tore my meniscus and had a cyst. Got surgery, did all the recovery, I was ready to do this trip and then two months before the trip I re-tore it," Caruso said.
The idea for the cross-country skate originated from an earlier, unrealized plan.
"It actually started with an idea of doing it across Italy, which is much thinner and I ended up not doing it. And then the idea stuck in my head and I started researching. I saw no one had really done it for the Guinness record, and that's what hooked me initially," Caruso said.
Along the way, strangers offered food, water, and cash donations.
"People would just hand me water bottles, food, money, donations, a lot of the time they would hand it to me there. I mean in the hundreds," Caruso said.
The trip also had at least one frightening moment.
"I was pushing into the dark and out of nowhere a dog gets spooked and runs across the highway and like three feet in front of me. And just making eye contact with it, you know, I think I'm done for the day," Caruso said.
Caruso described the mental challenge of the journey as relentless.
"So, the whole thing was just this constant facing of the hardest day of my life and barging into the unknown," Caruso said.
He said the experience changed how he sees the country and the people in it.
"America taught me that everyone has a huge heart and wants to be nice and there for each other. If you come to a situation with a positive attitude or a smile, that's most likely what you'll get back," Caruso said.
Caruso funded the entire adventure on his credit card.
