P

eople in Panama call him Forrest Gump, the character of the 1994 movie with the same title, and Argentinians have dubbed him loco, the Spanish word for crazy.

However, around the world, the Canadian citizen who is traveling around the globe on foot is known as Jean B*liveau.

His journey began on Aug. 18, 2000. On that day, he left his wife Luce and two children in Montreal, Canada, to head towards the United States, then down to South America.

After crossing countries in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia, he arrived in Jakarta on Friday. Then on Saturday, he departed from Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to continue his journey to the east. He estimated he would finish his walk across Indonesia (from Merak in Java, Bali, and Lombok to East Nusa Tenggara) within two-and-a-half months.

After Indonesia, he will go to East Timor and Australia before flying to the west coast of Canada to finish the last leg of his journey.

"I have completed around 80 percent of this project. Now, I can say the rest of my walk will be a journey home. You can see how excited I am," Jean told The Jakarta Post on the eve of his departure from Jakarta.

His 75,000-kilometer project, which will take 11 years to complete, was spurred by the United Nations proclaiming 2001-2010 as "the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World".

"Through this project, I want to promote peace around the world," he said.

Although he had planned the route he would take in detail, he changed some routes because of security concerns. Initially, he planned to walk across the western part of Africa, but opted for the eastern area instead.

When he was in Ethiopia, some children stoned him. He said people there did not like foreigners. In Japan, people did not talk to him. "In Japan, people did not talk. It was like saying hello to a cactus," he said.

He also skipped Russia and other countries because of bad weather.

His family is fully behind his enterprise. Luce, his wife, always comes to see him once a year. The last time, Luce met him in Taiwan. "She will meet me somewhere in Australia. It is like a honeymoon every time. I love her so much," he said.

He met his son Thomas-*ric and daughter *lisa-Jane in France in 2006. "My daughter brought her children. I am a grandfather now," he said.

Jean was somewhere in Sarawak, Malaysia, on July 17, when he heard about the two bomb attacks in Jakarta. The terrorist attacks, however, did not deter him from visiting the capital city.

"I have never thought about giving up. Besides, people told me that Indonesian people are so sweet. Indonesia does not have a bad security reputation," he said.

When asked how he felt about this project, he said it was not his. "Yes, I have a dream, but without the support of people, this project would not have materialized. I only had about US$3,000 in my pocket when I started my journey. Without the help of people, none of this would have been possible," he said.