On Sunday, Four thousand two hundred miles, twenty-four states and ten and a half months since he left the Golden Gate Bridge, B.J. Hill crossed over the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Copley Square, knelt down and kissed the snow covered sidewalk, earning questioning glances from passers-by.

Hill, a 32-year-old Leicester, Massachusetts resident, left San Francisco, California on March 1, 2008. Hill’s goal was to walk across the country, while collecting

handwritten messages from ordinary Americans addressed to the next president of the United States.

Hill walked the whole way with an American flag draped over his backpack and his slightly torn Red Sox cap. He wore through seven pairs of hiking boots on his journey.

Golden ticket to Barack Obama’s inauguration in hand, provided for him by Sen. John Kerry’s (D. Mass.) office, Hill made his way to Washington, D.C. on Monday by car and bus. He is working with Obama’s aides to meet with the new president sometime within the week.

‘The idea is that I’ll get five to ten minutes to hand [the letters] over,’ Hill said.’ ‘I’m not asking for much, just to be able to know that these went directly into his hands, not to an aide or intern.” ‘ ‘ ‘

The handwritten messages from thousands of American voters fill three black, Bible-size leather-bound notebooks, providing a snapshot of America during the 2008 election season.

Some people wrote light-hearted quips reminding the president to cuddle with his wife every chance he has. Others wrote to offer him a cold beer on the house if he were to ever visit Mel’s Bar in Scribner, Nebraska.

The majority of the notes were focused on how the next president can better serve the citizenry who are suffering through a number of crises.

A 9-year-old from Provo, Utah wrote, ‘Dear Mr./Mrs. President, Well, I don’t know what to write so here’s a list:’ 1. Workers’ rights 2. Global warming crisis 3. Better fuel. From Alex.’

Ideally, Hill wanted to step foot in every state, but without three years to spare, he chose a snaking route, traveling to the four major regions of the United States:’ the West, the Midwest, the Southeast and the Northeast.’

Moving from the west to the east, and from the sweltering hot days of summer to the cold, snowy winter, Hill began to noticed trends in the written messages.

For most of his trip, Hill said that the skyrocketing price of gas was the hot-button issue for many Americans, though it was an issue that largely disappeared before Election Day.

‘Gas prices affected all of us,’ Hill said.’ ‘Red state, blue state, liberal, conservative.” ‘

Hill encountered homeless, jobless, sick and hopeful people who are counting on President Obama to help them. Healthcare, the environment and the economy became the topic of many people’s messages in the final legs of his walk.

‘ ‘Dear Mr. President, I hope you get the economy back up.’ I need a job.’ I’ve been unemployed for three years and I’m homeless,’a man living in Woodruff Park in Atlanta, Georgia wrote. ‘I’m trying to get back on my feet.’ I hope you can help out the poor people and the homeless so I’ll have a place to stay besides sleeping outside.’

An expecting couple from Edison, New Jersey, who attached a 10-week ultrasound below their message, wrote, ‘Dear Mr. President, Please make sure decisions you make are prudent for the future of the American people.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Choices that you make shall affect us, our unborn children and generations to come.’ Please protect the future of my unborn child below!’ I am confident that you are the right person for the job.’

‘Please do whatever you can to help every child get an equal education,’ wrote a first-grade teacher from Atlanta, Georgia.

In his own message to the President, Hill urged Obama to pay attention to the voice of the people and to not forget them.’

‘It’s easy to get insulated between D.C. and what happens in small town Missouri, for example,’ Hill said about how presidents can forget about who voted them into office.’ ‘There’s a huge line of barriers there, so I’ consider these messages like a direct link.’ That’s why I don’t type things in; I let people write it in their own handwriting and their own spelling.’

‘All the work B.J.’s done is very valuable,’ Josh Seadia, a friend of Hill’s since their freshman year at Northeastern University 15 years ago, said.’ ‘I hope that [Obama] really’ takes the time to read it, to understand what people are saying and to take it to heart when he makes decisions.”

The collection of the messages reflects Barack Obama’s unifying presence, Rupesh Patel, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said.

‘I’d like to think that these books, they’re portable, they’re compact, that he’d keep these on his desk in the Oval Office or by his night stand, for example,’ Hill said.’ ‘And at the end of a long day, that he’d lean back and open one up and remember why we elected him in the first place.’

Though Hill had anticipated completing his walk on November 1, he was slowed down by the cold weather. He was walking twenty-five to thirty miles per day and slowed to fifteen to twenty miles. Frigid temperatures made it altogether impossible to walk on some days.

After election day, Hill said that many Americans sent their well wishes to the White House, offering Obama congratulatory messages.’ Despite not voting for Obama in November, some people wrote that they would support him nonetheless.

Hill, a registered independent was not surprised by Obama’s victory, which he watched from the home of a Russian-born couple voting for the first time in High Point, North Carolina.’

‘I saw a lot of anti-Bush sentiment, even in places that we would think would be staunchly conservative, places like Wyoming and Nevada,’ Hill said.’ ‘There were messages that didn’t exactly have glowing reviews for President Bush, so I knew that there was change in the air.’

‘It’s strange what people aren’t writing about,’ Hill added.’ ‘There weren’t a lot of messages about the war in Iraq, at least not as many as I’d expect considering how many resources we’re spending there.’

Hill said that he was amazed by the generosity and kindness of the American people.

‘ ‘ ‘ In many of the towns Hill traveled through, cars often pulled over or people approached him as he passed by.’ Seeing his heavy backpack, they asked him where he started, where he was going, and why he was walking.’ After they penned a message to the president, many would often ask him, ‘Where are you staying tonight?” When Hill told them he was planning to pitch his tent up ahead, many generously offered him a meal, a spare bedroom or both, Hill said.

While Hill was walking through Iowa, a middle-aged couple pulled their car over, Hill said. They rolled down their window, and said, ‘We saw you walking earlier, so we went home and made you this.” Inside the bag that they handed to him was a fully packed lunch, complete with a sandwich, juice and fresh fruit.

‘Little things like that really kept me going,’ Hill said.

One of Hill’s souvenirs from his trip is a royal blue t-shirt with the red and yellow Superman logo emblazoned on the front and the words ‘Metropolis, Illinois’ underneath.’ He wears it proudly, and said he feels like a superhero upon the completion of his cross-country walk.

Hill is not a newcomer to long-range walking. He walked across Mexico in 1996, walked throughout the Midwest in 2001 while serving in AmeriCorps, and walked across Massachusetts in 2006, collecting messages for Massachusetts governor-to-be Deval Patrick.

‘People would often ask me, ‘Aren’t you afraid of things happening to you?” Hill said.’ ‘Honestly, I think I was more afraid of not being able to repay the kindness I’ve seen on this trip.’