I am 68 years old and have gone back to being an avid trekker. I realized that you are never too old to go after your dreams, and my Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) practice has helped me realize those dreams.

In the last five years I have trekked from my home in Southern California to Canada (1,430 miles), and three different Caminos de Santiago in Spain (530, 630, and 440 miles), the most recent one just four months after I had a knee replaced. Two weeks ago I finished trekking most of New Zealand, from the bottom of the South Island to the North Island—838 miles, 52 days, 16 miles a day. (The photo above was taken on the East Coast of the South Island, north of Dunedin.)

Along with my weekly 10- to 14-mile days, I’ve walked over 12,000 miles in five years.

None of this would even be a consideration without the TM technique, which gives me the mental and physical strength necessary to accomplish the challenges and activities I take on as I get older. After a very demanding and exhausting day, nothing is better than knowing that once I sit down to meditate, I will be reinvigorated and any negatives of the day will melt away. My morning and evening meditations are what give me the strength to complete my treks.

I am not an extreme athlete, just an ordinary person following my dreams. My biggest goal is to trek across the United States, from the West to the East coasts.

After a very demanding and exhausting day, nothing is better than knowing that once I sit down to meditate, I will be reinvigorated and any negatives of the day will melt away.

A Love Story, with TM and My Wife-to-Be

I’ve been a meditator since 1977, when I was looking for something to help me with the stress of being a police officer. I started my career in law enforcement in my early 20s. What I loved most about my job was helping and meeting people, plus the excitement of encountering new situations every day. But like many people in stressful jobs who turn to things like alcohol to relieve tension, I found myself doing the same thing.

Thankfully, a police officer from another city told me that he’d learned the Transcendental Meditation technique to help with the stress, so I thought I’d give it a try. If it hadn’t been for my law enforcement career, I may never have learned to meditate.

Another formative experience also steered me towards seeking calm and peace in my life. My parents, of Dutch ancestry, who were born and lived in what became Indonesia, were interned in Japanese concentration camps during World War II. I later saw them experience what is now called PTSD, and I didn’t want to suffer the same consequences.

As a meditating California Highway Patrol Officer in the early 1980s, I have to admit I wasn’t always an every-day practitioner—sometimes getting up at 4:00 a.m. and having to be on patrol by 6:00 a.m. made it difficult. But I would try to radio in a “10-7” (out of service) for my lunch period and meditate then.

My TM practice helped me relax and gave me more peace of mind, which allowed me to be more personable yet professional with people as an officer. If you are under constant stress, you may tend to subconsciously take it out on others.

A few years after I started TM, I stopped a woman for running a red light. After giving her the ticket, we talked for quite a while—I always wanted to make people feel comfortable with the police. A couple of weeks later, she invited me for coffee. I told her I didn’t drink coffee, or eat donuts! But we went to lunch, and 37 years later (29 of those married) Mindee and I are still together.

My TM practice helped me relax and gave me more peace of mind, which allowed me to be more personable yet professional with people as an officer.

Living Life to the Fullest

Eight years ago, at age 60, I ended up in the hospital for five days, critically ill with pneumonia. I was on oxygen and in insolation. We didn’t know if I was going to make it. I continued to meditate, figuring that TM would help in my healing.

After returning home, I reevaluated my life. I realized I needed to embrace the old adage that “life is short” and start living life to its fullest. This change of thinking along with my TM practice made all the difference.

I’ve always enjoyed hiking, skiing, and fishing, and I started backpacking when I was 17. But a work-related back injury in 1987 led to early retirement and no more backpacking. After my pneumonia scare I decided to reassess what I could and couldn’t do.

It took me months to start walking again, just a block at a time the first few weeks. For my first mile-long walk I asked my son, Colin, to come with me and bring his skateboard. If I couldn’t make it, he could push me back! I slowly worked up to walking 10–12 miles several days a week.

One day, driving home with Mindee from the Eastern Sierras, I told her I would love to walk the route we’d driven hundreds of times. “Why don’t you go ahead and do it!” she said.

“Why not?” I thought. I want to live life, and I have lots of tools, including TM.

Meeting the Challenges of Trekking

But how to carry a backpack after my injury? I hunted online and found a two-wheeled hiking cart in the Netherlands. The Wheelie lets me pull my food, water, and camping gear behind me as I walk. After some short trips, I was ready for my first long trek, to Canada.

My Wheelie has made my treks logistically possible, while my TM practice helps me recover from the exhausting challenges of walking hundreds of miles outdoors. I crave my TM at the end of my day, and I could not imagine ending my day without it.

In Oregon, Washington, Spain, and New Zealand, I’ve trekked through buckets of pouring rain, for example. And there were many days, especially on the Camino Via de la Plata, where the temperature was over 100 degrees.

On my trek to June Lake through the Mojave Desert, I encountered winds over 50 mph, so strong the highway was closed to trucks and RVs. It was almost impossible to walk, let alone set up a tent. I called the California Highway Patrol and was fortunate to be offered a ride to a motel.

I try to look at every day as a new day, putting yesterday’s hardships behind me, and my TM practice helps me to do that.

I try to look at every day as a new day, putting yesterday’s hardships behind me, and my TM practice helps me to do that.

Finding Spirituality around the World

After my Canada trek, I wanted to share my love of trekking with my family, so I asked my daughter, Monica, to trek with me. Since she didn’t want to rough it, we did the Camino de Santiago, a traditional pilgrimage route with support facilities.

Trekking the wonderful religious sites where thousands have prayed and meditated for hundreds of years has greatly added to my spiritual belief. What a beautiful feeling it has been to practice TM in these wonderful cathedrals, homes, hilltops, oceans, mountains, and of course my tent.

I am not really a religious person, but I have become more spiritual as I’ve gotten older. I have come to combine my religious background in a Catholic family with the spirituality that I’ve found through Transcendental Meditation practice.

Some people ask me what I think about during those long hours and days on roads and trails alone. I do find myself talking to my spiritual god a lot, many times being very thankful for my journey.

What a beautiful feeling it has been to practice TM in these wonderful cathedrals, homes, hilltops, oceans, mountains, and of course my tent.

A Tool to Help When Life Takes a Detour

I tell people that TM is part of my life and I couldn’t live without it. TM is not a magic pill for everything, rather a great tool for life, as I learned again a couple of years ago.

When the huge Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties struck, then the biggest fire in California history, we were ordered to evacuate as the flames raced towards us.

We loaded our cars with our valuables and pets and were leaving by the only road out when I was overtaken by fire and smoke so thick I couldn’t see. I ran off the road and was trapped inside the car as the fire raged around me. I finally managed to make it out the passenger door.

By some miracle, the wind shifted enough that I saw a block wall about 20 feet away. I spent almost 20 minutes hiding there as the fire burned everything around me, praying for the strength to survive.

By another miracle, the wind shifted again, and I saw a fire truck turning to flee the fire. I ran as fast as I could, with only one shoe and my leg brace, and pounded on the side of the truck that saved me!

By another miracle, the wind shifted again, and I saw a fire truck turning to flee the fire. I ran as fast as I could, with only one shoe and my leg brace, and pounded on the side of the truck that saved me!

We lost much, but we were alive. I leaned on TM in my recovery, which helped immensely, and found additional support as well. My counselors applaud that I meditate, and highly recommend it as an effective tool. Fortunately, I already had it in my life tool box.

Clarity, Calmness, and Strength

I decided to go ahead with my scheduled knee replacement the month after the fire. Four months later, I trekked 430 miles on the Camino de Madrid. It wasn’t easy, but TM got me through the challenging days as my recovery continued.

Now my goal is to trek somewhere with all my kids, who follow me on my trekking blog. Monica went on the Camino Francis with me, and I’ve invited Alex to join me on my Camino trek this August. And when Mindee retires in a few years, we will go on a Camino de Santiago together.

I don’t know if I can really express how TM has helped me, especially on my treks. It has given me clarity, calmness, and strength, both mental and physical, and the confidence and ability to overcome challenges.

And some day I’ll be ready to trek across the United States, with TM in my tool box.

 TM has given me clarity, calmness, and strength, both mental and physical, and the confidence and ability to overcome challenges.

Ted Stekkinger is an avid trekker and retired highway patrol officer who lives in Ventura County, California, with his wife Mindee, an attorney. Follow his treks on tedtrekking.com.