In 1994, a 37-year-old man by the name of Mike McIntyre decided to confront his fears and the shaky path his life was taking. Living in San Francisco at the time, he left his job, his girlfriend, his apartment — all the trappings of his life, and decided to hitchhike across America, heading for Cape Fear, North Carolina, a location he selected for its name, which symbolized his fear of many things in life. He put a few things in a backpack, but to help him with this confrontation with his fears, he left behind the one thing most of us would not leave home without — money.

He decided he wanted to find some kindness in the soul of America, so he took with him absolutely no cash, no credit cards, no traveler's checks — no purchasing power of any kind. Instead, he decided, he would rely on th…