Steve Vaught left his Valley Center home alone 392 days ago, an unknown man down on his luck with a quirky idea about walking across the country to lose weight.

Some time tomorrow, he expects to walk across the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey into New York, completing his journey.

This time he will not be alone. Worldwide reports of his trek have made Vaught, 40, something of a folk hero to many. More than 80 people from as far away as Missouri have contacted Vaught asking to walk into New York City with him.

"The New York Police Department is not too crazy about me walking through Manhattan with a group of people," Vaught said by phone Thursday night. With that in mind, he plans to officially end the walk at the Manhattan side of the bridge, where he will hold a press conference.

That night, the man accustomed to sleeping on the side of the road will stay in Manhattan's Essex House, right on Central Park, as a guest of the "Today" show, which is scheduled to interview him Tuesday morning.

As the media attention intensified in his walk's last days, Vaught began working with a professional coordinator to handle press inquiries. The representative, Melinda Cataldo, on Thursday said she had received more than 200 requests from reporters covering his story.

Why all the attention? Vaught said he still doesn't know.

The walk always has been a personal mission for Vaught, who left weighing about 400 pounds and now is about 100 pounds lighter.

But over the past 12 months, people following Vaught through his online journal entries and media interviews often have found something they can identify with in the admittedly confused and conflicted man.

Seamlessly making a transition from Buddhist sayings to common-sense advice about weight loss, Vaught talks about his walk as a kind of spiritual awakening, where the tranquility and solitude of the road taught him that his state of mind had as much to do with his obesity as his diet and lack of exercise.

"I spent a good part of my life studying theology," he said. "I understood what they said, but I didn't get it. This time, I think I get it."

About halfway through his walk, Vaught admitted to himself that he had an addiction to anti-depressant medication, which he began taking after he was involved in a 1990 car accident that left two pedestrians dead and sent him to jail for 13 days. In Amarillo, Texas, he threw his pills away, which left him emotionally unhinged for several days. As his head cleared, he began to see more clearly the roots of the problems that led to his obesity.

"We all know what the answers are," he said. "It's in front of us. It's very simple. The anger, The self-loathing. It's not that big a mystery."

Vaught said the introspection he has gained has helped him be "a more peaceful and happy guy." The walk took twice as long as he expected and he still has to lose another 100 pounds, but Vaught is happy with his accomplishment.

"I did it as best as I could," he said. "I lost 100 pounds, and I'm confident when I get back to San Diego I'll have more success, because now I want to live."

Vaught left on his walk a year ago April 10 at age 39, fearing he would not live to see his two children, ages 3 and 8, graduate from high school. Believing his obesity was keeping clients away from his consulting business, Vaught took a job working behind the counter of an auto parts store.

Never expecting to make any money on the walk, Vaught put no paid advertisements on his much-visited Web site, but was inundated with pitches for sponsorships within weeks of his start. He eventually agreed to a book deal with an advance that allowed him to stay in motels rather than sleeping under bushes and bridges.

In his May 5 journal entry, Vaught wrote that he has been asked to resume his walks in different cities to promote fitness, and there even is talk of doing a walk in Europe.

"Now that the journey has transformed me into a different person, I look forward to every day with almost childlike enthusiasm," he wrote on his Web site. "I cannot wait to see where the day will take me."

Enthused about fitness, Vaught said he is a frequent visitor to Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Web site and is encouraged to see the group working with soda manufacturers to create new guidelines to limit portion sizes and reduce calories in drinks available to children at school.

"People have to understand, even if they aren't affected by this, they are affected by this," Vaught said, citing studies that say 67 percent of Americans are overweight. "We're going to have a new plague."

Many of Vaught's fellow overweight Americans have left messages on his Web site telling him his commitment to losing weight has been an inspiration to them. Some have written about taking up their own exercise programs, quitting smoking or doing other things to live a more healthy life because of his example.

The latest journal entries on his message board, which has more than 100,000 entries, include well-wishes from Brazil, Canada, England, Ireland, Sweden and throughout the United States.

"I think the biggest surprise to me is just the kindness of strangers," Vaught said about what he's learned this year. "That's going to be the biggest transition for me. As I left, I left alone and isolated, just afraid of the world."

Vaught said that sense of isolation is common with many self-conscious overweight people. As he met people on the road, however, many stopped to talk, made him meals, asked for photos and even invited him into their homes.

"Given the opportunity, most people are great," he said.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5410.

Related links:

http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/

http://www.healthiergeneration.org/