Planting the American flag he had carried from the northeastern tip of Long Island on June 22, 2009, to the cold breaking waves of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of Santa Monica, Calif., on July 4, 2010, Matt Perdie of Jim Thorpe completed his 377-day Walk Across America amid cheers from family and friends.

Perdie, now 24, was then a 23-year-old filmmaker on a mission to "protest and bring awareness to the dangers of big government growth and massive government spending" according to

www.perdie.com, Perdie's window-to-the-world during his walkabout.Carrying an average 60 pounds of gear, including 20 pounds of computer and electronic equipment in his backpack, Perdie followed a meandering route from Long Island - about 800 miles south to South Carolina, then 2,400 miles west to Santa Monica - a total of 3,600 miles, including the various meanders.Perdie's message of protesting massive government spending resonated with supporters of the Tea Party, in particular a group of filmmakers who were making a movie, Tea Party - The Documentary Film."The highlight of my walk was meeting this group of filmmakers who were making the Tea Party movie," Perdie said. "It was real grassroots. The executive producer, Luke Livingston, wanted to give Tea Party supporters a fair portrayal of who they are, what they represent, and what they are fighting for."As he passed through Georgia, Perdie discovered a link to the film's web site, and he e-mailed Livingston."The next day, he e-mailed me back and asked me if I would edit his trailer in exchange for support for my Walk Across America," Perdie said. "He not only let me stay at his house, but he introduced me to a huge number of Tea Party patriots across the country."Two Tea Party activists, Michael Golden and William Temple, helped pave the way through Perdie's southern route."Michael Golden called ahead to each town alerting the police department and local businesses just to let them know I was coming," Perdie noted. "William Temple called ahead to Tea Party groups across the country. I didn't ask either of these guys to do this. They just did it of their own accord."Along the way, Perdie didn't see any of the Tea Party folks or Southerners drink hot tea. But they loved their iced tea."For the most part, people in the South are into cold Lipton iced tea," Perdie said. "I remember sitting at a restaurant in South Carolina. Every person in the restaurant ordered iced tea."On an average day, Perdie walked about 20 miles, meeting people, curious about the hiker carrying an American flag. He put himself in as many situations as possible to meet people."If I saw a couple of people gathered, I would stop. People would stop to ask me what I am doing, and hundreds and hundreds of scenarios played from just that happening," Perdie said.Twice along part of the way, Perdie had a companion walker.For the 800-mile trek coming to Texas, he was joined by an old friend, Mike "Mick" Jacob. After Mick left, Perdie met his second trail buddy, Brooks Blanton.Blanton had received a text message from friends who met Perdie as he was passing through Canton, Texas. He looked up Perdie's web site, perdie.com, and shared it with his sister."When I was walking near Austin with my friend, Mick, Brooks' sister saw me walking and yelled out, 'Perdie!' he recalled. "Mick and I turned around. She said, 'My brother and I know who you are.'"She and Brooks invited them to stay at their home. By morning, Brooks decided to the walk. Mick left. Brooks joined Perdie 60 miles later.Water and the lack thereof were the challenges Perdie faced on the walkabout."In North Carolina and Georgia, almost every day it rained in torrential downpours," he said. "It was really rough on me because I had a computer and various electronics on me, and no way to keep them completely dry. They got damaged in that process."Also my feet weren't yet used to walking crazy distances. Because of that, moisture kept getting into my socks. Even though I would change them. That led to massive blisters-some the size of golf balls on my feet. It was extremely painful."Passing through California's Mojave Desert in late June and nearing the end of the journey, Blanton and Perdie became seriously dehydrated. Water was limited and whatever water they had was so hot they couldn't use it to cool ourselves down."We walked at night from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. Sometimes, people would pick us up and drop us back," he said.In California, FOX News e-mailed Perdie, asking for an interview. They sent a limo to pick them up."It was a cool experience being on live national television," Perdie said. "It was about five minutes. It was great being able to know that I could get the word out on my walk."On July 4, Perdie, cheered by family and supporters, splashed into the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica and set the staff of his flag into the ebbing waves. His journey of 377 days-originally planned as six months-was over.How did the Walk Across America change Perdie?"It's made me more appreciative of everything," he said. "I'm a bit more personable than I used to be. I appreciate everything so much more. A cup of coffee, a cup of tea is worth so much more to me now than It ever had. Same with a warm meal, or talking with someone, or hanging out."