Edie Littlefield Sundby stops by a road marker as she makes the trek through Old Spanish Trail. Sundby has been recognized in national publications for her spiritual devotion to walking following a battle with cancer. 

Edie Sundby takes walking seriously.

While some choose to walk for exercise or fun, a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis left Sundby in a state of despair until she chose to do something about it.

“After my right lung was taken out I could hardly breathe, it would hurt so I would keep walking and before I knew it I would be in less pain,” Sundby said.

Known as “The Mission Walker,” Sundby’s story has reached national audiences and has been featured in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. 

The essence of her message, she said, was that the simple act of walking was a lifesaver that allowed her a second chance physically and spiritually.

Sundby began to walk for six months on the California Mission Trail, an 800-mile walking trail from Sonoma to San Diego. The trail has historical connections to the Franciscans who came to California to operate several missions. For Sundby, the trail was a way to connect her spirituality with a way to improve her health.

“I had so much inside of me that needed to be poured out, and I was able to pour out those overflowing of physical trauma dealing with Stage 4 cancer, chemotherapy and surgeries,” she said. “It’s not just the physical toll, cancer survivors are hostage to this thing, and you feel like you’re under siege.”

“When I got to Sonoma I didn’t want to stop,” she added. “My body had become strengthened from walking; walking is a really healing thing. We are made for movement.”

Sundby recently took that passion for walking to the Teche Area, where she has been walking the Old Spanish Trail starting at the Sabine River to Morgan City and making brief stops in Teche Area municipalities like New Iberia, Baldwin, Franklin and Centerville.

“You see the most amazing things,” Sundby said. “When you walk you can see all of these historical markers you would have just passed by in your car.

“There was one sign I saw that stopped me in my tracks, it was so faded you couldn’t even read it. It was in a place called Sorrel that most people have never heard of, but it was part of the Old Cattle Trail that reached Texas, which was Mexico at the time.”

Apart from the sightseeing, Sundby said she has also fell in love with the area and people of south Louisiana. Stopping in places like Lafayette, Crowley and Scott, Sundby said the people have all been exceptionally kind to her.

“People need to get out of the cities and go to the rural areas,” she said. “There’s so much here.”

“Everywhere I go people are so nice and I feel so loved, it really is overwhelming,” she said.

Now near Morgan City, Sundby said she hopes to make the trek to New Orleans where she can meet people that local residents here have connected her with.