This Stoned Dude Snapchatted for 24 Hours Straight

Snapchat is an amazing tool with limits that are only as small or big as the mind of the user. Music videos, art, feature films: We truly live in the age of possibility when it comes to broadcasting our lives in ten-second bursts. Most people don’t use the app for much more than unintelligible videos of them yelling at the club or twerking to the latest Fetty Wap song, but some people are different. Some people see the potential 2016’s hottest app holds.

Last Saturday, Torontonians Kyle Park and Michael Carnevale capitalized on a combination of free time, weed, and friendship to do something ambitious: They spent 24 hours walking up Yonge Street, the longest street in Canada, and Snapchatted the entire thing. The result is pretty epic.

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The brainchild of 23-year-old Park (a graphic-designer-turned-entertainer), the walk featured him and Carnevale (a 20-year-old, cowboy hat-clad city worker) interacting with some of Toronto’s most vibrant characters as they documented a whole day’s worth of pain and dabbing for the internet to see. A rabid Snapchat user myself, I felt inspired by their experience, so I called Park up to learn more about what pushed him and his pal to make the trip.

VICE: What prompted you to spend the weekend walking up Yonge Street while Snapchatting the whole thing?
Kyle Park: Well, I work for a [music app], and they just wanted me to Snapchat some adventures. I recently got a medical marijuana license at [a shop in the city], and it was through that—walking between there and my house—that I got the idea. I kind of always liked walking, but this was definitely marijuana-inspired, for sure.

So you’re saying that you strolling to the dispensary every day inspired you to walk up Canada’s longest street?
Well, Michael and I met up after we finished work one day, and I got super high. We walked everywhere. By the end of that day, we both just realized, like, “Oh my God, we both walked so far!” That just got so many ideas flowing. I’m totally against Ubers and taxis right now. I hate the whole system.

We’ll get back to taxis and Uber, but on the matter of the walk: Did you guys plan this out?
Yeah, we both tried to plan our sleeps, so we stayed up all Thursday night, and we both made it, so that we were going to sleep from 5 PM to 11:30 PM on Friday [to get up right before the walk]. We woke up, I smoked a bunch of joints, and then we were like, let’s do this. We literally got our shit together in, like, fifteen minutes, and we headed down to the [waterfront] to start the walk.

How did being high as fuck affect your walk?
Time definitely stood still.

Does that mean you were still moving?
Well, yeah. It was definitely a classic Seinfeld Jerry-and-George situation: When me and Mike hang out, we get into conversations about the universe and dinosaurs, and the confusion of love, and we always—we [always end up] talking about how we both have trouble finding love. When we both get off talking about that, we can get into conversations that can run three or four hours. I can’t even tell the time has gone by. It’s like time ceases to exist when I hang out with Mike. We definitely charge each other up, but the weed definitely helps time disappear.

I noticed you run into what looks like Zanta in the video [author’s note: Zanta is a well-known Toronto character]. What happened there?
Yeah man, that was crazy! I saw him across the street and really wanted to go say hi to him, so we crossed, and he asked what was up. He told us about his life, and we told him about ours, and then he tells us how push-ups were this outlet for him and really freed him. I decided I’d join him in push-ups, because I wanted to see his technique. Great guy.

Were there any other memorable encounters you had along the way?
Yeah, there was this girl that we ran into in North York, around Yonge and Sheppard, and she was really into Mike. I don’t know, Mike’s presence and just his looks—the cowboy hat and all that—she was into that country look. She was like, “Hit me up.” Unknowingly, Mike told her, “Yo, I can’t Snapchat you, I’ve got work to do.” He kind of messed that up [laughs].

Speaking of the Snapchat, was there a formula to when you guys decided to make new videos? Like, when did you decide it was time to film?
Whenever we hit intervals. Like, major intersections, or buildings, landmarks, interesting events. We just tried to keep it fresh and exciting. Any changes in the status, or the vibe, y’know? We’re all about the vibes. We always gotta keep the vibes going, no matter what we do.

Our whole intention with this—we don’t know a lot of people on Snapchat—we just wanted to show people that you don’t need to get fucked up to have a good time [author’s note: lol]. You can have an adventure just walking up Yonge Street. The party is within yourself. Good vibes only. This is also a kickoff to Summer Sixteen—adventure everywhere, don’t Uber Everywhere. We’re planning something next where we get inflatable rafts and paddle to Niagara Falls, and then let the rafts go over the falls. Maybe attach a GoPro to it. Yeah.

Do you have any idea how long it would take to paddle from Toronto to Niagara Falls?
See, one thing: We don’t like planning. I definitely did not realize how hard walking could get. By the eighteenth or twentieth hour, my legs were so bummed up, my feet were shot. I feel like the adventure lies in making sure that you’re kind of unprepared. Fuck the [energy] bars and packing everything—we’re going to be the party, good vibes only, Summer Sixteen.

Did you guys rest anywhere along the way? It sounded like a hell of a walk.
I didn’t realize it, but there was this one creek that was part of the sewage system. Anyway, it was flowing water, not stagnant and mossy, so I took a swim in it and Snapchatted that too. I honestly felt so refreshed. Bro, I felt I got born again in the lake of fire. There were also times when we just chilled for a few minutes in different grass patches because, by the halfway point, we were hurting real bad.

What’d you do at the end? Was there a celebration?
Well, the celebration was actually that my aunt has an eight-thousand-square-foot mansion in Barrie—that’s what we were walking too. We just got there and were like, “Oh my God.” It’s the coolest house I’ve ever laid my eyes on. It’s an absolute palace. We ended up cheering, kicking it, and having a great time there. We headed back on the Sunday afternoon. I feel so beat now.

You mentioned earlier you don’t fuck with Uber or taxis. What’s up with that?
I want to bring it back to the roots. I’m all about natural vibes, living that natural life. Back in the day, before cars, before horses, people had to walk. Walking is the most natural state of movement. All the successful people you hear about—Steve Jobs and that—they went for long walks. On this walk, Mike and I got into some really deep topics and hit massive positivity. That’s invaluable. In an Uber or a taxi, it’s too quick, it’s too accessible. How far are we actually pushing ourselves?

Have you thought about writing a motivational book? You seem like the type.
Mike and I have thought about it. Mike and I are all about that, and I think this walk really reflects that we want to bring good vibes and get people to just walk. The adventure is out there. Everything is Gucci.

Follow Jake Kivanc on Twitter.