Walk Into The Pacific Fully Clothed, Come Out Having Made A Difference

SANTA MONICA, CA — Scotty Landes had a dream he was sitting on the beach in Santa Monica when his friends asked him how he got there.

He told his friends he walked but they didn't believe him — it would have been a 16 mile journey. But dream-Scotty was insistent he had walked.

Scotty woke up at 6 a.m. with an idea he had to share with his podcast co-host Kurt Braunohler.

"You said, 'I had a dream I walked from my house to the ocean, we should do that,'... and I was like 'yep, we should do that, let's do that,'" Braunohler said.

The two are fans of absurdity, but they didn't want to do the walk just for a laugh. So they picked a charity and thus started the first annual Door 2 Shore charity event.

Come Saturday, people across the country will join Braunohler and Landes walking from their front doors to the nearest body of water — no matter how far — and jumping in fully clothed.

Participants will undertake journeys as easy as walking across the street, all the way up to Braunohler and Landes' 19-mile trip. Participants will take the plunge in places like Coney Island, the Mississippi River, the south coast of Massachusetts and the Pacific Ocean.

The podcast hosts are no strangers to outlandish activities. Years ago, Braunohler rode a jet ski from Chicago to New Orleans to support Heifer International, a nonprofit focused on alleviating hunger and poverty. The comedians have also hosted other runs for charity this year, and have made Door 2 Shore an annual tradition.

"Around 10 years ago, ... I remember deciding that I needed to write out a one sentence reason for existence, why I do comedy. The sentence that I came up with was 'to insert absurdity into strangers' lives to make the world a better place,'" Braunohler said.

Landes and Braunohler's walk will benefit The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, a local non-profit that supports trafficking survivors and advocates for anti-trafficking legislation. Other participants picked their own organizations, which include Sunset Spark, a Brooklyn nonprofit that supports immigrant families with science and technology education. Another Santa Monica participant will donate to Friends of Animals, a non-profit that works against animal cruelty.

Landes said the support is not surprising from fans of their podcast, "Bananas."

"Last year [our listeners] were so supportive and excited for this event that it's actually not surprising at all — every day we're getting more and more people emailing us and saying they're doing it. Thankfully our fanbase shares our love of putting absurd things in the world for a good cause."

Despite the daunting length, Braunohler and Landes both said the walk was surprisingly pleasant last year — it was a nice time to catch up. They think the ocean plunge saved them from some soreness.

"The walk is surprisingly challenging and fun at the same time," Braunohler said. "You get into kind of a rhythm and it's almost meditational. It's an incredibly pleasant way to spend a day. A very long walk with a good friend, and you're doing it for charity. It just feels good all over."

Keep up on participants' journeys by following the "Bananas" podcast on social media.