Philadelphia Man Tours Country on Hugging Spree

Before I get started: yes, you read that headline correctly.

According to the Houston Chronicle, David “Big Dave” Sylvester is touring the continental United States giving out free hugs to anyone who wants them. He does high-fives as well. The Chronicle refers to Sylvester as a “serial hugger,” which makes the whole thing sound way creepier than it actually is. As far as I can tell, Sylvester genuinely wants to spread love and positivism far and wide, stretching himself across America from coast to coast.

Philadelphia native “Big Dave” Sylvester is hugging people all across the United States.

His hugging tour is being sponsored by Duke Cannon, a soap company. He started his trip in Pennsylvania (naturally) and hit Delaware and Maryland before working down the East coast through the southern states. Today he was in Houston, in Hermann Park, making everyone’s day a little brighter. Now he’s moving westward. According to the Chronicle, “Sylvester launched his hug mission after a cross-country bike ride to honor a friend who died in 9/11. That ride inspired him to make spreading positivity into a personal quest.”

Sylvester was quoted in the Virginian-Pilot explaining his mission: “Everyone is so cynical now. I think we’ve become splintered. I think when people hug and high-five me and they see I don’t want anything … I think people will smile and be a little less cynical.”

To date, Sylvester has distributed 180,000 hugs and high-fives. He is 13 states down, and regularly updates his progress on his Twitter and Instagram. By September 11th this year he will have embraced people in 49 states and 34 countries. His tour’s hashtag, #beabetterdude, speaks to his message of being kinder and more loving to everyone, even strangers.

This is not Big Dave’s first tour of the United States. He previously biked across the United States in his lost friend’s honor, and later became  the first African American to bike across America, Africa, Australia and Asia.