By . James  Nye . PUBLISHED: . 20:52 EST, 12 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 03:10 EST, 13 January 2014 . Travels: David Menasche on Lake Harriet in Minneapolis in the winter of 2012/2013 during his 101-day journey around the nation to visit his former students . A passionate English teacher robbed of his memories by terminal brain cancer decided to seize each day left to him the best way he knew how - by traveling the country to visit his favorite former students and ask them what impact he made to their lives. David Menasche, 41, spent 15-years teaching at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami but three invasive surgeries, two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation therapy had left him almost-blind and with limited mobility. Unable to continue his life's work teaching his 11th graders, Menasche set off in November of 2012 on a countrywide trip to meet his former students to simply ask them if he had made a difference in their lives. The Mark Twain devotee dubbed his . journey the 'Vision Quest' and in August of 2012, Menasche posted a . message to Facebook, asking if any of his 3,000 former Coral Reef alumni . wanted to meet him, reminisce about his lessons and most importantly - . let him sleep on their couch. Menasche, . who had separated from his wife when he began to plan his final trip, . was astounded to receive replies from students in 50 cities across the . United States. Despite a . seizure robbing him of his sight and the use of most of the left side . of his body, Menasche resolved to undertake the trip on his own by bus. Scroll Down for Video . Send off: Daivd Mensche with current students and teachers of Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, where his former students number almost 3,000 . Nationwide: This map shows pins set down across the United States where David Menasche met former students - traveling 8,000 miles by bus and air in the process . 'I am at the end of my life,' he explained to USA Today. 'I don't know how much longer I have left, and I just wanted that sense of satisfaction that the time I did have I used well.' Now, Menasche's journey has been published as a book, entitled The Priority List A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons - which is published this month. The oldest of his students were in their early 30s - some with families of their own - and the popular English teacher wanted to 'get caught up and see the results of my work.' Sadly his treatment has left him with 'massive' memory loss. 'I don't remember my childhood at all. In fact, I don't remember anything prior to roughly 16 or 17 years old. And even the things that I was doing as a teacher are somewhat spotty'. Students: David's last day in with former student Tahira Augustus in Atlanta, Georgia - his next stop was Washington D.C. So, as he traveled to meet students across the nation, Menasche was told of a much-loved teacher who made learning a joy. He discovered he would be as comfortable teaching Walt Whitman as rapper, Tupac Shakur. That instead of becoming annoyed with his students for passing notes, he would tell them, 'I'm an English teacher! Why wouldn't I encourage you to read and write?' Indeed, on the rare occasion that a student fell asleep, Menasche would paint Wite-Out on their noses. The inspirational teacher spent 101 days on the road and visited 31 cities across 8,000 miles, speaking to 75 former students who lived as far afield as Hawaii. One ex-pupil was Stephan Palahach, who is now an aspiring screenwriter in New York City. Happy: This is David with former students he met up with during his travels and here is one student (left) who David discovered to his surprise had stolen her favorite texts from class that he taught . He told USA Today that Menasche was 'one of the few teachers I felt who were really present. I've had great teachers in my life, but he was really present in the moment.' The former student and one-time teacher spent time together talking and going to the movies. 'There was a fleeting moment when we were sitting around a computer sharing silly Internet videos together and laughing,' Palahach said. 'He ceased to be my old teacher, and he was definitely a friend.' His failing health was never an excuse and Menasche made it to Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland, Hawaii and Minneapolis among other cities. Along the way he discovered something poignant and wonderful: 'It seems like it was not a wasted life,' he said to USA Today. 'I wasn't so sure — I honestly wasn't.' Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer the day before Thanksgiving in 2006, aged 34 - Menasche was told then he had less than a year to live. Refusing to be bowed by this death sentence, he threw himself into his work. Champion: David poses with the statue of Rocky at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and here is David with former students in Memphis, Tennessee (right) 'For six years, the only time I wasn't in class was when I was undergoing brain surgery. I never avoided the topic of my cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, with my students, but it was not something I dwelled on, nor did they,' he said to CNN. 'I covered my bald, lacerated head with a woolen hat and scheduled chemotherapy around my classes, and I got so good at being sick that I could run to the bathroom, heave into the toilet, flush, brush my teeth and fly back to class in under three minutes. They pretended not to notice.' However, despite his new-found zest for life to use every day to its fullest, in the summer of 2012, he was hit by a huge seizure which robbed him of his ability to teach any longer. 'The cancer had finally succeeded in taking me out of the classroom, but I wasn't ready to let it take me out of the game,' said Menasche to CNN. 'I wasn't afraid to die. I was afraid of living without a purpose.' Bravery: After being diagnosed with one year left to live almost eight years ago - David Menasche has refused to give in or take any day for granted . Release: This is The Priority List - which will be released this month and tells the poignant story of David Menasche's journey around the United States from November 2012 to February 2013 to visit his ex-pupils . The greatest lesson that Menasche learned on his journey was that he made the most difference in what he and his students came to dub 'intimate interludes' between classes, 'when we shared heartaches and vulnerabilities and victories.' 'To learn this meant the world to me, it really did,' said Menasche to CNN. 'The truth of it is those were the moments when I was trying my hardest, when I really wanted to be at my very best, so that I could set an example for them that they could look to. 'It was just overwhelming the generosity and love that I got back.' 'Not only did they give my life meaning while I was a teacher, even after I left the class room they continued to give me a sense of purpose.' Now living in his new home of New Orleans, Menasche is preparing to publicize his incredible book and journey and ready himself for the inevitable. 'I am one of those people who has had to face my fate squarely and my reality is that I have a brain tumor and it is not going to go away. 'Rather than taking that as a death sentence it gave me a sense of urgency that if there was living to be done now is the time to do it.
Florida English teacher David Menasche, 41, traveled the nation to meet former students after becoming too ill to teach .
His journey took him to 31 cities across the nation, over 8,000 miles and to 75 eleventh graders he used to teach .
His incurable brain cancer had left him almost blind and affected the left side of his body .
Wanted to know if he had made a difference in his students life .
By . James  Nye . PUBLISHED: . 20:52 EST, 12 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 03:10 EST, 13 January 2014 . Travels: David Menasche on Lake Harriet in Minneapolis in the winter of 2012/2013 during his 101-day journey around the nation to visit his former students . A passionate English teacher robbed of his memories by terminal brain cancer decided to seize each day left to him the best way he knew how - by traveling the country to visit his favorite former students and ask them what impact he made to their lives. David Menasche, 41, spent 15-years teaching at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami but three invasive surgeries, two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy and 30 rounds of radiation therapy had left him almost-blind and with limited mobility. Unable to continue his life's work teaching his 11th graders, Menasche set off in November of 2012 on a countrywide trip to meet his former students to simply ask them if he had made a difference in their lives. The Mark Twain devotee dubbed his . journey the 'Vision Quest' and in August of 2012, Menasche posted a . message to Facebook, asking if any of his 3,000 former Coral Reef alumni . wanted to meet him, reminisce about his lessons and most importantly - . let him sleep on their couch. Menasche, . who had separated from his wife when he began to plan his final trip, . was astounded to receive replies from students in 50 cities across the . United States. Despite a . seizure robbing him of his sight and the use of most of the left side . of his body, Menasche resolved to undertake the trip on his own by bus. Scroll Down for Video . Send off: Daivd Mensche with current students and teachers of Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, where his former students number almost 3,000 . Nationwide: This map shows pins set down across the United States where David Menasche met former students - traveling 8,000 miles by bus and air in the process . 'I am at the end of my life,' he explained to USA Today. 'I don't know how much longer I have left, and I just wanted that sense of satisfaction that the time I did have I used well.' Now, Menasche's journey has been published as a book, entitled The Priority List A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons - which is published this month. The oldest of his students were in their early 30s - some with families of their own - and the popular English teacher wanted to 'get caught up and see the results of my work.' Sadly his treatment has left him with 'massive' memory loss. 'I don't remember my childhood at all. In fact, I don't remember anything prior to roughly 16 or 17 years old. And even the things that I was doing as a teacher are somewhat spotty'. Students: David's last day in with former student Tahira Augustus in Atlanta, Georgia - his next stop was Washington D.C. So, as he traveled to meet students across the nation, Menasche was told of a much-loved teacher who made learning a joy. He discovered he would be as comfortable teaching Walt Whitman as rapper, Tupac Shakur. That instead of becoming annoyed with his students for passing notes, he would tell them, 'I'm an English teacher! Why wouldn't I encourage you to read and write?' Indeed, on the rare occasion that a student fell asleep, Menasche would paint Wite-Out on their noses. The inspirational teacher spent 101 days on the road and visited 31 cities across 8,000 miles, speaking to 75 former students who lived as far afield as Hawaii. One ex-pupil was Stephan Palahach, who is now an aspiring screenwriter in New York City. Happy: This is David with former students he met up with during his travels and here is one student (left) who David discovered to his surprise had stolen her favorite texts from class that he taught . He told USA Today that Menasche was 'one of the few teachers I felt who were really present. I've had great teachers in my life, but he was really present in the moment.' The former student and one-time teacher spent time together talking and going to the movies. 'There was a fleeting moment when we were sitting around a computer sharing silly Internet videos together and laughing,' Palahach said. 'He ceased to be my old teacher, and he was definitely a friend.' His failing health was never an excuse and Menasche made it to Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland, Hawaii and Minneapolis among other cities. Along the way he discovered something poignant and wonderful: 'It seems like it was not a wasted life,' he said to USA Today. 'I wasn't so sure — I honestly wasn't.' Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer the day before Thanksgiving in 2006, aged 34 - Menasche was told then he had less than a year to live. Refusing to be bowed by this death sentence, he threw himself into his work. Champion: David poses with the statue of Rocky at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and here is David with former students in Memphis, Tennessee (right) 'For six years, the only time I wasn't in class was when I was undergoing brain surgery. I never avoided the topic of my cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, with my students, but it was not something I dwelled on, nor did they,' he said to CNN. 'I covered my bald, lacerated head with a woolen hat and scheduled chemotherapy around my classes, and I got so good at being sick that I could run to the bathroom, heave into the toilet, flush, brush my teeth and fly back to class in under three minutes. They pretended not to notice.' However, despite his new-found zest for life to use every day to its fullest, in the summer of 2012, he was hit by a huge seizure which robbed him of his ability to teach any longer. 'The cancer had finally succeeded in taking me out of the classroom, but I wasn't ready to let it take me out of the game,' said Menasche to CNN. 'I wasn't afraid to die. I was afraid of living without a purpose.' Bravery: After being diagnosed with one year left to live almost eight years ago - David Menasche has refused to give in or take any day for granted . Release: This is The Priority List - which will be released this month and tells the poignant story of David Menasche's journey around the United States from November 2012 to February 2013 to visit his ex-pupils . The greatest lesson that Menasche learned on his journey was that he made the most difference in what he and his students came to dub 'intimate interludes' between classes, 'when we shared heartaches and vulnerabilities and victories.' 'To learn this meant the world to me, it really did,' said Menasche to CNN. 'The truth of it is those were the moments when I was trying my hardest, when I really wanted to be at my very best, so that I could set an example for them that they could look to. 'It was just overwhelming the generosity and love that I got back.' 'Not only did they give my life meaning while I was a teacher, even after I left the class room they continued to give me a sense of purpose.' Now living in his new home of New Orleans, Menasche is preparing to publicize his incredible book and journey and ready himself for the inevitable. 'I am one of those people who has had to face my fate squarely and my reality is that I have a brain tumor and it is not going to go away. 'Rather than taking that as a death sentence it gave me a sense of urgency that if there was living to be done now is the time to do it.
had left him almost-blind and with limited his former students to simply ask them if he had made a difference in their lives. The Mark Twain his sight and the use of most of the left side . of his body, Menasche resolved to undertake the popular English teacher wanted to 'get caught up meet students across the nation, Menasche was and visited 31 cities across 8,000 miles, ability to teach any longer. 'The cancer had