Happy New Year Everyone! We made it! It’s not as though as the bell tolled midnight on New Year’s Eve all our problems disappeared, but it still felt like a weight was lifted nonetheless. 2020 was a year I’m sure none of us will ever forget, but I hope we’ll remember the good that went with the bad. Catching up with old friends, learning new skills, starting new hobbies, or just learning to slow down a little bit – these are all really good things that I hope will balance the memories of 2020 for some of us. I’m obviously not making light of all of the challenges we faced, the loved ones we lost and the economic devastation that so many people have and will continue to experience, but I hope that in the end there will be good memories somewhere during this year for us all.
2020 started on a very positive note for me. I headed south to Mississippi, one of my favorite states and one that I was looking forward to getting to know better. It didn’t disappoint. While Mississippi is probably the deepest of the Deep South states, and one of the most economically and educationally challenged, it’s also full of wonderful people, music, history and scenery and it’s a place that keeps drawing me back.
I was there longer than I thought I would be and ended up heading to New Orleans just in time for Mardi Gras. I enjoyed catching up with some really good friends that weekend and of course feasted on crawfish and king cake. On Mardi Gras Day, I got up early to wake up the Treme neighborhood with the Northside Skull and Bones Gang. After a long morning march followed by a cup of coffee, I headed to the Marigny for brunch with my Mardi Gras Morning Krewe and then paraded for a while before chasing the Mardi Gras Indians around town in the afternoon. It was amazing and looking back I’m so glad that I was there for it.
Leaving New Orleans, I headed for Texas where I felt like a new chapter was finally beginning. As much as I loved my time exploring Appalachia and the Deep South, it was time for some new scenery and some different history to contemplate. I had some good times in the east of the state and then made my way on to Houston where I started hearing some real talk about the novel coronavirus which had made its way to the United States and was starting to cause some real problems. I had tickets to the Houston Rodeo the first night it was cancelled due to safety concerns over the virus and decided to head out to Galveston where things were a little quieter. While there I saw my last live music show of 2020 and started paying closer attention to the news. I headed south, running away from the big cities and their big city problems and finally ended up on South Padre Island where I thought I could ride out the storm. I went out for some beer and wings that night and ended up breaking a tooth which would probably also be my own breaking point and the thing which would ultimately send me home. While I got a good temporary fix there, it was the very last day that dental office would be open for the foreseeable future. The southern counties were closing down businesses and the beach and while I could have ran west it just seemed futile. I turned my headlights towards home and didn’t look back.
And here I’ve been since. Over the last 8 months I’ve spent some wonderful times with my mother and stepfather, including some pretty awesome daytrips around the region. We’ve brewed beer, cooked all sorts of good things, and tried to celebrate as much as we could. In August, my friend James was brought back to work after a furlough and he and his wife Kara were in a tough spot – with a 2 year-old at home, both with full-time jobs and their daycare closed indefinitely. I told them I could watch young Mason for a while and we’ve been hanging out pretty much every day since. The time he and I have spent together has been truly special and is something I’ll never forget. I hope he and I can be friends long into the future. Beyond those things, I’ve had time to organize most of my photos, played around with my guitar and violin, gotten some work done on my van, and done my best to keep this project going.
When Miles2Go launched back in November of 2017 my hope was to visit 48 states in 48 months. I wanted to see each of the states in isolation and learn what I could about the history, music, food and culture of each and hopefully see and photograph the beautiful landscapes and small towns that I encountered along the way. That timeframe was doomed from the start as there’s just too much to see and do in each state, and four weeks would never be enough. The projects that I started, from this blog to my social media accounts to my podcast, were overwhelming, but I worked hard and managed to keep all of them going through 18 months and 10 states. My hopes of sponsorships, advertisers, photo sales and licensing and becoming an “influencer” all amounted to very little financially to show for it all. I ended up going back to my old guiding job for the summer to try and fill my coffers and figure out what came next. I had some new plans and ideas as I set off on my way to Mississippi…
And now here I sit at home in DC. Eight months have passed and I am really hoping to get back on the road sometime soon. By “soon” I mean hopefully by this summer. If all goes as planned, I hope to head north to the Great Lakes and spend the summer exploring Michigan and Wisconsin and see what happens from there. I don’t know what the future of this blog will be, but I do know that I’m looking forward to it. For those of you who are hanging with me, I really appreciate it. Your comments and messages have helped me keep going with this as the weeks have turned to months and the months will soon become a whole year. My original 48 month plan would have had me in the home-stretch at this point and instead I’ve only covered a quarter of what I hope to see. It’s been amazing though and I certainly wouldn’t trade it.
So thank you for being a part of this journey, and I hope soon it will once again be a journey in the literal sense! Have no doubt that I’m getting Shadow Catcher ready for the road ahead, and as soon as we can be, the two of us will be headed towards the sunset.
Happy New Year and may 2021 bring new adventures for us all.
-Mike