November 10th, 2017, Mile 0
Tomorrow is the day I finally set sail. This day has been years in the making. I've been saving and planning and working and packing and getting ready for so long and now the day is finally here. Tomorrow I am leaving home, leaving Washington D.C. in my quest to visit each state and do it slowly, not rush from place to place. I'll be living in my new-to-me Class B RV, a 1998 Dodge Coach House 192KS Widebody. It is fully kitted out with a king sized bed, a bathroom and shower, a kitchen and plenty of clothes, shoes, maps, pots and pans. It's got new brakes and new tires and is ready to get me where I need to go. I've named it Shadow Catcher as a tribute to the legendary photographer Edward Curtis. He spent his entire life creating his magnum opus, photographing the American Indians before their way of life all but vanished. It's also a nod to William Least Heat Moon, author of The Blue Highways, whose van Ghost Dancing carried him on one of the most celebrated road trips in American history.
My plan is simple. I want to get off the highways and travel slowly and simply. I want to stop often and hike and explore and meet people and listen to the stories of their lives. I want to eat food at the source where it is fresh and tastes the way it is supposed to taste. I want to have time to read and think and write and take photos. I want to learn about history and small towns and folklore and what other people dream of. But most of all I want to live simply and deliberately. In doing so I hope to create my own life's work as I document what life is like in our time. It's been a long time coming and I'm pretty tired tonight so I'm going to sign off. But tomorrow I'm going to get up early, make a pot of coffee and get on the road. I'll have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep...