Journal
The following are edited versions of the journal I kept in 2015 while driving alone across the United States, from San Francisco to Richmond, VA, during the month of June. It was a journey I'd been thinking about for years, both for journalistic and personal reasons. An opportunity presented itself when I was laid off from my second job in as many years.
After a few months spent settling my affairs in San Francisco and purchasing a few necessities, including a camera and used car, I set out up the coast via Highway 1 with only $2,500 left in my savings account. My route was to take me north along the Pacific Coast, through the Pacific Northwest, down through the vacant interior, and into eleven National Parks. I made plans sparingly. No reservations were made; nothing was set in stone. Where I went and what I did was left largely to chance.
We talk about their hiking poles and fallen trees and the unkept trail, about how last year’s winter in Lassen Volcanic had been one of the worst in years. They ask where I'm going and where I've been, and when I tell them I think I’m going to camp at Coral Meadows and am not entirely certain where I’ve been they exchange ‘the searching glance,’ the same glance I’d been given by the ranger the day before, the second such glance I’ve received in as many days....