Days 8-11 Starting Point/Destination: West Hollywood, CA Miles Driven: [negligible, my friend Peter was nice enough to taxi me through most of my L.A. adventures] I was hanging at a hookah lounge on Sunset Boulevard with Peter and Alex. At some point the nature of my project came up and Alex asked me (without judgment, …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part VIII: The Beautiful Cloudy Skies of L.A.

Day 7 Starting Point: Winslow, AZ Destination: West Hollywood, CA Miles Driven: 582 I'd had a long day and I hate the freaking Eagles, but nonetheless I found myself in Winslow, Arizona so naturally I had to do "The Corner." Winslow is a sleepy former railroad town along the old Route 66 that became suddenly …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 PART VII: Corners, Craters, and Kyuss

Day 6 Starting Point: Bernalillo, NM Destination: Winslow, AZ Miles Driven: 312 I'll try to keep this one short and sweet. Today was a fun and easy day. Only a 4-hour drive between where I started and where I'm staying. The bulk of my day was spent at Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park. From what …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 PART VI: They’re Rocks, but They Look Like Trees

Days 4 & 5 Starting/Ending Point: Bernalillo, New Mexico Miles Driven: 61 Somewhere in Placitas After the long drive from Omaha, it was gratifying to spend two relatively chill days in Bernalillo)) (a small town North of Albuquerque). I didn't even bother going into Albuquerque proper. It's a wonderful city - one I've visited several …

Continue reading GOTH PART V: Embrace Your Loved Ones and Wolf Dogs Before Civilization Collapses

Day 3 Starting Point: Omaha, NE Destination: Bernalillo, NM Miles Driven: 952 I had set my alarm for 5:30, but the day truly began at 3 AM, and not in a fun way. I awoke to the sound of coarse obscenities shouted at full volume. In the room across from mine a couple was engaged …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part IV: What Makes for a Truly Rough Ride?

Day 2 Starting & Ending Point: Omaha, NE Miles Driven: 34 From the Omaha Zoo. Today I decided to start out with some of the more understated, peripheral attractions of Omaha. Using the trusted oddities app Atlas Obscura I mapped out two cute little destinations I thought would be interesting, or at least yield some …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part III: The World’s Largest Stamp Ball is a Catholic Trap

Day 1 Starting point: Madison, WI End point: Omaha, NE Distance traveled: 442 miles Riverfront Park in Omaha I left at 6 AM sharp, tired and under-slept. Still I resisted the urge to drink coffee right away, knowing full well that the longer one can hold off that first cup, the better the overall result …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 PART II: Why Thrift Stores are Better Than Collectibles Stores

Greetings ghosting, friends and strangers. It's been almost five years since the last iteration of this project. Don't get me wrong, my passion for road travel has not waned since then. In the intervening years I've embarked on a few long, region-spanning auto adventures, most of which were quite eventful and endearing (I'm thinking particularly …

Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part I: I’m Doing This Shit Again

Good evening, ghostlings! As I type this it is roughly 8:30 PM Wisconsin time. Today is July 20, which would have been my mother's 61st birthday. I try not to attach too much significance to such milestones, but it's hard not to think about them. You may have noticed that I wrote, "Wisconsin time." That …

Continue reading GOTH Part IX: Closing a House Sale in a Remote Wyoming Cafe

Before we dive into today's adventures, let me say a few words about an important but often neglected aspect of travel: diet. When I began this sojourn of vagabondage, I did a pretty decent job of sticking to the healthy rations of nuts, tuna, and grain-free granola that I'd brought along for the ride. After …

Continue reading GOTH 2018 Part VIII: Mountains, Mormons, and Munchies