Michigan Pre-Travels - March 1, 1988
Okay, memories back to my first travel. Ahh, a childhood devoted to dreaming of traveling America, and ultimately the whole world! I'd spent countless, countless days throughout my childhood pouring over my parent's very outdated 1970 Encyclopedia Brittanica. If I could get around the medical and the famous people, there were tons and tons of maps in there. I often had the W- for World Map near my bed, as well as randomy grabbing the U- for United States, E- for Europe, S- for South America, A- for Africa. Any edition that had any country or continent proifile, and I had bookmarks all over with dirt marks on those pages. From there I would branch out to individual countries like 'N' For Nepal or 'A' for Arizona. There wasn't much in those dictioraries, mostly their trading partners, and other encylopedia information that wouldn't matter much to most. But I always had a notebook nearby handy. Constantly resiving and revising my list of how I was going to visit each country one-by-one, and each state within the USA, one-by-one-by-one.
Years later I'd accumulated a fairly small, but priceless collection of must-read books in my opinion. There was a book about guys who'd explored America and wrote about it. Among many, my two absolute favorites were Least-Moon Heat "Blue Highways" who traveled across America by car. amd my most admired author and traveler Peter Jenkins "A Walk Across America" and "The Walk West" who inspired me beyond anything you can imagine. In Peter Jenkins book, he walks across America in order to know it, walking with his Alaskan Malamute along the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia, working all along the way, his dog dies, and later he meets his future wife in New Orleans. In his second book, they continue the walk west from Lousiana to Oregon together. His journey took him nearly 5-7 years, and I cherished his books beyond all others. Most of the other authors I can't remember or recall there names anymore, only the books themselves like another author who walked the Appachian Trail and another who walked around the World. I also had your other various John Steinbeck, but nothing influenced me anymore than Peter Jenkins during my years of growing up.
My first trip was partly inspired by both William Least-Heat Moon and Peter Jenkins. I was going to graduate from High School, and spend my summer driving around America looking for work at the same time. I wanted to see all of the places across America that I'd read about, and I wanted to experience them for myself. Another book I'd read cover-to-cover in preparation was "Lets Go USA" all about the cities I'd discover and experience, and how differently they each were from the rest of the country.
In preparation for this trip, I'd spent most of my Junior and Senior year working in a grocery store, a gas station, a McDonalds, and summers in a factory. In the Spring before my Graduation, I'd bought a very old 3-colored gas-guzzling pickup truck with a small camper on the back! The roof wasn't too high, but just enough to be able sit in comfortably. My plan was to sleep in the truck with an army cot in the back, drive around the USA, and work here and there throughout the summer or maybe even longer if I could find the perfect spot. Ultimately I would take all of my belongs with me and be ready for whatever the road delivered my way. Only another few months or so, and I'd be ready to make my dreams a reality.
On the Road!
June 11, 1988
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