In early fall of 2022 I had finished only the basic pieces of my build—like my bed and sink. I set out across the country to get a sense of what the travel was like, and fine tune my wishlist for the rest of the build. I finished this first drive in D.C., where I stayed with family until Christmas and made a mini gallery install in my bathroom.

After heading home to Chicago for the holidays, I ushered in the start of 2023 with a hopeful collage and few months of building—adding lots of storage and custom shelving, reinforcing my bed frame, creating a folding table, and so many other odds and ends.

Fully armed with a micro wardrobe, stash of chocolate, and this improved build, I left home “for real” on Sunday, March 5th, 2023.

That first day, I made my way from Chicago to St. Louis, and I slept in front of a friend’s house. I lingered a few days, and before I left the city, I added a rug to my floor, visited with old friends, and made my first official “on the road” piece of art, The Bixby Bunch, which is permanently installed at WashU in St. Louis. These were easily the coldest nights of my travels, but I stubbornly refused to excavate my sleeping bag from the garage (aka my trunk) and instead wrapped myself in only my down comforter and blanket. Silly, silly.

After my stint in St. Louis, I used apps like iOverlander to find spots to park and sleep. I went to Oklahoma for a wedding, made a pit stop back in Chicago, then trucked myself to Nashville, Tennessee for a visit with my Uncle Craig, where I slept in a pelting rain that somehow simultaneously soothed and agitated. I could barely fall asleep, but when I did, I slept like the dead.

Georgia held many stops for college friends. In Atlanta I visited Wyck and thrifted some kick-ass yellow pants. In Augusta I visited Adam and met his girlfriend (now wife!), Sam. And in Savannah I saw Meredith, got a haircut, and went square dancing for the first time. I did not sleep in my car one time in Georgia, thanks to my friends’ hospitality and the pervasive, numbingly humid heat.

In late April I made my way up the east coast. First stop—Myrtle beach, where my mom grew up. I visited her childhood home, and met the man who was renovating it. He allowed me inside to look around inside, which was cramped and piled high with the clutter of construction and depression. My mom rarely talks about her childhood, but she had mentioned climbing a tree in her front yard with her best friend. It was still there, stoic and shady.

I counterbalanced this oddly poignant visit with a Krispy Kreme doughnut and a royal sleeping spot right by the beach. But the beach held more tension—I filmed washed up jellyfish and discovered a dead bird just out of reach from picturesque waves.

In North Carolina I splurged on a treat. I booked a boat ride out to the International Dark Sky Park at Cape Lookout, where our guide’s laser circled constellations and planets, and we were regaled with facts and myths alike. Several people generously passed around their bug spray to the whole group (thank GOD) and our potentially treacherous navigation back to shore saw only one casualty—my newly made friend’s baseball cap.

cousins in the Carolinas, my family in D.C., a college friends in Philadelphia, and then Long Island, where Ilan joined me. Along the way I DID STUFF

By this time it was late Spring 2023—I had covered a lot of ground in two short months! Together Ilan and I went to Boston, then back through Chicago to Arkansas, and Houston. He stayed in Houston while I went through New Mexico to Denver alone, experiencing a terrifying midnight hailstorm (thanks to the plains of New Mexico) and discovering the most amazing popsicles (Denver Pops!).