One of my favorite things to do while traveling the country has been talking with small business owners and shopping local. As I’ve said throughout the past year, I often find that small business owners have strong insights about their communities because they are so invested in their success. In Read more…
“I was lookin’ at your Instagram,” he says, raising his eyebrow at me. “You don’t got a lot of followers. Why not?” I look at him and back around the bar, certain I misunderstood the question. Or perhaps, misheard it completely. It’s a weekend in January and I’ve been straddling Read more…
The morning was grey, sunlight struggling to poke through the cloud coverage of a grey winter day. He paused, a long sigh. “It’s just…people around here, they’re pissed off,” he said. Around here, in this case, was a series of small towns in rural Georgia and South Carolina. Spending several Read more…
“I’m just sayin’,” he said, “It’s not fair.” He leaned his forearms on the oak wood bar, condensation running down the domestic beer bottle in front of him. A woman with tight-cropped hair stood on one side; I sat around the rounded corner on the other, looking at a Read more…
In the past four months, I have become gripped with tracing a major drug pipeline in the United States. From what I’ve learned, this pipeline stretches from Chicago to Philly, working its way through small towns and sleepy cities in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia. From Philly, it continues north Read more…
While I wind down county highways across the United States, I am struck with how many towns appear to be struggling, a slow death march of empty storefronts and faded roadside signs. It’s apparent in every state I’ve visited, from Michigan to Maine and beyond. It appears that small town Read more…
There are few times that I feel as acutely aware of being a woman as during my first 24 hours in a new small town. Word gets around quickly, especially since the first observation is a keen: “You’re not from around here, now are you?” I quickly understood that meant Read more…
One of the best parts of this trip, I’m quickly learning, is the opportunity to gain quiet little snapshots into people’s lives. Over the past ten weeks, I have become privy to a multitude of the highlights and lowlights of people’s days; I am continually inspired and humbled by the Read more…