road trips

Read more about the article Road tripping west in post-COVID(?) summer of 2021
The route I took last summer, between Saratoga, N.Y., and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (Credit: Google Maps, and my drawing.)

Road tripping west in post-COVID(?) summer of 2021

Last summer I set out from my home in upstate NY to search for an America readjusting to life as the COVID wildfire slowed down. Just as I was about to depart on a celebratory, wandering road trip through seven states the Delta variant began sweeping our country. I went anyway. Below is the first chapter of a four-part series on my sojourn. Like many of my road trips across America, it was a fun excursion— but the worsening news about COVID was an overhang on my mood, haunting me each mile along the way.

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Read more about the article One year later: a road trip to reflect on the pandemic
Am Amish farmer, somewhere north of Malone, N.Y.

One year later: a road trip to reflect on the pandemic

The dark 12 months that for me started in an Albany class of nervous students moved toward a hopeful finale with the passing of a horse-drawn cart on a remote Upstate New York road. The clip-clop of the horse’s hooves echoes loudly off nearby trees in the otherwise desolate, soundless scene. It was finally time to take stock—to reflect on my physically draining, gut wrenching journey that began at the University at Albany March 11, 2020. In the days, weeks, and months since then millions died. Hundreds of millions more were infected…

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Read more about the article My love affair with bridges; soaring across the Hudson on foot

My love affair with bridges; soaring across the Hudson on foot

Most people consider bridges as structures built for convenience and safety. They are so ubiquitous that we take them for granted, scooting over them in cars, trucks, and trains without much thought. The only time we pay attention to them is when one of them fails spectacularly, like the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis 13 years ago. Fourteen people were killed and 145 injured in that catastrophe. In a similar disaster, a major bridge in Genoa, Italy, crumbled to the ground in 2018, killing 43. The public reaction to bridge tragedies is similar…

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Read more about the article Fort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training
Thomas Edison’s winter home in Fort Myers. Credit: author

Fort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training

For years, I’ve been visiting Fort Meyers, Florida and the surrounding area in March, spending time watching my Boston Red Sox get ready for another campaign up north. This Southwest Florida city and the surrounding area is a terrific destination for a late-winter recreational sojourn. And it’s filled with with attractions that go well beyond the spring training homes of the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. From nature/wildlife preserves to historical sites, there’s more than enough here to satisfy even those visitors who aren’t fans of America’s pastime. And of course there…

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Read more about the article Driving U.S. Route 1 from Northern Maine to Key West; a new book

Driving U.S. Route 1 from Northern Maine to Key West; a new book

During the summer of 2014, I embarked on a solo drive that had roots stretching all the way back to epic road trips with my family as we followed my Air Force father on assignments here and abroad. In late-June 2014, I set out from my home in upstate New York to drive the entire length of U.S. Route 1 from remote, forested northern Maine to artsy, bucolic Key West. As it snakes along the East Coast for over 2,400 miles, this famous -- but somewhat ignored -- highway winds through some…

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