A 3,000 mile conversational journey by foot

Previous Maps: (1) Brooklyn, NY to Wintersville, OH; (2) Wintersville, OH to South Bend, IN; (3) South Bend, IN to Newton, IA; (5) Lexington, NE to Saratoga, WY; (6) Saratoga, WY to Orem, UT; (7) Orem, UT to Austin, NV; (8) Austin, NV to San Francisco, CA.

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One of Iowa’s big draws is Adair, which has a smiley face water tower and is known as “the happiest town on Earth.” During the Midwest stage of the map planning, I became especially obsessed with making sure that I would hit a new town or city every night. Because by the time I get into Wyoming and Utah, it’s going to get desolate very fast. But I’m also very excited about visiting Des Moines and Omaha for the first time.

More Maps: (1) Brooklyn, NY to Wintersville, OH; (2) Wintersville, OH to South Bend, IN; (4) Newton, IA to Lexington, NE; (5) Lexington, NE to Saratoga, WY; (6) Saratoga, WY to Orem, UT; (7) Orem, UT to Austin, NV; (8) Austin, NV to San Francisco, CA.

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The third stage of the journey will push me slightly north, where I’ll be hugging the southern edge of Lake Michigan and heading into Chicago. From there, I’ll be hitting a number of small cities in Illinois that I had never heard about until I started planning this route. Then I’ll make my way into Iowa, where both Iowa City, Des Moines, and the heartland I have only known through headlines await the steady beat of my two feet.