Preparing for an extended road trip through America’s small towns feels like an invitation to step away from the rush of daily life and into a slower, more deliberate rhythm. It’s not just about packing a bag or tuning up Josie—it’s about getting into the right mindset to fully embrace the journey ahead. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of exploring the roads less traveled, those winding highways that lead to places where life is lived at a different pace, where stories are told over diner counters, and where the past lingers just beneath the surface. As I started planning this trip, I realized that it’s as much a mental journey as it is a physical one. Josie, an old companion, needed a thorough check-up—new engine, fresh transmission oil, a full tank of gas—but I found myself thinking more about the intangible preparations. I knew this wasn’t going to be...

I find myself here in what some might call a “wide-spot-in-the-road, Ohio”—a place more known for its connection to a man whose name has graced homestyle restaurants across the country: Bob Evans. Yes, that Bob Evans. I’ve come to attend the Bob Evans Farm Festival, a three-day event held on the original homestead where this Ohio farm boy turned his sausage-making prowess into a national chain of restaurants that evokes comfort and Americana. But as I stand here, looking out over the festival tents and various corrals, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s missing. This isn’t quite the event I imagined it would be. I expected a true country fair atmosphere—something akin to those gatherings where neighbors come together, not just to celebrate, but to show off the fruits of their labor. I had thought I’d see 4-H kids showing off their prized pigs and cows, local families swapping stories...

In 2006, I criscrossed the U.S., putting 15,000 miles on my little Ford Escape Hybrid. I visited hundreds of small towns and met an equal number of people. From this experience, I learned what a hard scrabble life most of the folks live. In most of these small towns, the economy has ravaged local businesses and placed undo hardship on small family farmers. Since that trip, I’ve returned to other small towns during my several one-to-two-week road trips. Little has changed for these folks. In my experience, $1,000 could be the impetus to turn the economic tide for someone. Consider this very plausible hypothetical: In the heart of the rural Midwest, where the land stretches endlessly under a vast, blue sky, life ebbs and flows with the seasons. Here, the soil is rich, the air is clean, and the people are as sturdy and steadfast as the old oak trees that...

Here, in the heart of Missouri, where the soil is rich and the lives of the people are steeped in simplicity and tradition, lives a woman whose calling was not to the fields, but to the souls that till them. Pam Sebastiaßn, or “Pastor Pam,” as she is known, serves two churches in two towns that dot the map like seeds scattered by the hand of God. One a simple, modest house of worship, the other a glorious testament to time and history built by hands that knew the ache of labor. They are places where faith was not a matter of show, but of survival… Well, that was true then–back in 2006 when I met Pam during my first cross-country trip. Today she is more a “circuit rider,” type pastor. She rotates among three different churches. She no longer has a formal office and works out of her home. What...

It's 0-dark-thirty. In these wee hours of the morning as I type this, my right knee is bouncing up and down at 120 beats per minute. Pure anticipation, fueled by an injection of anxiety. I'm set to leave at 7am this morning, just as the sun stretches over the horizon, Josie and I are ready to set out on a journey that will carry us through the back...

There's a certain romance to traveling the back roads in a 42-year-old VW Vanagon camper named Josie. She's no sleek modern marvel, but she has something better: character. Josie is a boxy, unhurried beast, painted a faded shade of Assuan Brown and Cream that once gleamed in the sun, now softened by the years. Her engine purrs with the steady rhyth...