#33 - On road tripping across America
When I was rejected from a dream internship at MoMA, I went through a brief crisis of confidence about what I would actually do over the summer holiday. Despair quickly turned into excitement as I decided to fill this employment gap with a quick internship at my brother's startup, bookended by cross-continental and around-the-world travel.
To start off my summer break, I drove from Chicago to San Francisco across 20 days, 14 states and more than 10,000km. While I won't describe each and every day of my trip, I wanted to share the main thoughts that I contemplated during my travels.
America is beautiful
From the Gateway Arch in St Louis, to the animals and natural beauty of Yellowstone and the rugged deserts of Arizona/Utah, I saw the best of what America has to offer. The diversity of landscapes and environment in America means that no two states or national parks are the same. Each is special in its own way.
The highlights for me were the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole and Zion National Park.
The Gateway Arch is one of the world's greatest architectural masterpieces and the first major piece of work completed by Eero Saarinen. Saarinen was one of the world's greatest designers and architects and was a key member of the judging panel that chose the design for the Sydney Opera House. I had wanted to see the Arch for many years and the up-close experience was truly worth it!
Each of the other highlights were beautiful in their own way, with a unique mix of nature, wildlife and adventure. For the national parks I've mentioned here, each offered their own mix of nature, adventure and wildlife. In Yellowstone, I went hiking and saw bears, bison and longhorn sheep. In Jackson Hole, I went hiking, white water rafting, and saw a moose. In Zion National Park, I hiked through a river canyon and to the top of Angels Landing.
Trump’s presence is felt
As soon as I got outside of Chicago, I saw a large red barn with “TRUMP” painted on the side and a parked truck trailer that proclaimed that all Democrats were leeches. In Omaha, I saw a man walking down the street in a MAGA Hat, a white Trump shirt and blue shorts (great colour coordination!) while I ate duck confit. In South Dakota, I saw shirts being sold in shop fronts that called Hilary Clinton a bitch.
Life in a liberal city like Chicago is relatively Trump free. If I didn't turn on a TV or look at my phone for a few days, it would be easy to forget that Trump was the President. But in 'the heartland', Trump is everywhere and he is loved. Driving through these places helped me understand the scale of the people who voted for Trump.
Civilisation is not limited to the coasts
My mental image of America has changed a lot over my past year of living in the Midwest. Despite this, I genuinely believed that cities outside of the coasts/Chicago would be varying shared of boring, with very little culture or life.
Instead, I found that cities across America are much more cosmopolitan than I expected. In Kansas City (Missouri) I saw a Monet Water Lillies and a Turner at the Nelson-Atkins Museum and grabbed coffee from a vegan bakery. In Topeka (Kansas), I saw fans of Rick and Morty (one of my favourite TV shows) waiting an hour to buy merchandise from a travelling Rickmobile. Timing constraints meant that I missed Crystal Bridges in Bentonville (Arkansas), one of the best museums of America Art.
These smaller cities are also home to people with incredible wealth. But unlike the coasts, this wealth isn’t derived from industries such as technology or entertainment, instead coming from ordinary businesses such as owning a chain of accounting firms or Taco Bells.
Capitalism has helped homogenise culture
While driving from Omaha to Badlands National Park, I took a slight detour to drive through Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The reason: I wanted to get a Flat White and buy some La Croix, Hummus and Carrots for my journey.
In major cities, we often look down on companies such as Starbucks and Walmart as bland institutions that are mainstream and generic. However, in many parts of America, these institutions provide a lot of the creature comforts and culture that we expect in our daily life. And they do so efficiently and at a reasonable price to consumers.
This is also the incredible beauty of capitalism.
No central planner decided that the good people of Sioux Falls, South Dakota should be provided with Flat Whites and La Croix. Instead, corporations, acting out of their financial self-interest, took on the risk to provide these products. When the products sold, and the companies made money, they kept selling them. And so the system works and I can buy La Croix and Flat Whites throughout my travels. This is why the Soviets wanted to 'meet the person in charge of supplying bread to London.' (as per one of my favourite stories about the beauty of capitalism).
Stunning experiences are more accessible than you think
For people living in Chicago or SF, you can drive to many of the places I visited within 8 hours or so. While that might seem like a lot, a journey of that distance is incredibly manageable with 2 or more drivers or spread out over a long weekend with an additional day or 2 of leave.
If you get the chance to drive across America (or even just on a shorter road trip), do it!