Nothing Can Get Me Here

Walking into base Friday morning, I was confused where I’d be spending this short half-shift. One board had me listed with the same group as last time, another board had me back with Matt and the recovering addicts, and yet another board had me with an entirely new group of teens altogether. Turns out I’d be […]

Your Other Brothers: My New Blog

So, I just launched a new blog! With a lot of help from my friends. It’s called Your Other Brothers, and it’s a storytelling community for Christianity amid struggles with homosexuality. These last few years of writing more openly about faith and sexuality have introduced me to some of my dearest friends all over the world. I’m […]

To My Little Sister, Now a Married Woman

I always knew this day would come. Of the three of us, I always knew you’d be first. You’re too beautiful, hilarious, sweet, and sincere. You love God, and you love people. You love Star Wars. How could a guy not want to spend the rest of his life with you? Your wedding day was among my most memorable […]

I Just Want My Dad to Want Me

I walk into work on Tuesday morning and look up at the group assignment board, and my heart drops. For the first time in two months, my name is not listed beneath the addicts’ group. I’ll be returning to the first group of boys I ever worked with here, but now that all these months have gone […]

I Want to be a Drug Addict, Too

I’m with the teen addicts for the third straight week, and they do not frighten me anymore. Their gruff voices and patchy ‘staches no longer leave my masculinity-challenged soul reeling. These 17- and 18-year-old guys aren’t big and scary; they are still kids, small and wounded. Their hearts, gentle and genuine. I am enjoying this group more with every passing day […]

My Brother Said He Loves Me

I’ve returned to the addicts group. It’s the first time in five shifts that I’ve reunited with a group, and it’s already made for a smoother integration. For this familiarity to occur with the oldest, previously most intimidating group full of mustaches and patchy beards is a welcome surprise. I’ve teamed back up with 18-year-old Matt, the “bad twin” who also has […]

I’m a Drug Addict

“Hi, I’m Matt and I’m a drug addict.” “Hi Matt,” the others respond. I sit with them as the 12-step meeting unfolds around a campfire, and I can’t pretend this is just another day with another group of kids in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The air feels prickly, the people and struggles and emotions so very more […]

My Parents Don’t Want Me Anymore

“It’s Jack!” they scream, peering into the pickup. “He came back!” I climb out of the truck. “Actually, my name is Tom. Jack was the other guy.” I reintroduce myself to the seven middle school boys I’d met during my training week with Jack and four fellow trainees. I’ve only just started this job in […]

I’m Fucking Afraid of the Dark

Girls. In all my youth involvement over the years, I’ve never worked with young girls. Not exclusively, at least. Not in the classroom and certainly not in the wild. I’ve grown quite accustomed to boys of all ages. Boys who swear and fight and fart. For the second week of my new wilderness therapy job, however, I was working […]

I’m Worthless. I’m Pointless. I’m Hopeless. I’m Pathetic.

What a strange and comforting thing last week to find myself awakening in the same tufted mountains that changed my life three years ago. The differences between that Christian camp of yesteryear and my current youth wilderness therapy program are many, but the pristine setting was the same. We hiked the second tallest mountain in Georgia one sunrise, and I cried […]

The 10-Year Reunion I Swore I’d Never Attend

Ah, high school. The zippy theme songs, brightly colored walls, and laugh tracks that followed you from classroom to lunchroom to locker room. Wasn’t life grand? Our elderly headmaster often told us high school amassed “the best days of our lives.” But if those days in the early aughts made up the best days of my life, my […]

Georgia’s Underbelly

I have a new job. I start next week, and while anxious about newness in general, I’m psyched and ready for the change of course to come. I could’ve gone back to Charlotte this week. I could have chilled at my parents’ all week. Restless for more, I decided to continue #RunningAway with a solitary tour of Georgia’s underbelly. […]

To Drown Myself and Be Weak

I’m tucked in my sleeping bag amid poison ivy and dirt. I’m sliding down uneven earth, and I readjust my sleeping bag atop my backpack to compensate. It’s pitch black. I have a headlamp, but I’m not allowed to use it. The students won’t have headlamps, so I can’t use mine. I can’t use my hammock either. Not yet. […]

Hopefully a Bear Doesn’t Eat Me This Week

I’ve been #RunningAway for a week now. I needed to escape my jobless lifeless normalcy in Charlotte, and something about South Carolina was beckoning my attention. Columbia and Charleston had been in the news these last few weeks, and both cities moved me all over again. I camped out at Congaree National Park for a night. Did […]

Love Will Find You

I’m sitting at Kudu Coffee in the heart of Charleston. The spacious, grassy Marion Square lies a block to my left. Another block down on Calhoun Street sits Mother Emanuel AME Church. I was here on #RunningTo just six months ago. Here at this coffee shop, there in the square, and even over there walking past […]

This is My Nicotine

The last four months I’ve felt like a fish out of water, breathing strange foreign air I’d not breathed in a long time. It tasted a lot like the air of normalcy I left behind in California, but with a tinge of toxicity that’s grown into a veritable strain. It hurts to breathe this air. There’s something […]

Gay Marriage and Me: The Post I Couldn’t Write

Last Friday. What a day. I got a flat tire that morning. I had an hour-long phone interview. I helped a friend move. I stuffed in some writing. It was hustle and bustle from sunup to sundown, and somewhere midway the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all fifty states. Oh. That was my first reaction. Just “oh.” I mean, gay marriage […]

Jurassic Brothers: A “Jurassic World” Recap that Has Nothing to Do with Dinosaurs

I saw Jurassic World on opening weekend alongside 4.6 billion others. Not quite opening night, because that level of commitment is reserved for more sacred stuff like Star Wars. (175 more days. But who’s counting?) Chris Pratt playing with raptors? Riding alongside them on a motorcycle? Some sort of big bad hybrid dino? Even though the trailers […]

This is why I believe in Jesus.

Forget the Bible. Forget historical records. Forget faith and personal conviction. Forget all those things for this single aching moment. I believe in Jesus because of forgiveness. But not just an afterthought-sort of forgiveness made for misdeeds done decades ago. No. I believe in Jesus because of face-to-face forgiveness for a man who took someone you love less […]

7 Things Christians Should Do About Caitlyn Jenner

I already wrote about Bruce Jenner once, but his recent appearance on Vanity Fair has rocked the world and stirred another post within me. I feel like Christians everywhere are desperately searching for the proper Christian reaction to “Caitlyn Jenner,” or whatever he’s calling himself now. So, I racked my brain and came up with seven definitive actions you […]

The Return of Wandering Wednesday: DuPont Forest

IT’S BACK. After what feels like years away, the tradition of Wandering Wednesday returns. A chance for me to dip back into the blissful well of #RunningTo and, well, go wandering again. In this week’s wandering, I trek to DuPont State Forest in western North Carolina and explore the waterfalls running rampant there. I […]

One Year Later: I’ve Forgotten All About You

One year ago today, I watched the sun rise over the rim of the Grand Canyon. It was the start of a road trip without limits. I had no idea when or even where it would end. One year later, now settled in Charlotte for the last three months, I’m still thinking a lot about that road trip. […]

How to Find Home

I wandered over to Chattanooga for Memorial Day weekend. I filmed some exploits at North Carolina’s DuPont State Forest en route to Tennessee. Be on the lookout for that fun video soon. Hiking the trails at DuPont and camping out that night gave me a real return to #RunningTo. It was a whimsical wandering among waterfalls that left me longing anew for […]

My Soul Song

Sometimes your ink is dry. Sometimes the keystrokes won’t come. Sometimes your soul needs a break. Sometimes a song better translates your heart. Maybe sometimes the Holy Spirit likes to dance on different wavelengths.

I Don’t Want to Be Your Hero

I saw Boyhood while #RunningTo took me to a coffee shop in High Point, North Carolina. I watched all 166 minutes of it on my laptop. I’m sure the baristas were wondering what in the world was with that bearded wanderer who kept erupting into teary hysterics. I could write a dozen blog posts about the film itself — the simplistic plot, the […]

28.2 Road Trip Travel Tips

Over the course of my 282 days on the road, I built a list of 28.2 road trip travel tips. I gathered some of these valuable tips from other wanderers who’d trekked before me; many others, I learned as I went. I wanted to share my list with you for whenever the road beckons your name as it did mine. […]

I Don’t Get Bruce Jenner

I wrote about transgender people a little while back. In recent months I’ve felt God leading me toward greater empathy of transgenders. I still don’t fully understand the transgender experience, but then I’ll never truly grasp the straight experience or blind experience or Braves fan experience either. The more stories I hear, though, the more puzzle pieces slide into place. The more I see […]

5 Reasons You Should Try Couchsurfing

A lot of people reached out to me throughout my 9-month road trip. I heard from college and high school classmates I’d not seen in years. I stayed with readers of my book and this blog. But I also used a website called Couchsurfing to find hosts all over North America. I actually relied on Couchsurfing a lot. I didn’t […]

Racism & Homophobia & the Rise of Angsty Christians, Part 2

Last week, I wrote about racism and homophobia and the rise of angsty Christians. It’s such a heavy triad of topics, I realized I’d need two posts to say everything. And then Freddie Gray happened. And then the Supreme Court’s gay marriage hearings happened. And then more angsty Christians emerged, and I realized there probably aren’t […]

Retreat. Rest. Recuperate. Repeat.

This past weekend, I joined my new church on a retreat to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’d been looking forward to the lodge getaway for a few weeks. A chance to connect with some new people in a more intentional setting. A chance to bask in one of my favorite parts of the […]

My #RunningTo Road Trip Playlist

I spent 282 days on the road in a car without working speakers. Some might have called my predicament tragic. Many folks offered their disbelieving condolences over the course of 26,301 miles. But my speakerlessness had been nothing new. My Mitsy actually hasn’t had operable speakers since 2011. While initially tragic, my car’s thundering silence grew on me. […]

I Wanna Be Nasty Like an Inchworm

It is spring, and Charlotte has grown infested with inchworms. It’s like Georgia with ladybugs, only this is worse. Much, much worse. Oh, what’s that? You think inchworms are so cute? The adorable way they arch-and-stretch, arch-and-stretch, arch-and-stretch? You think inchworms are the BEST little wormies? Even better than Wormies by Jana? Oh no, dear reader; you are wrong. You are so wrong. Inchworms […]

My 11 Most Memorable States & Provinces of #RunningTo

I saw 48 states and 6 Canadian provinces during my 282 days of #RunningTo. I could tell you at least one distinct moment from each state and province visited, though certain ones were more diverse and memorable than others. And so . . . I compiled this controversial list. To be clear, this top-11 list is not my “favorite” […]

WWBGD: What Would Bob Goff Do?

Bob Goff is one of my heroes. I first heard about Bob in a Donald Miller book, and then he wrote a book himself. After reading Love Does, I got the sense that Bob Goff does something epic and whimsical every single day. He rides an Indian elephant to work or makes a balloon elephant for a child […]

My 11 Favorite Instagram Images of #RunningTo

I saw some incredible things for 282 days on the road. Met some even more incredible people. Took countless pictures of all those things and people and priceless experiences. For this week’s #RunningTo memorial, I figured I would TRY compiling my 11 favorite Instagram images from my continental road trip. I literally looked at every single picture and […]

Embracing the New “No Collar” in Me

I’ve always been a huge Survivor fan. Though my fanfare has waned in recent years, the grandfatherly reality show remains compelling to me. This current season has pitted a tribe of “white collar” people against a tribe of “blue collars” against a tribe of so-called “no collars.” We can all envision the suited white collar person indoors and the grimy blue […]

My 11 Favorite Coffee Shops in America

After spending 282 days on the road in 48 states, I encountered dozens of coffee shops. I hit plenty of Paneras and Starbuckses from coast to coast, but I visited many local coffee shops as well. The stereotypical writer in a coffee shop that I am, all this coffee shop hopping was actually one of my favorite facets […]

Nothing Lasts. That’s the Beauty.

Before I embarked on what would ultimately amass a 9-month quest across the continent, I invested in some business cards with a personal quote on the back. Those 22 words soon encompassed something so much more than a mere road trip: I tend to wander. It doesn’t make me lost; it just helps me find things I didn’t know I […]

My “Struggle Central” Audiobook is Now Available!

I wrote a book two years ago. It was my first, and I called it Struggle Central — a quarter-life collection of my messy memoirs. It started as an ebook because I had no idea what I was doing as a self-publisher. I figured I’d take this whole book-building process slow and steady. A few months went by, […]

#RunningTo Stats: By the Numbers

Last week my nine-month road trip finally crossed the finish line in Charlotte. It’s been an interesting week, to say the least — a unique week of an unsettling settling. I’m certain I’ll have more to blog about as this altogether new journey in the Queen City unfolds, but in the meantime I want to […]

Why I Moved to Charlotte and Why I’m Freaking Out

Last weekend, I concluded my nine-month road trip with one final adventure to the Smokies. It was a gorgeous time. It was a torturous time. It was a sleepy solitary much needed recharging time. That cabin in the Smokies was a distraction-free arena to determine my post-journey existence. After nine long months on the road, I’d narrowed down my next chapter to three cities. Three […]

#RunningTo Weeks 39-40 in Review: Watkinsville & Athens, GA

The final two weeks of my road trip took me home to my parents and a smattering of old friends in the Watkinsville/Athens, Georgia area. It was a fitting end for a nine-month journey that took me coast to coast. A chance to recharge and refuel and reunite with some of the dearest people in […]

My Road Trip Finally Ends This Weekend and I’m Terrified

Nine months. Nine months and a week, actually. 40 weeks: that will be the ultimate span of this #RunningTo road trip. Before I left southern California last May, I had no clue how long the road would wind. Your guess would have been as good as mine. Two months? Seven? Seventy times seven? The longer I […]

#RunningTo Week 38 in Review: Signal Mountain, TN & Stone Mountain, GA

It was a tale of two mountains in Week 38 of #RunningTo. First, Signal Mountain in Tennessee; then, Stone Mountain in Georgia. I blogged about the former adventure of a Valentine’s Day hike with my brother. I posted many pictures in that post, including the mile-long romantic/tragic trail of rock-graffiti. All in all a very lovely […]

I Don’t Entirely Know Who I Am Anymore

Last week was a great week. I reunited with my parents, brother, sister, and brother-to-be. Parties and meals and heart-to-heart conversations all affirming how blessed I am. On Valentine’s Day I spontaneously trekked to Signal Mountain in southern Tennessee with my brother and his roommate. The hilarity of three dudes doing dude-things in the mountains on a day devoted to romantic bliss […]

#RunningTo Week 37 in Review: Back to Alabama & Tennessee

I’M BACK. Back for another #RunningTo Week in Review, and back to some familiar paths once wandered. Last week, I conquered my quest for the Lower 48; this week, I decided to retrace some steps taken a few months ago. I surprised my sister at her engagement party in Alabama, and I finished recording my Struggle Central audiobook in […]

The First Time I Leapt for the Unknown

A friend recently told me my life is crazy. You know, this whole “driving around the continent and staying with strangers for nearly a year on end” deal. Ten years ago, he said he wouldn’t have believed I’d ever do something like this. I agreed with him; I wouldn’t have believed me either. I’ve taken a lot of […]

#RunningTo Week 36 in Review: Savannah, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Brewton-Parker College

ONWARD. My road trip may be nearing the end, but I still found some places in the Southeast worth wandering. Week 36 rounded out my quest for the Contiguous 48. First up, Savannah. I can’t believe I’d never explored this city until now. The spooky/ethereal Spanish Moss trees make for some of the sweetest streets and city squares I’ve ever […]

#RunningTo VLOG: Hunting Island Lighthouse

I’M SORRY, GUYS. I haven’t posted nearly as many video blogs as I envisioned doing prior to #RunningTo. Lately I’ve been posting some 10-second video clips on Instagram, but it’s not the same as epic explorations sprinkled with word vomit. I promise this wandering vlog isn’t as gross as I just described it. It comes from DAY 243 […]

#RunningTo Week 35 in Review: Columbia, Charleston, Hunting Island

Hey there, my wanderers! It’s time for another installment of my photographic review from the wandering week that was. My week started in Columbia, by far one of my favorite stops of this whole trip for the people alone. I had a strong connection to this obscure city from a friend in California, and it was awesome to […]

I Don’t Get Transgender People

I struggle with a lot of stuff. You might have heard. Some of my struggles have eased over time, and others remain . . . well, a struggle. I am a critical person. I don’t always show it, but I certainly think and feel it. I’ve been self-critical as long as I can remember. Tom, you’re unattractive and quiet and […]

#RunningTo Week 34 in Review: Charlotte, Greenville, Columbia

Sweet Carolina. From North to South, I can’t escape. And I’m loving it. Week 34 of #RunningTo took me from the Queen City of Charlotte to a couple cities in that other Carolina to the south. Charlotte gave me some great views and, shall we say, eclectic restaurants. Greenville provided quite the artsy park. And then there was Columbia, the […]

North Carolina Never Disappoints

North Carolina has always been good to me. Well, I mean, there was that whole Ridgecrest debacle — but that only lasted a couple weeks. The rest of that 2012 summer quite literally changed the rest of my life. Then there was another North Carolinian summer in 2007 — that time me and my siblings took our first […]

#RunningTo Week 33 in Review: Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Norfolk, North Carolina

Now that the holidays have come and gone, it’s time for me to reassume some familiar routines: namely, recapping the wandering week that was! Here’s what went down this past week — my 33rd on the road. I exchanged my family in eastern Pennsylvania for Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and it was gorgeous. The Chesapeake Bay has a thing […]

Don’t Ever Celebrate New Year’s in New York

I could’ve played it safe. Playing it safe is comfortable and easy and it’s what everyone else expects of you. Instead, I rang in the new year at Times Square. You might’ve heard. It was a semi-impromptu decision between me and a good friend. I’m glad I did it — glad we did it. I […]

#RunningTo Weeks 30-32 in Review: New York City & Langhorne, PA

Hello, my wanderers! And a very happy new year to you all. Wow, 2015. Can you believe it? The long foreseen year of perpetual hoverboard references is finally upon us. One of my friends said she loves odd-numbered years, and while I found her comment odd, I do think it’s gonna be an awesome year ahead. I […]

The Best of 2014: My #1 Blog Post of the Year

It’s been fun counting down my top blog posts of the year as the sun sets on 2014. It was a unique year of blogging between a stable life in California and an anything-but-stable life on the road. Interestingly enough, all five of my most read posts of the year came from that former time of […]

The Best of 2014: My #2 Blog Post of the Year

To celebrate the close of 2014, I’ve been counting down my top-5 blog posts of the year. It all started with some Donald Miller empathy at #5. Then some #RunningTo foreshadowing at #4. Then some Enneagram goodness at #3. Today, I reach the #2 post on this countdown: a post from February 14 called “The Real […]

The Best of 2014: My #3 Blog Post of the Year

I’m in the midst of an end-of-year countdown featuring my top-5 blog posts of the year! If you missed #5, click over here. If you missed #4, click over there. And if you missed #3 . . . PSYCHE, you didn’t miss it. Because here it is! It’s from April 15, and it’s called “I’m […]

The Best of 2014: My #4 Blog Post of the Year

I’m currently counting down my top blog posts of the year. Yesterday, I revealed #5 on the elite list. Today, I climb the ladder to #4; after nearly seven months of this nomadic life on the road, this particular post hits me hard. It’s a post from January 29, and it’s called “Why I’m Sad and Why I Might Run Away.” […]

The Best of 2014: My #5 Blog Post of the Year

As 2014 winds down, I thought it’d be fun to look back on the wandering year that was and countdown my top blog posts of the year. And what a unique year of blogging it was, split between 5 months in California and 7 on the road. Interestingly enough, all five of my most viewed posts occurred prior […]

And This Christmas Tolls With Treacherous Hope

It hurts to hope. I suppose I have always known this, but it is a lesson more thoroughly learned after six long months on the road. A hardened realization that has hit me with the thrust of a 75 mile-per-hour collision. It hurts to hope for work in wintry seasons of joblessness. Hurts to hope in plates and people spread round an otherwise […]

#RunningTo Week 29 in Review: Cleveland & All Over Pennsylvania

It’s time for my last #RunningTo Week in Review of 2014! I’ll be settling into eastern Pennsylvania for a two-week holiday hiatus. Knowing my family, I’m sure there will be a motley of photographic moments to post in the new year to come. IN ANY CASE, this past week of #RunningTo took me from Cleveland to all over Pennsylvania. […]

#RunningTo Week 28 in Review: Pittsburgh, Berne, Detroit

Hello my wanderers! The journey continues . . . westward? I’m taking these couple weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to work my way westward — though not that far west before returning east for Christmas. From Pittsburgh to Berne (Indiana, not Switzerland) to Detroit, it’s been a fun little loop seeing new cities and, more gratefully, meeting genuine people. Check out these […]

I’m Afraid to Stop Running

I recently launched my first Kickstarter. It’s geared toward funding the completion of my #RunningTo road trip and the book that will follow. I’m currently 44% funded, and I’m so grateful. We’ve come a long way, but there’s still 56% more to go in just 16 days. Everyone who gives (and already has given) will get something […]

#RunningTo Week 27 in Review: Baltimore & Washington DC

On the heels of Thanksgiving with my family in eastern Pennsylvania, I hit the road once more. I ventured southward into Maryland and the District of Columbia, and it was a nice dose of the charming and historical. Check out some of my favorite moments from the wandering week that was! I’m currently in the […]

#RunningTo Weeks 25 & 26 in Review: Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Acadia National Park, Boston

So. I apologize. In racing across eastern Canada and New England to make it back to Eden in time for Thanksgiving, I missed blogging last week. THERE WAS NO TIME. To rectify the situation, I’ve combined this week’s usual “week in review” into a double-dose of weekly review goodness. It all started with my first […]

#RunningTo FAQ: Part 2

Five long months ago, I posted one of my favorite #RunningTo posts. It was a collection of frequently asked questions, and even though I thoroughly answered the seven most frequently asked of them all, everyone still asked them again anyway. WHATEVER. I don’t mind repeating myself. But after all these months and thousands of accumulated miles, some more […]

#RunningTo Week 24 in Review: Langhorne, PA (EDEN) & Rochester, NY

I’m currently in Canada where it’s cold and snowy and I have to catch up on a million things, including this photographic recap of the past week. Let’s get it going! I returned to Langhorne, Pennsylvania — Eden, as I like to call it. My cousin got married, and much fun and photographic opportunities were had by all. […]

Tipping Point

It’s November. My notoriously worst month. But I’ve already blogged enough about that. Once again, November presents another tipping point for my life. Not a “bad” one, not a “good” one, just a … a regular old tipping point. From January 1 to May 31, I was a resident of the state of California. I paid rent […]

#RunningTo Week 23 in Review: Kentucky, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Gettysburg, Amish Country

Week 23 of #RunningTo took me through some gorgeous country just west of the Appalachians. I reunited with a long lost friend in Kentucky, and I also got to meet a fellow blogger and friend for the very first time! From the Bluegrass State I ventured north and east to West Virginia’s capital city — the […]

Road to Ridgecrest

Before hitting the road, I knew I’d be adding some vibrant new colors to my traveling palette. The Grand Canyon. Mount Rushmore. Vancouver. Before hitting the road, I knew I’d also be reuniting with some old familiar colors. Sweet Seattle. Old Milwaukee. A Pennsylvanian Eden. Among all the colorful locales on my #RunningTo itinerary, however, there probably wasn’t one as […]

#RunningTo Week 22 in Review: Chattanooga & Camp Ridgecrest

Week 22 will forever stand as one of my trip’s more special weeks. I mean, each week of #RunningTo has been special in its own right. But when you combine reunions with siblings and a camp that changed your life, it’s hard to lump such a week with all the others. First, Chattanooga. I got to stay with my awesome brother, […]

#RunningTo Week 21 in Review: Birmingham, Huntsville, Franklin, Nashville

Hello friends! This week’s pictures are coming a little later than usual, but that’s only because I’ve been too busy seeing all kinds of awesome stuff on the road. And meeting awesome people, too. Some “normal” people…and some semi-famous folk, too. From the Alabaman cities of Birmingham and Huntsville to the Tennessean towns of Franklin and […]

Just Keep Walking Inland

I was never a big Jars of Clay fan; I’m a horrible Christian kid of the 90’s, I know. Give me Steven Curtis Chapman or give me death. Lately, though, Jars of Clay’s stuff has resonated. Especially their more recent creations meshed with my current season of life. Enter my latest struggles. Enter five months of this #RunningTo life on the […]

#RunningTo Week 20 in Review: Houston, New Orleans, Jackson

It’s hard to believe this edition of my #RunningTo Week in Review marks my 20th. Twenty weeks on the road, stretching from the Southwest to the Southeast. What a wild, crazy, long trip it’s been, and continues to be. This week featured a definitive shift from Midwest to South. I started in Houston and meandered eastward to New […]

#RunningTo VLOG: Chasing Trains in Texas

Hello my wanderers! It’s been a while since I last posted a nifty video blog. Perhaps I subconsciously declared it impossible to top my prairie dog-feeding escapades of South Dakota. But really. How do you top that? Nearly 50 days removed from my last vlog, I figured I’d do something a little different this time. It’s some sweet […]

#RunningTo Week 19 in Review: All Over Texas

Hello friends! This week of #RunningTo has been a distinct one, indeed. Lots of cowboy hats and flannel shirts and snakeskin boots. I’m in New York, naturally. JUST KIDDING. I’m in Texas. From Fort Worth to Waco to Houston, it’s been a YEEHAW time filled with longhorns, giant rocking chairs, and some pretty sweet reunions, too. Check out […]

When We Go to Uruguay

DAY 122: Couchsurfing is a beautiful thing. I’ve relied on the website for about a quarter of my #RunningTo stops across North America, and I’ve yet to have a negative or even remotely unpleasant experience. Most of my surfing stops have featured myself with a single host or married hosts or hosting roommates, but sometimes I’m not the […]

#RunningTo Week 18 in Review: St. Louis, Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City

What a week! I’ve recently been zig-zagging down (and left and right) through the Midwest, and there’s been something exciting and picturesque at every turn. Last week’s photographic recap ended with St. Louis, and this week’s recap starts with my final days there. St. Louis is such a stellar city, and I’m glad a last-minute detour took […]

I Visited Westboro Baptist Church

DAY 114: For years they have intrigued me. I’ve watched their interviews and demonstrations on TV and YouTube. They travel the world, hailing from the innocuous center of Kansas and America. They call themselves Baptists — supposed believers of the same Jesus I follow. As I park my car in a Topekan residential area, I approach 12th Street with a distinct shudder. NO […]

#RunningTo Week 17 in Review: Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis

Hello friends! I’ve been wandering around the Midwest the last couple weeks, and somehow I’ve escaped the endless corn fields and found a place with WiFi. Phew. While it can take a little longer to appreciate the beauty of Iowa’s open road compared to, say, rugged Utah’s, it’s all part of the lovely process. I’m still enjoying my […]

WHEATON

DAY 110: It was just another day. I woke up in Chicago and figured I’d take a slight detour en route to Iowa. It’s something I told myself I’d do before #RunningTo started: take the detours. Wander the winding ways around Points A to B. Don’t rush. Explore. And so I drove an hour west to Wheaton, […]

#RunningTo Week 16 in Review: Milwaukee, Chicago, Davenport

Oh man. The good times just keep rolling. From Minneapolis to Milwaukee to Chicago, I’m pretty sure it was the most epic 1-2-3 punch of this #RunningTo road trip. Three absolutely gorgeous Midwest cities in a row. I’m not sure what those cities are like during wintertime, but gosh this late summer looksie was phenomenal. […]

Why Am I Still Wandering?

When you wander the continent for three months, you start to wonder some things. Why is the sky blue? Why do we insist on block intersections when roundabouts are so much cooler and more efficient? What’s the deal with Scotland? Aren’t they already a country? Among myriad other questions, I’m pondering one in particular after […]

#RunningTo Week 15 in Review: Minneapolis, MN & Milwaukee, WI

HEY Y’ALL. I’m really excited, in case the CAPS startled you. Week 15 of my cross-continent road trip has been such a memorable one. I mean, all of them are quite memorable. But this one in particular stands out among the rest. Great cities, amazing people, and some spectacular photos. I can’t wait to share some of […]

MILWAUKEE, Take 3

Three years ago, I first ventured to this Midwestern city. Called it home for an entire summer as I learned what it meant to receive love in community while simultaneously ministering to one. Two years ago, I returned to this city with a gut lined with lonely dread only to rediscover the Paradise it once was. On […]

#RunningTo Week 14 in Review: Watertown, South Dakota

Sometimes I visit five or six cities in a single week. My eager, restless heart likes to keep moving and exploring on this trip. But other times, other weeks, I like to stay still. Week 14 of #RunningTo was one of those stationary weeks. I still had a blast. This week I trekked to the […]

I Might Have Joined a Cult for 24 Hours

[A]s we pushed off the dock and the other guys got into their boats and pressed off, we back-paddled into the dark of the inlet, waving at the Goffs as they waved back at us. And then to our amazement, we saw all of them, fully dressed with shoes and jackets, take three steps together […]

#RunningTo VLOG: Feeding Prairie Dogs in South Dakota

There are some moments that transcend all others in human history. Christ’s birth. The invention of the printing press. The American Revolution and the revelation that Hello Kitty isn’t a kitty. Or take this road trip, for instance. There was that initiating campout at the Grand Canyon. Waking up to a glowing Mount Rainier. And let us never […]

#RunningTo Week 13 in Review: Brandon & Winnipeg, Manitoba

Hello my wanderers! This past week was Lucky 13 as I returned to the Frozen Tundra, the Great White North. My first trek through Canada was nothing short of amazing, and the second was just as memorable. Check out my favorite moments from the wandering week that was, including stops in Brandon and Winnipeg. As you’ll […]

Basking in the Badlands for Billions of Years

The Lakota Indians called it mako sica. French trappers labeled the landscape les mauvaises terres à traverse. Deemed and doomed a literal “bad land,” this devastating terrain made farming and traversing — even existing — a difficult if not impossible feat. And so the Badlands were born; millenia later, the Badlands remain. Driving through the endless prairies of southwestern South Dakota, you wouldn’t see […]

10,000 Miles of #RunningTo

When I first set out across North America in June, I envisioned an ultimate journey of maybe 10,000 miles. A nice round number. And nice big number. I had no idea I’d be hitting that nice big number just north of North Dakota with an entire eastern seaboard still awaiting my arrival. Spectacular. Check out my grand […]

#RunningTo: Week 12 in Review: West Palm Beach, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, The Badlands

So, this last week of wandering was one of the most random and diverse yet. I flew to south Florida for my uncle’s wedding, then returned to my poor lonely car in Denver and resumed my road trip eastward. I saw Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, the astounding Native American rock sculpture that’s been in progress since 1948 (and […]

On Weddings and Wanderings for 80 Days

I just returned from a week-long trek to south Florida. No, I didn’t drive there from Denver; I flew. Last week, #RunningTo morphed into #FlyingTo as I reunited with family for a wedding. This on the heels of my friend’s Denver wedding the weekend before. Two weddings in a seven-day stretch: one in the shadow of the […]

#RunningTo Week 11 in Review: Colorado Springs & Denver

Hello my wanderers! I’ve lost track of which time zone I’m in with all my gallivanting of late, but I’ll get to that in a moment. First, it’s time to recap the wandering week that was — Week 11 of #RunningTo, featuring stops in Colorado Springs and Denver. Colorado is such a gorgeous state. I mean, […]

#RunningTo VLOG: Crater Lake National Park

Hello my wanderers! It’s time for another video-blog — or “vlog,” as the hippity hoppity youth they call it. This one’s a quickie but (in my opinion) a goodie. It comes from my DAY 55 trek to Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. I’m sure I must have “heard of” Crater Lake prior to this […]

My 5 Favorite Podcasts While #RunningTo

When you embark on a massive road trip like #RunningTo, you need a solid arsenal of listening material. Music can only take you so far. Sorry, One Direction; even you can only go so far. I’ve been devouring lots of podcasts on my long journey, both silly and serious ones alike. If you’re curious what I’m […]