...Over my nearly 46 years, I had amassed some 45,000 miles of roadtrips, only three of which were solo, amounting to 11,000 miles alone. But they added up, opened me up, and prepared me. As much as they could. It was all a logical progression of an arguably illogical endeavor: quit your job, sell your shit, buy a van, and drive, far, far away.

I did that.

On December 15, 2016, I headed out of Billings, Montana, on the road that was just then being sprinkled with light snow, as the first storm of winter blew in from the west.