The Midwest Confirmed
The last leg of my journey when I found my house in Rogersville.
It was heartwarming to read about so many thousands of people coming to the US for the World Cup and becoming enchanted with the Midwest. On X there were thousands of posts from people discovering just how wonderful the people are here in this part of the country. I felt vindicated.
When I moved out of Seattle in August 2021 and discovered the wonderfulness of the Midwest all over again, they thought I was delusional, as if I was experiencing some psychological projection about what I wanted to believe rather than what was. No, it was all real. It just took strangers from all over the world arriving at once for everyone else to finally see it.
I didn't just leave Seattle. It began almost two months earlier, when I loaded up my dog in my Alfa along with my sister, who helped me pack up my house, and off we went from Seattle to Milwaukee by way of Wichita, Kansas. It was once we were on the road that little by little the culture shifted and people became more friendly as we drove east.
I miss this car!
It was an odd time because my house was up for sale and staged accordingly, so I didn't feel comfortable in my own home. I was feeling homeless and didn't want to return until the house was sold if possible. They were going to hold a broker's open the day after I left town.
I was feeling a bit insecure about where I was in life. COVID was badly harming my work, and it seemed like Seattle was turning very dark with its militant approach to COVID, which ultimately didn't do a damn thing by the way. Everyone conveniently forgets that part of history. The rage was pointless and the state stats prove it.
It was on that trip to Wisconsin and back over those two weeks that I decided to buy the Sprinter van and really give touring the US a go. When I was heading back to Seattle and a kid in a beat up pickup blocked me in so he could talk to me about the Alfa, I knew I was home. He was so excited to see it, a car that was common in Seattle and yet this was his first time ever seeing one, and I enjoyed the conversation. That incident meant a lot to me. It took the stress away and confirmed that I didn't belong in Seattle.
The drive back to Seattle in the Alfa was a little depressing because I didn't want to go back. I mostly stayed in hotels to keep from disturbing the staging in the house and only returned to do laundry and grab other clothes. It was a creepy feeling, like I didn't belong. I even slept in my Jeep in a park because of some late showings.
It took about six weeks to get the house sold and closed and everything moved. I got rid of the Alfa in those six weeks, something I kind of regret, and headed out with the Jeep the day the deal closed on the house. I drove the Jeep across the US in another wonderful drive to storage in Milwaukee, then rented a car to go pick up the Sprinter, in Knoxville, TN, and the stories continued for my four months in the van.
I remember one hotel stop in South Dakota where I went down to breakfast and everyone was chatting. It's been five years and I still remember the faces. It was a particularly nice hotel and I wanted to just stay. They had a massive lawn, giving Tide some running time and the spot just felt perfect.
Once I was in the Sprinter, it took me a while to calm down and realize that I didn't have to be anywhere. It had its complications, such as mail, meds, and general support, but it sure was fun to just pick a direction and drive. As time passed, I felt less alone because of all the kindness extended to me. Strangers who had no reason to be good to me were, over and over, and it added up. The adventures I'm reading about now, the hospitality and the genuine thrill people are having, mirror my experience. In fact, it makes me want to do it again someday. It makes me smile every time I read a post about the wonderful Midwest, and my hope is that readers someday experience the same thing. I drove 13,000 miles around the Midwest and loved every mile.
Don't believe the media who want you to believe this is a terrible place. It's not. There are far more genuinely good people out there than bad, and it's a shame it isn't celebrated more. Please, go see for yourself and have fun!