College was good to me. My parents were even better with how supportive they were of me. College is interesting. At the beginning everyone tells you it’s going to be the experience of your life. You just nod and agree with them. It’s all very true, but you don’t know what that experience is going to be. I could have never imagined all the things I’ve done five years ago when I was a freshman. …

A common question I’m asked is, “What states have you already been to?” I went on several family trips. We never flew, it was always camping for a few days and hit the road again. That’s the better way to go. So let’s see… 1988 – Our family drove to Washington D.C. where we stayed with my Great Aunt Marion. I don’t have many memories. We saw all the D.C. monuments and my brother and I especially loved the Washington Monument. …

…at least for now. I’m leaving at the worst possible time. As everyone else is coming back to MSU, I’m leaving. It’s been eight full months since I’ve even been home. With all the freshman coming back to State some of them will be homesick after only eight days. It’s been five full school years at MSU. The first summer was the only summer I spent at home. MSU has unequivocally become another home. …

I’ve put together a collection of good travel quotes to keep me inspired along the trip. So these are in addition to several quotes people have been sending me, so maybe I can stay ahead of the game. I’ll start with one of my favorites. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson …

Coffee shops are the best atmosphere for writing. You can eavesdrop on conversations, enjoy a tasty overly priced beverage, listen to some good music, and enjoy conversations of your own. So here I am, at Espresso Royale here on Grand River. It’ll be just one of many coffee shops I visit in the next year as I document my adventure. Today’s topic… grandpa. One day I’ll be seventy or eighty years old with bleach white hair (if i have any hair at all) and walking with a cane. …

The camera has been preserving moments of time for nearly 200 years. Millions of photos are being taken daily with digital cameras. I can grab my camera and in seconds display a photo on the World Wide Web for anybody to access. I can capture 1/8,000 of a second of time. Just a fraction of the day, a very tiny fraction, in one small part of the world. As I spend a year photographing from state to state I need to appreciate those moments, appreciate the photograph. …

It’s been an exciting week! Things are coming together. I had a great weekend with my college buddies watching our good friend Chris get married. I roomed with him for three years. As the first friend of mine to get married, and a very dear friend at that, it’s given me a fresh perspective of marriage. It was something special. And yesterday was great! The Detroit Free Press ran a great feature article, “Five Things: About an Eager Traveler. …

This is quite the adventure that’s going to be starting soon. I figure I need to make myself a to do list that I can keep updating throughout the trip. There are lots of things I want to do, from meeting different people to jumping out of planes. So… if you know someone that could hook me up with any of the following, please help me out and put us in touch or nominate them. …

After a few weeks of debating how to design them and what not, these business-sized cards have arrived. If you want a bunch to pass out to people just send a self-addressed envelope to: The Hometown Invasion Tour 105 Wadaga Rd. Baraga, MI 49908 …and in no time you’ll have a small stack of them to pass out at the office, school, etc. There are plenty to go around! -xo …

Houseguest! That’s me, just like Dupree. Sort of. I’m a big Owen Wilson fan, the man is funny, his movies are funny. Tonight is the release of “You, Me, and Dupree.” I was watching a segment from CBS featuring Owen Wilson and essentially his character, Dupree, is a houseguest. Well… that’s going to be me for the next year! But don’t worry America! I haven’t seen the movie yet, just the previews. …