For the past few months I’ve been obsessed with Craig Mod and the way he shares his great walks around Japan with his readers. This sparked inside of me the desire to look at how I share my road trips with everyone on my weekly newsletter and those who read The Travel Journal religiously. Enough fanboying over Craig and his amazing work (BTW he just released a new book), here is what that really means for the upcoming road trip around a relatively overlooked part of the Western United States.

The Goal:

Write a daily recap “journal entry” with a handful of photographs from the day’s travel
Each journal entry should be story driven, focused on the journey
If I don’t have internet, that is okay, just share it the next day when I get service
Share the highs and the lows as well as the strange wandering path that is life

For the most part, my process for writing and sharing has been all over the map. This blog, newsletter, publication, whatever you want to call it has been a winding and unknown journey in it’s own right for so many random reasons. The main one being me. However, I have shown up here time and time again for years. Sometimes because I felt I had to for SEO reasons. Other times because I wanted to share what I had learned.

There is a feeling inside of me that I want to pen as “strange” around the idea of doing something I love for the sake of the art form instead of doing it for money, status, or really any reason outside of myself and the love for the craft. Eight years ago, that is all I did. But, there came a time when I needed to make some money and all I knew how to do was sell the craft I had developed over the years. The cool part, it’s worked. Photography, writing, and filmmaking have made me a solid living. However, the time has come for me to start taking back the craft for myself and I believe returning to the formats that got me started is the best way to do this.

So, photography and writing during a two week road trip is really the goal. Craft stories daily while sitting in the front seat of the van as the stars move overhead while Kristin, my girlfriend, and Chestnut, my adventure pup, sleep in the back. I can visualize this and it feels right to me.

Me taking in the sunset at Lake Mead on one of my road trips in 2022.

If you are interested in learning more about the road trip here is a pitch deck I have been sending to companies to fund the project:
https://dalton-johnson.com/summer-road-trip

Feel free to roast me in the comments or emails as you read this note on making money from this road trip after saying I feel like I’ve tainted a lot of my life by taking on too much work for capital gains. Ironic, I get it. My gut tells me to defend myself against the haters, however, I’ll just accept it digital scoffs because I am not made of money and getting 12 miles to gallon in the van adds up quickly when filling the tank.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you are interested in following the project, tune in starting June 11th.