Confessions of a Tumblranger : Blogging Across America

He sat at the sturdy hardwood picnic table with a map of the United States spread out before him, half a dozen magic markers in assorted colors at his side. If you were close enough, reading over his shoulders, you could clearly see a long, shallow, inverted arc in red stretching from Maine to Washington State closely following the Historic National Trail.

Just over 3,200 miles, and divided into roughly twenty-two 150 mile segments. He was looking particularly at the National Campgrounds, with an eye toward tent camping every three days of travel.

" Twenty-One Miles per gallon, " He muttered to himself," At forty-five miles per hour, average elapsed time." Under optimum conditions one could live out there for- He quickly double-checked his figures. The historic figure was seventeen dollars a day, but it had been years, possibly decades, since anyone ever planned a trip like this one. He chuckled.

" And what about the internet connections," He mumbled. The primary purpose of the trek was to take the pulse of the nation during what some were already calling it, 'An Economic Downturn' or 'Recession'. What he was think was that this era would eventually go down in history as a depression, If only to be romanticized like the last one in years to come.

But he, on the other-hand realized that 'they' did not have the tools of the internet with which to work. Digital cameras, good ones, laptops, high-speed intenet connections, and the most powerful suite of tools ever designed. Creativity in-general had never been as readily accessible, and no one, not yet anyway, had though of putting all this to use.

" Six people," He whispered, "That's what we need. Sharing the trip, the workload- An Adventure, and the expenses. Blogging their way across the nation."