Traveling through The South without a car

contradictions, country music, clichés, Cracker Barrels and big ol’ barreling trucks flying down them wide open Interstates

This July I’m taking buses through the American South, an area of the US that’s not exactly known for its superb public transportation. It’s actually renowned for being slow moving and backwards. Thank you to my mate Aaron Darc in the video below for his tongue in cheek summary of a very common perception of my homeland.

I’m looking for people to interview (and maybe even stay with!) I’ll be creating content about southern life and culture while weaving in themes of transportation. I want to talk to people from every background under the hot southern sun. Shout out to Megabus who graciously gave me a voucher for some of my journey, and shout out to YOU if you’re reading this and want to be involved. (Skip to the end for a list of questions I plan to ask.)

These are my tentative plans although still confirming details.

A few people have expressed worries about what might happen to me on this trip. I told some girlfriends my plans at dinner the other night, and one of them pulled up the most disturbing Wikipedia page I’ve ever read, all about a famously horrific Canadian bus murder. I was reminded that crime and horror are everywhere, and not everybody thinks traveling with the public is fun. It can seem scary to ride with no barriers between the rich and the poor, the healthy and the harmful. In terms of travel stories, one bad apple spoils the wanderlust. Statistically speaking, you’re more likely to die in a car accident than on a bus or train, but humans are far more scared of shady unsavory lurkers than screeching tires, smashing metal, shattering glass, etc. I get why one fear is more powerful, it comes with evil intentions while the other is an unfortunate accident. Regardless, we often incorrectly believe one situation is easier to control than the other.

This trip is an idea I dreamed up pre-pandemic, knowing some people would think I was bananas. Despite the scary public transit stories we sometimes hear, every day people in many parts of the world travel unscathed on buses and trains. As I mention in the video above, getting around Australia without a car is so easy compared to where I grew up in South Carolina, but maybe things are slowly changing?
Better public transportation is the way of the future, and the South is a fascinating place full of contradictions, country music, clichés, Cracker Barrels and big ol’ barreling trucks flying down them wide open interstates, thank you Mr. Dwight Eisenhower.

The War On Cars

The War On Cars on Instagram: “Cars Ruin Cities. #stickers #sticker #carsruincities #thewaroncars #podcast #linkinbio”

March 15, 2023

There’s a great podcast called The War On Cars about “two-ton behemoths that are killing and maiming so many of our fellow human beings.” I’m also in a hilarious Facebook group called New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens. Both this group and the podcast hosts are probably more radical than me, but I like that they exist. They Facebook group recently posted this silly meme.

And then the comments reminded me how, sadly, the concept of public transportation can be unintentionally elitist. Folks in Indiana and Kentucky are just as worthy of reliable public transportation as folks everywhere else.

Snarky comments aside, I love that there is content and commentary out there imagining a brave new world with fewer two-ton-behemoths. Yet, I gotta admit, some of my greatest moments in life involved riding in cars. I find myself weirdly defending the rural American tendency to ride free in dirty truck beds, wind in your hair, music blaring. I like that people have tailgate parties; I romanticize the great American road trip. But then I also see so many landscapes full of massive hideous parking lots and die a little inside.
The South is like my little brother, I can talk shit about him until the cows come home, but no one else has permission to do the same, at least not around me.

In early 2022, Z and I took a road trip from Kentucky to Texas.

Anyway, I digress.
If you know any people or have any ideas for my still evolving route, please sing out: Austin (Texas) > Dallas (Texas) > Little Rock (Arkansas) > Memphis (Tennessee) > Bowling Green (Kentucky) >Somerset (Kentucky) > Asheville (North Carolina) > Raleigh (North Carolina) > Columbia (South Carolina) > Montgomery (Alabama) > New Orleans (Louisiana) and Atlanta (Georgia).
Here’s a list of generic vox pop questions I’ll ask people once my journey starts. I aim to get a quick general feel without annoying anyone or getting overly personal.
1. Where’s home for you?
2. Describe yourself in a few words.
3. What’s the best thing about living here?
4. What’s the worst thing about living here?
5. Where do you go to get the news?
6. Tell me about a local controversy.
7. Best place to eat around these parts?
8. Tell me about a nice sunset you’ve seen lately.
9. What do you wish the rest of the world knew about where you live?