A record 45 million Americans were expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend, long considered the unofficial kickoff to summer. And most of them were hitting the road. Sarah Kendzior is no stranger to family road trips.
Editor: Let me know in the comments—did anyone else think this podcast was going to be about road rage?
Her family, in fact, has visited 38 states—and counting. These road trips were born out of a love and curiosity for America and a desire to explore small towns, vast national parks, and the unexpected oddities along the way. And when money was tight, the best way for her family to see the country was simply to jump in the car and go.
In her new book, The Last American Road Trip: A Memoir, Kendzior chronicles those family road trips while grappling with a country she believes is failing to uphold its own ideals. She says she feels an urgency to share the country she loves with her children but often wonders whether these travels—and the version of America she knows—might be coming to an end.
“Every trip I describe in that book,” Kendzior says, “I set off wondering: Is this the last time the four of us will get to be together exploring America with the freedom that we have now?”
On this week’s More To The Story, Kendzior chats with host Al Letson about trying to show her children the America she adores while holding a light to its flaws, her concerns for the nation’s future, and why road trips are often the best way to understand yourself—and your country.
