Reconnecting with America is more than the story of an 8,000 mile motorcycle journey. It illustrates the toxic influence of fear and insecurity in American life.
The author rode across America in the summer of 2019. He spoke with a cross section of Americans; a homeless wanderer who collected animal skulls in the desert, a recovering drug addict planning to open a head shop. An insurance executive who lived behind a wall in St. Louis to keep out the riff raff and a retiree who was traveling across the country to map his family genealogy. He spoke with students, immigrants and union workers. Each shared a story.
Social change is glacial; like the process of carving a cave, it takes centuries.
"America is a bucket of crabs."
"My feelings are just as valid as your facts."
"As long as I have my TV and beer at the end of the day, I don't care what the politicians do."
The author worked for six months at Ground Zero in New York City and soon after relocated to The Netherlands. He spent his first few years in Europe becoming acclimated to an alien culture where doorknobs don't turn, there are twenty-seven political parties, customer service is a toll call and New Year's Eve is a national fireworks orgy. Sometimes he felt as out of place as a fish on a bicycle.
He found himself in the position of an unofficial cultural ambassador.
People questioned American life and culture.
America has two political parties, but what if you don't like either candidate?
Why is there no national healthcare system in America?
Is everybody in America a Christian?
Do you have to tip in a restaurant?
Why do Americans call it a bathroom?
Does everyone own a gun?
Why do Americans sue each other all the time?
Why did they elect Trump?
The feeling of alienation from his country began to grow the longer he lived in Europe.
In 2018 he retired.
He planned a 2019 June and July cross-country trip to relearn what it means to be an American. A ride from Boston to California - from son to son.
The author experienced America as a citizen and as a visitor from another land. This is the story of a ride through the forests of New England, the farmland of middle America, over the Rocky Mountains and across the western deserts. The author describes the texture of the land; the bumps and cracks and cruising thrills. He sweated in the heat, shivered in the cold and soaked in the rain surrounded by the fragrance of rich, wet earth, desert sage and Ponderosa pine.
Along the way he listened to the stories, hopes and fears of the Americans he met. He gained a new perspective on his country and its people. Almost everyone he spoke with expressed fear in one way or another. He discovered that America is a place where people live in a continued state of insecurity. Even product price tags and restaurant menus can't be trusted.
Republicans expressed fear of losing what they had and being prevented from getting what they want. Democrats feared America was losing its soul to greed and selfishness.
The author's message is just as relevant today as it was when the journey started.
