Road Journals

Na Jong-seong describes the simple meals, shared portions and grocery stops that kept food costs manageable on the road—and the bulk-ground coffee that lost its flavor.

An anxious search for fuel and a missed campground turn Na Jong-seong’s Texas detour into the most stressful day of his journey so far, ending at an inn near Texarkana.

Na Jong-seong stops in Dallas for Korean groceries, then leaves the freeway in search of the rural heartland and quickly begins to question the detour.

A few days with family give Na Jong-seong a chance to rest and see a different side of Waco, from Baylor University to Magnolia Market, before driving on to Dallas.

After a look around Austin, I follow Interstate 35 toward Waco. The clean, pleasant cityscape makes me reflect on the preconceptions shaped by its troubled place in the news.

In San Antonio, our two couples share a farewell hamburger before taking different routes east. With the city’s hotel prices high, my wife and I find ourselves drawn back to a campground.

Summer heat at Big Bend is followed by a campsite that must be booked online where I cannot get a signal. A wrong turn and an unsuitable RV park end with a downpour and a motel.

At Guadalupe Mountains, painted lines on asphalt mark our campsite beneath Texas’s highest peak. What the campground lacks in shade, it makes up for in its mountainside view.