Small living is a big movement.

In a little more than two years I left a job of 30 years and my parents passed away. Life moved real fast.

While unpacking daunting spiritual memories and the physical presence of my parent’s home, I reflected on what place has meant to me, this time not in terms of the waters I love to navigate, but the anchor from which I come.

I recalled that French psychoanalyst Oliver Marc spoke on how early man took possession of space as a mirror of the creation of the universe: “It is through self-expression that man sets out to the road back to unity..”(From “House as a Mirror to Self,” 1995.)
But then, “You can’t take sex, booze or weekends away from the American people!”

That’s from the late, quirky John K. Hanson, founder of the Winnebago recreational vehicle. Those words have greeted visitors at the Recreational Vehicle/Motor Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind.–where my camper was designed. Travel is about getting out of your comfort zone and there may be no better way to do that than through camping.

My other books on supper clubs and soul food/civil rights restaurants for Chicago Review Press have explored sense of place.

But at this point in my life I wondered what happens when you take sense of place on the road—a place where place is always moving. How many campgrounds stars spell happiness?

In “The Camper Van” book we will harvest expressive camper voices at every stop:
“How did I get here?”
“What am I doing here?”

“Can I borrow your bug spray?”

And, “Where are we going?”

Please join us.