That’s the stuff that makes travel memorable: the idiosyncracies, whether they’re positive or negative.

Taking a moment to be publicly proud of myself for getting out of my anxiety spiral about unknown plans. Listening to my physical needs (last night, that was sleep; today, that was leisurely soaking in hot tubs) was indeed what I needed. I’m glad to have come to a place in my life where I can get out of my head and not let that anxiety spiraling completely dominate my choices.

For as wonderful and beautiful as today was, I’m ending it feeling overwhelmed by choice about where to go and how to approach this entirely unstructured time. Before this trip, I plotted out my general route, and stuck to it more or less throughout, but now I’m faced with my first truly unplanned moves.

There are things that are convenient about remote set-ups, but maybe convenience isn’t the thing we should be reaching for when we want to break out of the isolating, distancing patterns we’ve all had to use to cope with the last couple of years.

Also, there’s a lot of love for how many of my museum world buddies this trip is re-connecting me with.

I spent 8 hours driving on the interstate. Which is all well and good, and it was neat to see all the wind farms and the change from plains to shrubs to mesas to mountains. But it also means my brain is mush, so here is a bit of a photo and video diary of the day instead of words.

The kids are all right. And I’m hopeful that museums—the ones that are Doing The Work of acknowledging the good, the bad, and the responsibility of their role in society—may be all right too.

When I let my spontaneity urge take control, it’s much easier for me to see something as seemingly minor as a parade of ducks in a hotel lobby or a random local coffee shop as a highlight of my travels. I take more visceral pleasure in the little aspects of my travels when I don’t have as demanding an itinerary. I’m more in the moment, and I’m more attentive, and I’m more apt to look up and notice things.

I really do love perusing and finding funky, offbeat temporary homes to be in for these few hours. It’s something I can give myself along the way… paying attention to my emotional state and knowing that it’s OK to do something that may feel decadent if it’s also going to make me feel comforted.

If museums like this can be out there doing the good work and the next generation of professionals can be out there choosing to confront true histories, even—especially—when they’re ugly, then maybe there’s hope for this field, yet.

Frankly, discomfort is part of what I’m curious about for this trip. I’m intentionally visiting parts of the country that I’ve never seen and where I know there are very different priorities from my own when it comes to politics and public health and the inevitable ways those two things have become conflated.