Neil Hopcroft

[Audiobook]

Slow Road to Deadhorse by James Anthony

James Anthony sells up his business, finds himself at a loose end and decides to drive across continental North America without using highways.

He starts at the southernmost tip of Florida, and spends quite a time in ‘the South’, making his way across to follow the Mississippi north, then the plains and prairies, before hitting Tundra and arriving at his destination.

Along the way he finds discovers places and people who don’t expect to be a part of the kind of journey he is making. He finds a number of obscure historic sites and tells their stories, and meets some people who can tell stories of their places. Many of these people are not adventurous souls, who have spent most of their lives in their particular backwater – he gets some insights into their lives and areas.

There is a persistent curiosity about places throughout the book, with a desire to understand what happened to make them as they are – he takes a detour to see peanuts growing, goes to see a museum dedicated to ex-slaves, and drives the Dalton Highway, home of the ice road truckers.

Of particular interest to me was the skirting of Regina on his way past, reminding me of my childhood visit to my family there and the road trip we went on to the Rockies.

While I love the adventure distilled into this book, it is a journey I would like to embark upon, I wonder if the writers view on the society he encountered was seen with the rose tinting of being a rich white man doing the journey. I think some other travellers would likely have had very different experiences along the way, without the safety of privilege on their side.