View Miles and miles in a larger map

After 40 days on the road, it’s time to head home and begin editing content. Between one story based in two towns more than 1,000 miles apart and another about the BP oil spill in the Gulf, I’ve been home a total of nine days since May 10. As much as I enjoy being on the road, meeting people and gathering content, there is a time to return to the newsroom.

Traveling and working remotely can be stressful and exhausting at times, but the work is exciting and each day brings new experiences and people into your life. Strangers opened their homes to me to document the way they live and work. I spent 22 hours on a shrimp boat with a life-long shrimper in Venice, La. I helped to interview anti-nuclear and pro-nuclear activists in Vermont.

I created a map in Google Maps to highlight the places I have traveled and things I have been documenting. I will be adding more photos and video links to the map the rest of the week.

I also compiled a list of fun facts about my travels:

• 40 days on the road beginning May 10
• 15 beds
• 4 planes and 6 rental cars
• 26 total hours on shrimp and charter boats
• Too many pounds of fried and fast food
• 10,000+ miles (including city miles)
• 16 states: NC, VA, GA, AL, MS, LA, PA, VT, MA, NH, CT, NY, NJ, DE, WV, FL

Back home to the comforts of a forgotten bed and moldy food in the refrigerator. It’s time to pay rent and start editing.