Posts Tagged maps

Chris Epting is the author of 18 books including James Dean Died Here, Roadside Baseball and Hello, It’s Me – Dispatches From a Pop Culture Junkie. He also writes for many publications and is the longtime national spokesman for the Hampton Hotel Save-A-Landmark program. Here’s what always goes into his bag:

1. My well-worn copy of Blue Highways – this venerable, classic travel tome by William Least Heat-Moon sits in my bag like the old friend that it is. Oh, I’ll have some other books and usually a few magazines as well, but Blue Highways makes every trip. I’ve read it many times, and for me it’s so good, that I will just randomly open to it, read a few a few pages, then stow it again until the next time I need a little smile or inspiration. See, it functions not just as entertainment for me, but also as a lesson book – a powerful example of the importance of evocative, descriptive writing. Since I almost always write on the road, a book like this becomes indispensable – because its literary rules of the road are so timeless.

2. Yellow pads and No. 2 pencils – In lieu of travel journals I instead always pack a couple of yellow legal pads and some sharpened No. 2 pencils. It’s what I write with at home and I like to replicate the writing experience as much as I can on the road – that is to say lots of scrawls, random thoughts, snapshot impressions, diagrams, etc. Nothing against nicely crafted journals and fancy pens, but the pads, for me, are a reminder that this whole journey is an ongoing work in progress; a creative continuum from one pad to the next.

3. Maps – either in book form or just map form, I like to take some physical representation of where I’m headed. These days, people tend to get hung up with onboard GPS, handheld mapping and lots of other cartographic gadgetry. That’s fine (and I use those occasionally too), but for me there’s nothing like using an old-fashioned map to get a sense of scope, terrain and organization – even if I’m returning to familiar place. The hand-held, bird’s eye view is invaluable to me. And if the map is worn, creased and has a few miles on it – all the better.

4. A handheld digital recorder – I’m used to traveling with a couple of cameras because I shoot a lot of pictures, video, etc. But more and more I find myself relying on my little digital recorder. Whether it’s for interviewing someone I meet along the way, or even ambient sounds of a sonically pleasing place, my little recorder has come in handy dozens of times. Off the top of my head, I remember a few years ago being at an old-fashioned amusement on a humid summer night. The music being piped through the carousel (“Beautiful Dreamer”), the laughter of children under the stars, the bell from the Strongman Striker, the whoosh of a wooden coaster – that recording made the piece I wrote all the more powerful when I got home.

5. A St. Christopher Medal – My wife packed this in my satchel years ago and I’ve never taken it out, whether I’m traveling with my family or by myself. The medal, in honor of the third century martyr and “Patron Saint of Travel”, is special to me. It’s said to guard against lightning, archers, storms, floods and other threats to we, the wanderers. And these days, I’ll take whatever I can get.

To see a sampling of Chris Epting’s work, check out his Perceptive Travel stories on Death Valley; cocktail birthplaces and historic bars; and places where rock stars spent their last night on Earth.