This is the second part of a series of interviews with WhiteCrow, as he reacquaints himself with a “civilized,” indoor life, and writes a book recounting his time on his cross-continental trail.
Suite101: Describe the way life has changed since completing your walk.
Jesse WhiteCrow: I reside in a 1948 Airstream that I rebuilt before the walk. This is my home, my haven. It is as much society as I am ready to adopt at present, and probably all of the society I can afford if I want to make writing a priority. Even with that stated, I have more luxury in the '48 camper than I have known in some time, and already I worry that I am becoming soft because of it.
S101: How has it been to adapt to more typical book writing conditions? That is, not penning in a journal in camp as you’ve been doing for the past three years.
JWC: It was easier for me to walk than write since I was never a static person. It was easier for me to leave the 20th Century and return to the nature that is in me, in all of us, than it is to return to the settlement.
It is less natural for me to sit alone in a silver trailer and wait for the tea to boil while I reach back to animate a life I miss that was in color, especially when all I see around me now is sepia tone.
It is said that the greatest tragedy is to deny a life dream. Nobody writes books on what to do when you have lived the dream and it is now time to put away the maps and come down from the cloud.
S101: Is it at least easier in the sense that you can establish a routine for writing your book, as opposed to the constant searching for library Internet connections, as you did to keep your blog – WhiteCrow Walking – going while on the trail?
JWC: More than a few techniques have been applied to make this book happen, and I am still learning. Computers are not my medium of exchange so I have been known to lose a few sections into black holes with no return.
What I am learning is that writing the book is a walk of its own...and I am out of shape. One priceless reward is the ability, the natural gravity that pulls me back to the people and lands I traveled through as I write. It is amazing to feel the glow come over my face as I write and I think to myself, "This is good stuff. I would want to read this. This is why I walked."
NOTE: This is Part Two of the interview with Jesse WhiteCrow. Part Three will be published next week. Subscribe to this feed, so not to miss reading about his process of becoming a book author who transitions from his solo walk across America to life in the "regular" world.
Related stories:
Part One: WhiteCrowWalking: A Writer's Trek Across America
Travel Books Blog: Jesse WhiteCrow Walks Across America
Books and Writing About Vagabond Travels
