Exploring Small Town Charm in Rural America

LIBERTY, INDIANA – We’re entering our sixth week on the road in America… following the country roads… living in a tent… sleeping wherever… homeschooling wherever…

We left Louisville, Kentucky this morning. We drove 131 miles north on country roads. We passed through cute little towns… and across infinite cornfields.

I’m writing to you from our new campsite. We’re staying in a state park called Whitewater Memorial Park, just outside a small farming town called Liberty, Indiana. 

It’s raining this evening. A thunderstorm passed over and dumped awesome amounts of rain on us. Here are Kate and Miles sheltering during a break from the heavy rain. I’m sitting in the car, writing this note to you in the front seat.

Tomorrow, we head northeast again… into Ohio… and towards Detroit…

Small Town Living

Kate and I love the small, rural towns we’re passing. They are so beautiful. Part of me yearns for life in a small town… surrounded by family and friends… the Tuesday night poker games… Little League baseball… guys at the bar… church on Sunday… half-price movie night… dropping the kids off with grandma and grandpa…

I’ve never lived anywhere for more than five years at a time… and have always been far from my family…

Rootless Family

As we travel, people often ask us where we’re from.

We never know how to answer. Our passports say one thing. Our birth certificates say something else. The license plate on our car says another. We “grew up” somewhere different again. I went to school and college somewhere else. Our parents come from other places altogether.

So we say “Florida” and that usually suffices. But we’re not from there. And we’re never going back there.

The only home we have is our little pop-up camper. And soon, we’ll get rid of it and “move” somewhere else. Our kids are almost perfectly rootless children. Like me, they don’t even have the “root” of their parents’ marriage. Kate and I got divorced five years ago and lived separate lives until we began traveling.

– Tom Dyson

P.S. My mother, who lives alone in London, and who has Parkinson’s Disease, fell over at her front door yesterday and gashed her arm. She spent the day in hospital (took herself there in a taxi). 

Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Dwindling cities… concern for Tom and family… more hospitable readers… and the Emergency Investment Summit…

Reader comment: I live in a small city of 15,000 people that is slowly dying. When the kids graduate from high school, they leave for college or a job in a big city two hours away. What is left is the poor and the retired. We have a Walmart that, in some ways, sucks what wealth is left out of the city. Amazon is even worse. We do have a Campbell Soup plant here, but I don’t know how many people work there. There is a lot of farmland that now has big chicken barns, but the owners almost always have to have a regular job to make enough money to live on.

Reader comment: Always enjoy your missives. I hope you have some means of protection with you to protect yourself and your family. Looks to me like, particularly in the abandoned house in Tennessee, you’re staying at some sketchy properties. There are lots of bad people around who look to prey on good people, particularly those who have publicly expressed their wealth, as have you. I assume you’ve taken this type of precaution. Please be careful. I’d have a Mossberg Shockwave within reach, and only travel through states which were gun friendly. Bad things can happen to good people, and I’d sure put you and your family in the latter category.

Reader comment: Love to receive your postings. I have a suggestion though. When taking photos or video, please turn your camera to “Landscape” mode. It makes your photos and videos much easier to view. Thanks… and keep up the good work!

Reader comment: Hi Tom and your (r)evolving family (life), great to read of your exploits. I am well into retirement now so have time to do a lot of reading, especially now with COVID-imposed isolation. I am a bit envious of your nomadic life, but do experience vicarious pleasure reading of it in your Postcards. I don’t suppose Winnipeg, Canada, across the border from North Dakota, is on your itinerary. If you do chance to come this way, give me a shout. My wife and I would love to entertain you all for a couple days. God bless, my friend.

Reader comment: I have been following for a few months now. Appreciate your writing and your adventures! Wish we had done it when our kids were young (now young adults). We did homeschool, with four kids in a five-and-a-half-year span (started with twins). As often as we could, we followed my husband when he worked away: The company paid the motel (we all squeezed into one room), we’d eat breakfast and lunch in the room, enjoy the pool or local parks and museums, then use his meal allowance for dinner out together. If you get to Sacramento, our accommodations aren’t fancy, but we’d love to have you.

Reader comment: I hope your travels are going well. My wife and I recently watched your presentation on gold and economics. I also got my 23-year-old son and his medic girlfriend to watch. We all found it most informative. My wife and I are in the process of acting upon your suggestions. Not to the same extent as you, but a decent six figure sum! We live in the UK and I just wondered if you could share any nuances on your presentation that are particular to the UK.

Tom’s response: The UK is in a very similar boat to America and subject to many of the same forces. The advice – sell stocks, buy gold – applies just the same.

And if you don’t know, we read your notes and messages as a family every night. Please keep writing us at [email protected].