Hello, followers of my rambling nonsense! Please bear with me as I jump into the deep end of another fanciful idea that sprung about as a result of my current status of “unemployed”, or as one could state, “exploring fantastical adventures of spontaneous sort”.

If you have ever been on the side of looking for new employment, your mind may have wandered into varying options from inspired, to just plain ludicrous. If so, then you might have a feel for where my mindset is now. For the last couple of months I have been studiously searching and courting, gently nudging knocking down doors. As of yet my prospects have ended up, well, non-fruitious. To be blunt, it’s a bit of a beating on one’s soul. So, in order to repair said soul, I’ve decided to take an impromptu journey to a somewhat quizical place in the great circle of 6 hours drive to a place I’ve come to love called Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Why Arkansas? What is Eureka Springs? It has a kind of mystic name don’t you agree? This is a town I most recently traveled during a visit with family and it immediately struck a chord with the inner explorer in me and since, I have not been able to shake out of my mind.

WHAT’S YOUR POINT?!?

Yes, sorry. I can get a bit long winded. Well, my point is that I found myself online booking an inexpensive, yet endearing little motel (or lodge as the name would suggest) that invigorated parts of my brain left untended for far too long. I needed to get away from the job hunt in corporate America to hopefully find a way to connect with the neglected aspects of my life: connection with nature, people, the arts, travel, spontaneity, and who knows what the hell else, right?

So I booked a room 5.5 hours from home for 3 days, 2 nights at just over $50 per night. It promised a renovated mid-century modern decor, connection with local transportation, hiking trails, and all the goodness that this part of Arkansas is so renown. 

THE HEALING WATERS OF EUREKA SPRINGS.

Every part of me needs that. Every part of you needs that too sometimes, does it not? It does. And on a whim, I booked and fled to the place that called my name.

What happened next took me a bit by surprise. On arrival, I found myself clicking away with my cameras on all things in and around Eureka that caught my attention and a spark was formed. Then moments after I checked in to the motel, a wonderful, warm thought entered in.

WHAT IF I VENTURED TO QUIRKY MOTELS ACROSS AMERICA TO PHOTOGRAPH AND DOCUMENT MY EXPERIENCES?

That was the singular excuse I needed to begin the violent frenzy of internal and external brainstorming of this Louis and Clarke-esque concept! 

WHY THE HELL NOT?

Enter internal monologue.

Money. I’d need money. An idea is one thing, but to make it materialize, there’s a lot more than just a bitchin’ idea.

Time. I’ve got plenty of that at the moment, right?

Has it been done before? Yes, to some degrees, I suppose. But I can make this mine.

Will it pay off? Hellifiknow.

This is where I am now. It has travel! Adventure! New places and probably interesting people! I want to know what America is all about in places like this, especially in the current time we live in now. Perhaps this can be a beautiful introspective on our nation in its struggles, turmoil, hope, despair, and refashioning.

So, should I pursue this? The short answer is a definite maybe. It will take a bit of research and a tooling of a couple chapters to get a feel of the world according to Mark. Just kidding. The world according to the crazy, mixed-up America. This concept is undoubtedly something that checks almost all the boxes for this author as far as I can see at first blush.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m not sure yet. I do know that I should post a blog of this first motel in the fashion that is swimming in my head now. The next steps are a little muddier for sure. Perhaps a gofundme, and/or creating a chapter or two to present to prospective publishers. There’s also the notion that maybe, juuuust maybe I can reach out to interesting AF motels in hopes they might comp me a night for the opportunity to appear in a finished publication.

This is new territory. But look, you won’t know if Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead until you open the lid.

What do you think?