A 50-Year-Old Office Worker and a Friend Cross America by Car, 7,500 km

Park described the two-week crossing as a "reckless challenge" that he himself admits to. He said he would never have dared without a friend along.

The friend joining him is Gabe, whom he met on a business trip some years ago. Gabe is a Hispanic American whose grandfather emigrated from Mexico, and since he recently married a Korean woman, Park says he feels even closer to him.

When they went to a rental car office to pick up the vehicle for the trip, Park explained that booking online in advance means you can get the reserved car right away, without haggling or worrying about being overcharged.

The criteria for choosing the car were durability, fuel efficiency, and storage space, because it had to run 7,500 km over two weeks without trouble. In Park's judgment a new SUV was the right fit, and the result was very satisfying.

Statistics also show that more than 40 million turkeys end up on Thanksgiving tables every year.

Even so, they checked why some young people stay in New York. One young person explained that for people who don't live in New York, the city can feel very isolated, and that you can be enormously lonely even surrounded by so many people. Those who can't leave, he said, are those who have no money, are too busy, or have something going on over the weekend.

America's campgrounds have consolidated booking systems, so reserving online makes them inexpensive to use. Thanks to Gabe, who is a camping enthusiast, they found a place to sleep for just $30.

It was introduced that Americans are taught from childhood how to preserve and enjoy nature. It was also reported that an unusual cold wave in the East made the wind chill about minus 10 degrees Celsius.

When Gabe said his family used to go camping when he was in elementary school, Park felt a pang of guilt. Park said he hardly remembered camping as a child. He had enjoyed being out, and wanted to keep doing it, but thinking about why he never went out, he judged that it was because he had always looked straight ahead and been busy with daily life with no room to spare.

He confessed that the thought of going out with his family more often from now on, prompted by this trip, made him suddenly feel sorry toward them.

Gabe got married two months ago. He said that building a healthy, happy family with his wife, and welcoming children later in life to give them stability and happiness, is what matters most to him now.

Park named a worry: life expectancy is long, but retirement comes far too early.

He noted that America's progress, like democracy, the presidential system, and the civil rights movement, has at times been recorded as progress in human history. This passage followed directly after their visit to the Lincoln Memorial.

The final question he raised in Washington, the heart of America, was "What will we of this divided nation leave to human history?" The narration described it as a somewhat heavy question.

He pointed out that the vitality of Black culture still lingers on New Orleans' streets, but the situation on the jazz bars' and clubs' stages is different. Instead of the Black musicians who are the successors of Louis Armstrong, European musicians who crossed the Atlantic now occupy the stages.

The French Quarter, six hours by car from Atlanta, still bears the traces of French and Spanish rule. There is also a passage about a German-born owner who made German beer that was every bit as good as beer from Germany itself.

Gabe, too, became a true fan after talking with her during a family trip.

Her down-to-earth character earned her even more respect, and every president has sought her serious advice.

The wetlands connected to the Mississippi River, the setting of the childhood story 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' extend all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. As the wetlands shrink, floods happen easily even with little rainfall.

After the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, calls for wetland conservation grew louder. The alligators they had been waiting for were hard to find, but even though it was their dormant season and they were not eating much, they were reported to be majestic, as befits apex predators.

After the current owner took it over in 1988, it established itself as a top restaurant.

To local people it is more than a restaurant. It is a warm memory and a happy community space they want to pass on to their children. President Bush, who takes great pride in Texas food, was a regular.

Reservations are not taken, seating is first come, first served, and on Friday and Saturday they serve only steak in a limited-menu format, yet almost no guests complain.

The secret of its success is cutting thick slices of fresh, top-grade meat and insisting on an oak charcoal bed, cooking it slowly with heat and smoke alone.

Gabe also added that there were still two 'guns' left to deal with.

The plan was switched to starting from Tombstone, Arizona, where the traces of history still live.

According to Park's explanation, a horse, once it believes the rider can't control or dominate it, looks down on that person and does as it pleases. Park saw that the horses seemed to already know this.

Once the horses realized he didn't know how to handle them well, they tore at grass and leaves, and wandered off wherever they pleased, even heading down paths where branches snagged on them, so he had to worry about how to control them. In the end he decided to let all three eat their fill before moving on.

It is an arid desert averaging less than 25 cm of rain a year. The best season for trekking is November through April.

Gabe, who is from California, said he had never been to the Mojave either. The sand dunes look about 50 m tall to the eye, but they actually reach 200 m.

It looked like very little, but the actual slope was 60 to 70 degrees, and with a stride of 70 cm he would slide back 60 cm for every step up, so his real progress was about 10 cm.

He calculated how many steps it would take to climb the last 10 m, and it came to 36 steps. It was a section he had expected might take up to an hour. He said the sense of accomplishment was beyond words.

The narration runs that sharing each other's cultures during a journey is a way to tear down walls. Olvera Street is a little Mexico where the culture and traditions of Mexican immigrants live on. Full of relics from the early history of immigration, it is a tourist destination drawing 2 million visitors a year. The market, built in the 1930s, is filled with Mexican culture and aroma.

Park said that getting to know his friend's roots and culture was a great joy. Diversity in America sometimes becomes a cause of conflict, but he ended the journey with a question: perhaps it is ordinary citizens who love their own roots while still taking pride in American history and culture who keep this federal nation together through its large and small difficulties.