That something was the road, a la Jack Kerouac, author of the 1950s classic “On the Road.”
Coincidentally on tax day — April 15 — Bratz left Ithaca, N.Y., in a $250 Dodge Aries with $1,700 in his pocket and a plan in mind: to crisscross the country in 30 days while stopping at 30 diners for an affordable meal of two eggs over medium, wheat toast, hash browns and coffee. The ultimate goal? Producing a book which will “do now what Kerouac’s books did then, but hopefully a better book.”
 Jeff Bratz plans on visiting 101 diners across America in 30 days. |
Fortunately, “I do like eggs,” said the affable, clear-eyed young man. He says he is “from nowhere right now and not sure where I’ll be when this is over,” and his wispy brown beard, earrings and bandanna fit the bohemian life he has chosen.
He also likes the tapestry of people and places and moments he has encountered so far between Ithaca and Half Moon Bay, where he stopped Friday morning at the Main Street Grill for his eggs, toast, hash browns and coffee.
“So many life-affirming things happen to you on the road,” he said. “You don’t realize until you’re out on your own, where there aren’t distractions like radios.”
It all began when, realizing he needed to regroup after the changes, Bratz chatted with his boyhood friend and Jackson, Wyo., writer Pete Rognli about his idea for a lighthearted, guidebook-style travel book hinging on diners — something “everyone can relate to.”
Rognli guided Bratz away from the guidebook idea but liked the diners, encouraging a book around the things, people and places he would encounter on such a trip.
“So I filled up and hit the road,” said Bratz.
Filling up — often — took most of his money. The Dodge started at about 13 miles per gallon, but after he made a few tweaks, “somewhere along the way it got up to 25.” And just in case, he packs along his bike: It came in handy the day he had to find a new car battery when the one in the Dodge croaked.
Half Moon Bay may not seem like it’s on the way between New York and his friend in Wyoming. But then neither was Monticello, Ala., but it’s all part of the road.
His life behind he wheel sounds antithetical to the upheavals and changes he left behind. “I’ve had lot of think time,” he said.
But he’s learned to use that time to appreciate.
“I find ... how much beauty there is in this country,” he said, lamenting the travelers who set out for faraway places when “it’s all right here. There’s so much beauty out there that people miss.”
The raw material he had gathered for the book includes a wealth of unique places, quirky moments and even more quirky personalities.
There was Nederland, Colo., a “cool little hippie town” that was once home to miners but “forgot it wasn’t a mining town” and which “I wouldn’t have known was there but I took the right road.”
There was the night in Utah with the new moon. Bratz took a 2 a.m. stroll and found himself overwhelmed by the stars “blanketing the sky” and the mountain all around. He had once taught astronomy at a Boy Scout camp, he said, but this time, “it was hard to pick out the constellations because there we so many stars.”
There were people eager to share their stories, like the Kansas City woman who wanted to talk about her abusive relationship. “People really want to tell you their story,” Bratz said “I guess I’m someone who looks like he’s gonna listen.”
And there was Half Moon Bay. The town was quiet when he got in on Thursday night, so he followed the sound of live music to the San Benito House for a beer and another bought for him by a local. “I was the only person there under 40,” he said. “Just as well — it was low-stress that way.”
He’s also amassed a wealth of breakfast experiences. Wryly noting that “before I left (New York) I had great cholesterol,” he estimates that he’s consumed about 150 eggs and 1.200 ounces of coffee in the past three weeks.
The East and West coasts are big on home fries while the “whole center of the nation enjoys their hash browns,” he said. He knows which he’ll take.
“Whoever decided home fries was a good idea was sorely mistaken,” he growled with a grin. But, he pointed out, “you can hide a bag of store potatoes in hash browns and you won’t know what you’re getting. They’re the hot dogs of potatoes. They’re tasty, but so are hot dogs. Whatcha gonna do?”
Another thing he has done along the way is discover a lot about himself, such as about his discomfort with commitment.
“There’s too much wanderlust in me to settle down right now,” he said.
It will all go into a memoir with a lot of reflections, eggs and “hopefully a nugget of wisdom that I happened on.”
He plans to stay away from the reactionary “person on the road” story. “I hadn’t thought about it,” he said. “I purposely didn’t read ‘Into the Wild’ because I didn’t want it to be a cause-and-effect relationship.”
He does admit to a respect for Kerouac and his “inspirational” writings about the simple life — but would put in his own twist about making life rich.
“I don’t care about living off a little, I just think people should have a fulfilling life,” he said. “Life is too short for living a life you hate. Whatever brings you pleasure, go out and do it.”
w