SourceRecipe for adventure: 52 weeks, 52 'Friends'
When Josh Sullivan suddenly decided to chuck his day job and become a nomad for a year, he reached out to relatives, friends, friends of friends and Internet contacts.
Naming his life experiment, “Fifty-two Friends,” Sullivan, 27, an artist and comic book creator, decided to traverse the United States and stay with a different person, in a different city, each week for 52 weeks during 2009, creating a trail of writings, photos and comic book scenarios for his self-published weekly magazine.
Sullivan started Jan. 1 by sleeping on the couch of a friend named Andy in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla. He began to catalog his first experiences: his first polka, his first game of shuffleboard. During Week 2 in Tallahassee, Fla., he fired a shotgun, shucked oysters and jumped into a Florida State University fountain in 29-degree weather. During Week 3 in Biloxi, Miss., he visited his first casino, and so on.
Sullivan arrived in San Diego from Uvalde, Texas, and stayed in Santee with a friend he met at the 2001 Comic-Con convention here. Then, he moved on to Lemon Grove to stay with acquaintances of hers. While here, he hiked Mission Trails, saw the seals in La Jolla, experienced a San Diego downpour and was attacked by zombies, a theatrical stunt played by his hosts.
Although Sullivan had stashed away $4,000 for his yearlong bus trip, he is painting and selling light-switch plates for $10 each for extra cash and continues to sell magazine subscriptions – $150 for a year or $3 an issue plus $1 for mailing. His goal wasn't to visit every state, but he'll come close. His itinerary has him passing through 44 states and staying in 37.
When he proposed becoming a traveling hobo, his friends called him crazy. Now, they tell him they are living vicariously through him. His mother still wishes he had stayed home.
Check him out at joshcomics.com.
Even though he's doing the magazine, I hope he plans to attempt to publish a book. I think it would make a great read.
