On the Road Again

Announcing A Deeper South Tour 10

In two days, the road trip that started nearly thirty years ago continues, as John Hayes and I will begin our tenth Southern Tour together in Augusta, Georgia. “The road goes ever on and on,” as Bilbo Baggins sang. Where it will take us, only the genie-souls of the Southern Road know.

We do know, however, that this time around, there will be some new additions, and new ways for you to share in this adventure.

First, if you are a paying subscriber to The Detourist (that’s this website, if you’re already confused), then you will get access to daily written and video updates from John and me from the road. [If you’re not a paying subscriber, then what are you waiting for? Train’s leaving!] Hit this red thing:

If you subscribe to a monthly or annual Followship, then you will get to see and hear the trip as it unfolds. You will get to be a virtual passenger in the ADS van as we wander the South. You will also get a complimentary copy of The Road to Unforgetting, my collection of photographs from the first nine tours. That’s a $45.00 value, people! We will also be hosting regular live events—sometimes on the fly—at the ADS Instagram account. And since this is The Detourist, we are going to be making a lot of this up as we go, so I don’t know exactly what I am promising you! But I can promise you it will not be dull.

Second, this will be our first trip with the official ADS van, Jasmine’s Boyfriend, possibly the only vehicle in the world with a map on the OUTSIDE of the car. J’sB will be tricked out with some special features, which you will learn about when you join the Followship. Intrigued yet?

(If you don’t know the J’sB story: check this out:

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J’sB will be outfitted with a hifi dashcam so that you will get to hear us ramble about the best chicken sandwich in the world, the frustrating yet iconic design of the Pringles can, the Kantian turn to subjectivity, or even a spontaneous karaoke rendition of “Carolina Mountain Dewe.” But we are also going to dish on the first nine tours, and revisit each one: where we went, what we did and did not see, what we were reading and listening to then, and the people we were and were not then.

Tour Two (1998) has long been The Tour We Don’t Talk About. But that changes in 2025: Tour Two is everything A Deeper South is: amusing, uncomfortable, revealing. We are going to talk about that. Also, 2025 is the centenary of Flannery O’Connor’s birth, so I can guarantee she is going to come up.

To sum up: here’s what a paid Followhsip offers you:

1. Exclusive daily updates in word and moving image

2. A window into the Deeper South story

3. A complimentary copy of The Road to Unforgetting

4. Exclusive discounts on my book, A Deeper South: The Beauty, Mystery, and Sorrow of the Southern Road AND John’s award-winning book, Hard, Hard Religion: Interracial Faith in the Poor South

5. Other cool stuff I haven’t thought of yet but want you to have because I love you

For now, please join the Followship. And as always, thanks for being along on this ride. I’ll see you on the Road.

[As an aside, I know it’s been a long time since I showed up here (the last time was the day before a hurricane devastated my region). I am very grateful that you have stuck around this long, even through this long and unplanned hiatus. A lot has happened in the meantime that I am eager to share with you. For now, ADSX marks the beginning of a return to The Detourist. Starting shortly after the Tour wraps, you can expect weekly posts here. More about that later.]