Maryland

From the recent list of states that have nothing particularly interesting to visit I present to you Maryland. The state is essentially split into two parts and is joined by a narrow path and these parts might as well be separate states. As we moved west, it felt like we were leaving the northeast coast altogether and entering the south. While the east was densely populated, west Maryland is mostly rural.

We were in Maryland when most of the campgrounds had already closed, but the weather was not actually cold yet. As a result, we had our first experience of sleeping outside of any campground in a parking lot of a state park. The first time is hard because you are not used to it and I was worried about who knows what. But now when I travel, I am more comfortable with the idea of boondocking (free camping) and constantly spot good places on the road to stay overnight. The anxiety is also partly offset by the fact that it is free.

Given enough time it seems that Maryland will not exist at all. A huge portion of its coast was taken away by Delaware, Pennsylvania also pushed the northern border south, Washington D.C. has carved out its own territory in the middle and West Virginia looks like it is creeping up from the south. The state has been robbed from all sides and it shows.

In our inner world we find it harder and harder to appreciate nostalgic flat landscapes. Deep in my bones I hear a scream for the wild wild west and, while it is still interesting to explore new states, my enthusiasm for them is running out.