Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers.

People feel vulnerable when they travel. Nobody wants to be taken advantage of or talked into something they don't want. Staying at Motel 6 makes you feel smarter. In fact, I think it actually means you are smarter, but I have no hard data to support that.

Americans are generally very self-sufficient and I think generally averse to pretension, just as I am.

That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.

Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers.

I'm happy to report you still get nothing you don't need at Motel 6, and, therefore, you don't have to pay for it. I don't need valet parking. If I can drive the old crate 300 miles to the hotel all by myself, I can certainly handle the last nine feet to the parking space.

The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist laughs to forget, but a pessimist forgets to laugh.