Noah Osterhage, Campus Carrier online editor

I have lived all of my life in the relatively cushy suburbs of either Atlanta or Chicago. When my family traveled, it was almost always by plane to another large city, rather than long, excruciating drives through the fields and mountains of rural America. I was always aware that rural communities existed, but never really experienced them for myself. 

            Recently, I’ve taken up the task of visiting every county in the United States. It was something that I didn’t particularly think was possible, but after seeing news articles and blog posts about people who had finished the country, I became determined to try it myself. An extra bit of challenge I’ve added onto my quest is that I wanted to visit the county seat and take a picture in front of the courthouse. 

            Since December of 2022, I’ve visited 504 courthouses in 18 states. Most of those counties are extremely rural, with some of them having only a few hundred people in the entire county. I’ve seen hundreds of small towns, each with their own little restaurants and sights to see. I’ve met people from these towns, asked them what life is like and got a feel for what life is like. 

            While obviously still roughly the same culture as the cities, there are some core differences between the small towns and big cities that can only be seen by visiting them. I would frequently ask myself the question, “Why would anyone live out here?” Personally, I still haven’t found the answer, but I respect the people who have found a reason. 

            These towns give a sense of community that I’ve never felt where I grew up. Everyone knows one another, waving to each other and eating in their friends’ restaurants. That sense of community is something that I feel is sorely lacking in many people’s lives. People are more disconnected now than ever before and it seems hard to find a solid community to plant oneself into. 

            There is a much more personal feel in these small towns, places where you sometimes can’t even find a gas station. Each store or restaurant is run by a local, often selling whatever they can to make ends meet. Seeing these people hard at work trying to run a business of their own is something that I never see in my life. 

            The strangest thing about these towns to me is how close they are. More often than not, there’s a small town not even an hour away from where anyone lives. Yet people have probably never heard of it before, just because it either is too small or isn’t on any major roads. The towns are essentially hiding in plain sight, waiting for people to discover them. What’s more, when you visit, you’re helping provide business to these towns and helping them stay afloat. Sometimes you might even find a location or restaurant that you want to go back to over and over again. 

            My advice is that if you have a free weekend, take the time to drive an hour or two out to a town that you’ve never heard of, pick something interesting to visit and a local restaurant to eat at, talk to some of the locals and drive back. It helps understand both how those small towns work and also how the country as a whole functions. You begin to see the other side of some issues and opinions that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise think of. 

            It may not seem like it on the surface, but the United States is a very beautiful country once you get to know it. Exploring it helps develop a love for it that one can’t find just sitting in one place.