Hello everyone and welcome to this podcast introduction to this week's program

listening to America. Today I have a conversation with one of my favorite people

in the world Russ Ekel of Salisbury, North Carolina, about phase two of my John Steinbeck tour of the United States.

I've been back for a few days now.

I'm off to England on my annual European cultural tour, literary England with my daughter Catherine.

When I get back I will pop right back into the airstream, which I'm looking at outside my kitchen window here.

It's out on the street.

I've taken everything in and washed everything.

I've downsized dramatically.

I've brought in several hundred pounds worth of gear. I took way too much on phase one. I took about

two thirds of that on phase two and I'm going to take about half of that. On the third and final phase of the year I'm going to take about half of that.

On the third and final phase of the year,

I'm learning to live minimally.

But the more stuff you have, the more trouble

that it really amounts to, you know,

how do you find that recording microphone and how do you find those

SD cards and where exactly did I put that notebook and how many colored

pencils do you really need and do you really need four sets of sheets or

would two or even one be enough.

All these things you have to learn.

You know, I'm a maximalist, I suppose you would say, in life,

and now I'm having to be a minimalist

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