Do you sometimes dream of America?

I have seen this place before and yet I do not know if it is real. I have heard those conversations before and yet I do not know if they have any kind of meaning.

Growing up as a European in the last 20 years, my encounters with the United States were subtle but constant. A hamburger at McDonalds. A Jersey of my favorite Basketball team. My first cigarette or my first action Movie. I grew up with two cultures, not even being able to decide wether I want that or not. From a far, through the words of authors, lenses of photographers and tones of musicians this country has always promised a better and brighter life. My view on this country has changed. From pure admiration to a rather uneasy feeling about it. The glossy facade has started to crack. In the wake of a possible presidency of Donald Trump I decided to embrace this country full on, setting out on multiple road trips during the last two years. I have followed roads without an ending and narratives I might never understand.

20.ooo miles I have spent on the roads of this country. Roads that seemed like veins, desperately trying to pump blood through a rigid body. A body that is only able to exist for the symbols that have supported its existence in the last decades. Those symbols can be found along the fields of Minnesota to the skyscrapers of New York. It's the urge to belong, the wish to believe, the fight for money, the desperateness of loneliness and the underlying theme of vastness. No matter where you go.