The Long Way Home - An American Adventure: Part 5 - The Western States Hardcover – October 3, 2025

Traveling across the USA is a dream for many, driven by a desire to find freedom and adventure on the open road. In 2021, Desirée, her husband Jonathan, and their four rescued Beagles embarked on an epic journey that grew into a multi-year plan to explore the USA, in what became the ultimate American Adventure.Follow their journey as they visit bucket list destinations, national and state parks, roadside attractions, large cities, and small-town America through this series of short travelogues packed with interesting background information, history, fun facts, and personal experiences, all richly illustrated with full-color pictures. The Long Way Home Parts 1 & 2 chronicled their trip across the Eastern United States. They continued their adventure in Parts 3 & 4, traveling through 21 Midwest and Mountain States.Parts 5 & 6 cover their third and final "long way home" trip, which took them to the West Coast. They checked off the remaining "Lower 48" states (the 48 states in the Contiguous United States) and visited some other fun places along the way. They explored the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, drove Route 66 from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, and "took the long way home" through the Florida Keys.Travel along through the pages of this captivating series of books, and be inspired to get out and explore!Desirée van Welsum was born in the Netherlands and is now a naturalized American citizen living in the United States. She is an internationally trained Ph.D. economist, has worked and lived in six countries, and speaks four languages. Desirée spent most of her career as a senior economist and economic policy advisor with international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.Desirée and her husband Jonathan suffered near-death experiences resulting from serious health issues. This became the catalyst for a lifestyle change that began with purchasing a boat and traveling extensively along the U.S. East Coast and to the Bahamas for several years. When COVID hit, they switched things up again, selling the boat and getting an RV to travel across the country. Read more