"Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road."― Jack Kerouac, On the Road.
I woke up in a hotel room in Las Vegas, the sun high in the sky, ready for my early-morning coffee, the casino almost deserted. Walking around the city hunting for food, I still had in mind the immensity of the Grand Canyon I had visited a day before. It's nuances, shades, shadows, my boyfriend in flip-flops hiking down the canyon and the hulk-like elk that almost 'attacked' our bus. That was the first breathtaking pit stop on a road trip across the United States.
A Different Side of Las Vegas
If there was one word to describe Las Vegas, that would be 'extreme'. Yet, what interested me the most of this so-called 'Sin City', were not the mega gigantic hotels, the American replica of my beloved Venetian canals or the eclectic entertainment biz. I took all of that for granted. I explored a different side of the city: that of community centers, antiques shops and street artists. Over a cup of coffee I found myself talking about Latin America with writer and four-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Kim MacQuarrie. I spent most of my time clapping hands to the rhythm of music, watching street performers finding their audience in Las Vegas' Strip. Before leaving the city I visited the Serenity Club, a membership based clubhouse that rents meeting space to 12 - Step Recovery based Organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Here, I met Mike, a former alcoholic from the East Coast who now found his true calling in "giving back and helping others".
Driving on the highway towards California, I stopped at one of Nevada's legal brothels. I rang the bell and was greeted by the manager, a blond woman in her 40s. I explained that I was not looking for sex. The place looked like a well-decorated apartment, very clean, full of Star Trek and other space tales-related objects. The light was dim; there was a bar, a souvenir vitrine with sex toys and a pole. I was given a choice between three different workers, whose task was to show me around. I picked Jenny (name changed), a tall and proud Afro-American woman in her late 20s from Missouri. As she gave me a tour of the different rooms, from those offering couple massages to sadomasochism, she told me that she considers herself "a free soul" and that her dream is to "see the world" as soon as she puts enough money aside.
'Naked and Afraid"
As I hopped back into the car and started rolling, my boyfriend told me that the landscape looked like the deserts of Afghanistan where he worked for four years as a civilian contractor. We stop