Day One | 10th May 2017

Bismarck, North Dakota.

"Why are you going to North Dakota, sir?" asked the man from the Border Patrol, as his eyes flicked back and forth from my passport photograph (clean shaven) ​to my face (bearded). "Nobody goes to North Dakota."

​After a nine hour flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, I struggled to offer a coherent answer. "Maybe that's a good enough reason in itself", I ought to have said. But I didn't. I shrugged, and mumbled, "I just wanted to see it".

He checked my face, one last time, then nodded me through.

North Dakota from the air.

Bismarck: the All-America City.

Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota, one of the least populous, and apparently least visited, of the United States. It is also the starting point of my Outriders journey, which will take me from here – close to the border with Canada – all the way south to Louisiana, via the mountains of Appalachia. 

Each day, over the next three weeks, I will be posting pictures, videos and observations from the journey.

​But first, I need to sleep.