Motels
A Different Shower Every Night: The Haircare Kit I Keep for Motel Stays
Three motels, three kinds of water, and a day with the window down. Why I stopped relying on the little bottles by…
October 7, 2026The stops between the places.
Life Between Highways
Written by Dana Reyes
Latest
Everything Happens at a Counter: Phone, Cards and Fewer Things to Leave Behind
Gas stations, diner counters, motel front desks. A road trip day is a long series of counters, and every one is a chance to leave something behind. How…
On the Road
What the Driving Mind Does
Around mile forty something loosens and my head goes somewhere it does not go at a desk. An essay on rehearsed arguments,…
August 17, 2026On the Road
All On the Road ›
My Fuel and Rest Routine, Learned the Hard Way
I gambled on half a tank at dusk on an empty stretch and spent forty minutes doing math…
July 21, 2026
What I Listen To, and When I Turn It Off
I gave up on building the perfect road trip playlist somewhere in my second year of driving alone.…
June 24, 2026
Finding a Rhythm When You Drive Alone
Driving solo is a different job than driving with someone. No one to hand the map to, no…
May 20, 2026Motels
All Motels ›
Waking Up at Three in the Morning and Not Knowing Where I Am
Every long trip has this night. You surface in the dark and for about forty seconds the room…
August 4, 2026
The First Ten Minutes in a Motel Room
What I check, in what order, and why the order matters. Built out of the rooms I did…
July 10, 2026
How I Decide Where to Stop Before the Light Goes
Deciding late is how I end up in rooms I never actually looked at. Here is the arithmetic…
July 9, 2026Detours
All Detours ›
How Much Slack to Leave in a Driving Day
For years I planned trips with no room in them and then felt guilty every time I wanted…
July 8, 2026
Two Detours, One Worth It
Both turns looked the same from the road. One gave me an afternoon I still think about, the…
June 10, 2026
Back Roads Versus the Interstate, Honestly
Everyone says take the small road. I did that for a whole summer and kept notes. The small…
May 14, 2026Roadside Food
All Roadside Food ›
The Best Meal Is Usually the One You Expected Nothing From
The place I had driven two hours for was closed, and I ended up eating a pork sandwich…
August 15, 2026
Eating Alone at the Counter
The host walked me to a booth for four and I sat down in it feeling like a…
July 11, 2026
What to Order When You Have No Idea
A four page laminated menu, ninety something items, and a server standing there waiting. Ordering in a place…
June 13, 2026Small Towns
All Small Towns ›
The Towns I Drove Past and Still Think About
Most places I will only ever see at sixty two miles an hour. A few of them stayed…
August 12, 2026
The Two Buildings I Always Try: The Museum and the Library
Every small town has a historical museum with impossible hours and a library that is open when you…
July 2, 2026
Sunday Is the Hardest Day to Judge a Town
Arriving on a Sunday morning gives you the worst possible picture of a small town, and I have…
June 16, 2026
About
Dana Reyes
Life Between Highways is written by Dana Reyes. Everything here comes from actual use, written up honestly, including the things that did not work.
More about this site ›Recent
- The Best Meal Is Usually the One You Expected Nothing From
- The Towns I Drove Past and Still Think About
- Waking Up at Three in the Morning and Not Knowing Where I Am
- My Fuel and Rest Routine, Learned the Hard Way
- Eating Alone at the Counter
- The First Ten Minutes in a Motel Room
- How I Decide Where to Stop Before the Light Goes
- How Much Slack to Leave in a Driving Day