My 16-year-old self had it all figured out: I wanted to live in a van and travel the US. Time did what time does, though, and practical lessons from older relatives slowly pushed those dreams to the back of my mind. Instead of saving for a Volkswagen bus, I saved for my first home, because
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarah Silbiger, a 30-year-old freelance video and photojournalist based in Philadelphia. The following has been edited for length and clarity. My partner and I are both journalists. We worked straight through the pandemic, and it was unrelenting. After covering such partisan politics, I really wanted to