by Rita Forbes and Valerie German Our three weeks of McCaleb
research were both deeply satisfying and completely exhausting.
We traveled to 10 different cities within 22 days, staying in
youth hostels and sometimes even the spare bedrooms of new
acquaintances. In a blur, we zigzagged back and forth across
Germany, through the Alps, over the Rhine River, and down the
streets of cities such as Berlin, Munich and Nuremberg. Our days
were filled with brainstorming, researching, conducting lengthy
interviews, outlining preliminary drafts of articles, and
planning the next stage of the journey. We took advantage of
long train rides to transcribe our interview material, bounce
ideas off each other, and get some much-needed sleep. Many of
our interview partners generously gave us books, which we
eagerly added to our already-heavy backpacks. At the end of the
trip, we were each staggering under an additional 10 pounds of
reading material. We expected to learn from the trip. But we had
no idea how rich the experience w