In the late summer of 2022, the author finds his next traveling companion in the hot and dusty backyard of an antique shop on the backroads of Fossil, Oregon. The companion, Orvis, is an imaginary dog. True soulmates, they inspire one another to take a journey that neither could take alone, a journey of humor and forbearance, personal discovery, and egregious self-sacrifice. Together they break new ground in the annals of travel writing, finding the best and the worst of the places they visit, but always maintaining their strong opinions and sense of humor.
A Journey With Orvis is not really about the places they travel (from Mexico City to Istanbul, Zagreb to Paris, London to Dublin), but is more about the 'who' and 'why' of traveling itself. It helps that they travel lightly with only a small carry-on and open minds. It helps even more that one of them is imaginary.
By the end of the journey, it could be either one.