Welcome wanderer

Justin “Bugsy” Sailor took a cue from John Steinbeck after he graduated from Michigan State University this spring.

“As much as college students are encouraged to study abroad, we’re not really encouraged to see our own country,” said Sailor, 23. “Why not set out to see my country in every detail?”

He decided to travel the country, dropping into hometowns, staying with strangers for a week then taking off, doing 50 states in 50 weeks.

But rather than wait for the journey to be over to write his “Travels with Charley,” he just blogs the travels of Bugsy.

He’s traveled to 12 states so far, staying with a different set of strangers in each one, including a week on a ranch in Montana. And as he passed through Oregon this past week, of the 377 towns in Oregon, Sailor picked Roseburg.

“The plan is to stay with people I’ve never met before and try to see how Americans live,” Sailor said.

Before Sailor had even started his trip, disc jockey Randy Wesson was looking over the Associated Press wire at Best Country 103 and came across the story of a college kid hoping to make his way around the country.

“I gave him a call. It ended up being not only a great interview, but I made a friend, too,” Wesson said.

At the end of the interview, Wesson told Sailor, “My house is your house if you want to come by.”

Weeks passed. Then about two weeks ago, Wesson discovered a message from Sailor on his machine, a pair of messages actually, as well as three phone messages from the Hallmark Channel.

Sailor was in Washington and he wanted to come to Roseburg as he traveled down the West Coast. And one more thing, Naomi Judd would like to send some cameramen to Roseburg, too.

So, after enjoying the rainy trek from Astoria to Reedsport, Sailor turned off Highway 101 and headed up the Umpqua.

Wesson took him on his radio show, and hooked him up with log truck driver Rick Smith, who took Sailor to a logging site. And Wesson made sure to take him around to Anderson Place Market in Roseburg for some Rocky Mountain oysters, which manager Dan Cossey fries up on special occasions.

“He ate two of them,” Cossey said. “He was a real trooper.”

Since Sailor’s Roseburg stop featured a country music DJ, Judd picked up his story here and sent out a television crew to follow Sailor around Douglas County for “Naomi’s New Morning.”

“The message he’s sending is great,” said producer Greg Tufaro. “(In America), everywhere you go, you’re home — even with complete strangers. I’m a New Yorker, and I feel at home here.”

From Oregon, Sailor went to California, first to Redding and the Redwoods, then to the Bay Area where he planned to stay with a music composer.

“On the show we plan on tracking him,” Wesson said. “We’ll call him once a month and see what kind of adventures he’s had.”

Sailor looked sad to leave Roseburg at his going-away party Wednesday at Nilknarf’s.

“It gets really hard to leave a place after spending a couple of days there,” Sailor said. “But as soon as things are getting familiar, it’s time to go.”


<b>Follow Jason Sailor</b> on his blog, http://www.hometowninvasion.com



• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.