So, my friend Kim is starting a project called "Travels With Queerness" (http://www.travelswithqueerness.com/), which is about narrating/documenting the experiences of queer people in rural and conservative parts of the country (aka "real America"). It's sort of an updated "Travels With Charlie," so it's loosely centered on a sightseeing tour of small towns across the West. She figures her experiences as an out lesbian will be worlds different from Steinbeck's, and so her trip will be very different from his. She wants to write about how.

As part of her prep, she asked me if there was any way she could help amplify the voices of trans people. This might mean interviewing trans people in small towns, or just writing essays on a theme. I'm just one woman with a rather sheltered perspective, so I told her I'd throw her question out to the community here at Susan's.

What would you like to see in a book like this? Do any of you have direct experience with traveling while out and trans? How about while stealth, or just not yet out? Do you have any concerns about what a project like this might mean for us? How about hopes? What do you think?