I used to explore abandoned places as a kid. When I started exploring them again as an adult, I made a career out of it.

“Urbexers” are respectful admirers of the past who understand the historical, cultural, and political significance of largely unexplored spaces. Exploring ruins can be a dangerous hobby and often comes with its own range of liabilities. The elements and time have compromised some structures, while others were likely never that safe to begin with.

Discovering “urbex” somehow felt vindicating: Apparently, I’d been an urbexer for decades. As I started to venture out across the world to nearly 60 different abandoned spaces, I felt my imagination reignite the way it did when I was a kid at the dairy farm. I began to write about my experiences at every abandoned space.

In each room, floor, and building, I reflected not only on architectural narratives and contextual histories but also on what was going on inside my head as I explored: ruminations on current events, politics, as well as my personal story of mental illness and sobriety.

The more I explored, the more I understood that I’d reconnected with my childhood imagination, the healing realm of the abandoned dairy farm from all those years ago.

Exploring abandoned places became my career — and so much more

Those stories evolved into All-American Ruins, a multimedia project recently receiving unexpected attention. Slowly but surely, my childhood dream of becoming a professional artist has become a reality; I’ve created an entire career as an urban explorer. Through the original blog, the docuseries, and my award-winning podcast “abandoned,” I get to ask critical questions about the US while reintroducing folks to their imaginations as a place of healing. I’ve been able to produce live events, serve as a guest speaker at conferences, and assist other organizations to produce their own podcasts — and support myself while doing it.

More personally gratifying, however, is the fact that I’ve helped other people who have struggled with their own mental health.

If my work as an artist has helped empower even one person to find a path to recovery, then all of the time and sweat I put into releasing something into the world and hoping it resonates with people will have been worth it.