The Free Press
Celebrate "America at 250" In Style
ForumNewslettersSign InSubscribe
On the Appalachian Trail, I Fell in Love With America. Plus…
Free Press intern Elias Wachtel treks the Appalachian Trail, passing through the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of Elias Wachtel)
One maple syrup maker’s pursuit of sappiness.
By Freya Sanders
07.20.24 — Culture and Ideas
No description available.
54
402
READ IN APP

After two of the most deranged weeks in American history, we figured you’d need a break. It is summer, after all. So, today, we’re bringing you an Into the Wild special, all about that most American instinct: taking off into the woods all alone with a slightly crazy ambition.

Escaping is hard at the moment—you turn off your phone for ten minutes, and mor…

Continue Reading The Free Press
To support our journalism, and unlock all of our investigative stories and provocative commentary about the world as it actually is, subscribe below.
Annual
$8.33/month
Billed as $100 yearly
Save $20!
Monthly
$10/month
Billed as $10 monthly
Already have an account?
Sign In
To read this article, sign in or subscribe
Freya Sanders
Freya Sanders is a senior editor at The Free Press. She runs our culture section, working with a lot of your favorite columnists, including Suzy Weiss, Larissa Phillips, Caitlin Flanagan, Kat Rosenfield, and River Page. She's the editor of both The Weekend Press and our weekly profile column Two Drinks, as well as our beloved advice column, Tough Love with Abigail Shrier. She also edits personal stories—from 'What I Went Through to Meet My Daughter' to 'My Mom Was Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then She Got Better'—and investigations, from 'A Wife's Revenge From Beyond the Grave' to 'When Freebirth Ends In Death'.
Comments
Join the conversation
Share your thoughts and connect with other readers by becoming a paid subscriber!
Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

No posts

For Free People.
LatestSearchAboutCareersForumShopPodcastsVideoEvents
Download the app
Download on the Google Play Store
©2026 The Free Press. All Rights Reserved.Powered by Substack.
Privacy∙Terms∙Collection notice