BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley just may be doing something right when the acclaimed “Most Traveled Person in America” comes to the area and is impressed with what he sees.
Daniel Seddiqui, 43, is a bestselling immersive-experience travel writer who’s been to all 50 states at least 20 times and authored eight books on what he’s learned about the country in the process.
Beyond a vague memory of being a young boy and taking a trip to the Christmas City to see the holiday lights — something he said his parents couldn’t officially confirm looking back — Seddiqui said his recent trip to Bethlehem and Allentown rounded out America's major cities in his cross-country adventures.
“It wasn’t at all what I imagined. It was one of my favorite regions of the country because I love the lighting of buildings, the hills and architecture.”"Most Traveled Person in America" Daniel Seddiqui, following his recent visit to the Lehigh Valley
Seddiqui told LehighValleyNews.com Thursday that the region’s two biggest cities aren’t short of charm, friendly residents or traffic.
He said he likes to visit places without doing much research to enhance the element of surprise.
“It wasn’t at all what I imagined,” Seddiqui said of the Lehigh Valley. “It was one of my favorite regions of the country because I love the lighting of buildings, the hills and architecture.”
Lehigh University had “the most insane campus, like driving on Lombard Street of San Francisco,” Seddiqui, a Bay Area native, said.
As an author, Seddiqui said he naturally had to take a photo outside Moravian Book Shop on Main Street in Bethlehem — the oldest continuously-operating bookstore in America.
And he said he “especially liked” Historic Hotel Bethlehem just across the street.
A historic run
Seddiqui recently made his way through the Lehigh Valley, sharing his tricks of the trade and guest-speaking at Black River Farms winery in Lower Saucon Township and the Bethlehem Area Public Library on Oct. 22.
He also took time to do research for his incoming work titled “Reliving History of the Mid-Atlantic.”
This particular excursion took him on a history trail through Virginia and up into the Keystone State for horseback riding at Gettysburg and stops at York and Valley Forge before coming through the Lehigh Valley.
It’s on to Cape Code, Massachusetts, and Long Island, New York, for Seddiqui before making his way back home to Bend, Oregon.
Of the country’s more than 19,000 cities, towns and villages, Daniel Seddiqui said he’s been to every incorporated place with a population of over 10,000 people — including many other smaller locations.
Of the country’s more than 19,000 cities, towns and villages, he said he’s been to every incorporated place with a population of over 10,000 people — including many other smaller locations.
But at this point, Seddiqui does it all on a part-time basis; he also works full time as a youth career counselor.
And just like the students he works to help these days, a couple of decades ago, Seddiqui was trying to find his way all the same.
He finished his economics degree at the University of Southern California and dove into a maddening cycle of a job hunt during the Great Recession.
He said he slogged through about 120 rounds of job interviews, some of those second- and third-rounders, and had no offers to show for it.
He changed course for a bit, using his three years of collegiate track-and-field and cross-country experience at Oregon University and one year at USC to secure a volunteer coaching job with the Northwestern University women’s track team.
But even that opportunity came after sending a whopping 18,000 emails nationwide, he said.
'Travel bug'
Seddiqui said he eventually had to forge another path for himself, this time tapping into his love of maps and a “travel bug” dating to his childhood.
He mostly attributed those to love and support from his parents over the years.
“They did give me a collection of atlases and different collecting cards of countries,” Seddiqui said. “My dad's from Afghanistan, and my mom comes from Quaker heritage of Pennsylvania.
“And so it's just that diversity that probably made me curious. Maybe because the Bay Area where I grew up is extremely diverse — so many micro-cultures there, depending on what suburb you're from.”
Using a similar approach as his previous search for a coaching job, he set out to buy himself time and broader experience for his resume by mass-inquiring with local businesses and families around the country for temporary gig work and accommodations.
“I love to be a part of the everyday life of a local and whatever they do, culturally speaking — like their past times, what they're really passionate about or their job."Daniel Seddiqui, "Most Traveled Person in America"
A campaign resulted in 50 “OKs,” 5,000 denials and, after USA Today newspaper caught wind of what he was up to, a nickname of “The Most Rejected Man in the World.”
With that, Seddiqui hopped in his 1997 Jeep Cherokee and hit the road for the first time in 2008.
Fifty jobs in 50 states in 50 weeks.
Seddiqui challenged himself to get to the crux of what makes America’s communities hum: lobster fishing in Maine, meatpacking in Kansas, logging in Oregon, cheesemaking in Wisconsin, coal mining in West Virginia and building furniture alongside the Amish in Pennsylvania.
“I love to be a part of the everyday life of a local, and whatever they do, culturally speaking — like their past times, what they're really passionate about or their job,” Seddiqui said.
In the following years, the trek would inspire his first book: “50 Jobs in 50 States: One Man's Journey of Discovery across America. How I turned Rejection into Opportunity and Dreams into Reality.”
“It connected my curiosity of America and career exploration at the same time,” he said. He said he even got some full-time offers from some of the places he visited.
'Came up with new journeys'
Curiosity kept growing for Seddiqui from that point on, and he said he “came up with new journeys,” also scheduling lectures and book events.
Another of his adventures delving into culturally significant events, social research and “something unique” in every state was his “Piecing Together America” project.
Seddiqui was on a mission of “learning how to make something iconic” at each place he stopped — including the Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel and a coin at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
Other mementos he’s made along the way include a surfboard in San Diego, vinyl record in Cleveland and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, sweetgrass basket from Charleston, South Carolina and a neon sign from Las Vegas.
“If the ‘why’ is strong enough, the ‘how’ becomes easy."Daniel Seddiqui, "Most Traveled Person in America"
For those interested in trying a similar adventure, Seddiqui created a curriculum for college students based on his original journey — a summer program in which youth can arrange for five different jobs in five states for five weeks and earn college credit.
Here are some of his latest adventures ahead of his trip to the Lehigh Valley, including a stop at Texas A&M University in College Station and his “Lessons from Every City” series.
Per his lesson from Pittsburgh, published last Dec. 9: “Learning from others doesn’t mean follow in one’s footsteps. Instead, their lessons demonstrate what’s possible.”
An early riser, Seddiqui said he’s up by 4 a.m. each day, working on his books for a few hours before starting the shift for his full-time job.
He also schedules lectures across the country and uses vacation time to make the trips — all while also researching for his next project.
He said he’s even got several more books up his sleeve.
“I'm hoping that this would inspire my daughter to, whatever idea that she has in her life, that the only one who can stop her is herself."Daniel Seddiqui, "Most Traveled Person in America"
“If the ‘why’ is strong enough, the ‘how’ becomes easy,” Seddiqui said.
Seddiqui also has a 4-year-old daughter, and with loving support from family, he said he’s able to make the trips he does.
“I'm hoping that this would inspire my daughter to, whatever idea that she has in her life, that the only one who can stop her is herself,” he said.
