I just got home from hosting seven sold-out events, in six cities, over two weeks. I walked into bae’s house fresh from the airport, dropped my bags, and collapsed on the sofa. What sweet relief.

Every stop on tour for American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States was its own world. Different locations with vastly different setups. Menus to review and approve. Chefs, mixologists, and moderators to coordinate with. Ticketing systems to figure out. Marketing copy to draft and approve.

At one point, I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t even remember the name of my hotel. I had to pull up my calendar to call an Uber. In the madness, my brain only had space for what it deemed necessary to make the events happen, everything else got wiped to make space.

At times I felt like I was drowning in demands, with so many voices asking for input or a decision, that I couldn’t catch my breath. Other moments it felt like I was floating, high on hours of social interaction that fuels me with wild energy as an extrovert.

We made it through. But was my book tour actually successful?

A year ago, whenever someone asked what I wanted from my book release, I said: “I want my tour to be successful.” Not “I want to hit the bestseller list.” Not “I want to outsell cookbooks or novels.” History books rarely chart like that, and I knew it.

But what did success mean? At the time, I couldn’t really define it.

Now, after living it (and yes, Googling how others define a successful book tour), I can say: unequivocally, yes! My tour was a success.

Attendees were engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and brought such joyful energy to each event. In some cities, we had folks trying to walk in even though they knew it was sold out! Also I want to say, Black women run the world. We are a force and I am honored that at every stop, Black women made up the vast majority of the audience. Y’all showed up for me and I’m so grateful

And from a professional standpoint, attendees included folks from brands, PR companies, etc., that had hired me before. Folks who had collaborated with me in the past were coming out to celebrate my work. As a freelancer I take that as a good sign.

I’m still fielding press inquiries and scheduling interviews, even now. It’s a testament to the PR push around the book and the tour that we’ve managed to snag some attention in this incredibly crowded and chaotic media environment. It’s times like this that I’m incredibly thankful for my prior career in the Foreign Service. The media training I had then has been indispensable now.

I’ve made new friends, cemented relationships that I know will bring me back to cities across the US to explore, and already had folks speak my name in rooms for new opportunities. More importantly, I really did feel like each event offered space for folks to connect, dig deeper, and celebrate local talent which was my ultimate goal when I planned the events.

I’m walking away content. With a network of friends I relied on as much as I could, I feel like I pulled off a tour that felt like me at its core. We celebrated and collaborated with Black food folks doing important work now across the country, we ordered our books from Black-owned bookstores, and we showed up authentically to have conversations about Black food, but also about American identity, media censorship, and more.

I’ve been hustling. And I do NOT glamorize this grind.

I do however believe that life and work is cyclical. Book tour, and getting the series I’m working on off the ground, have been busy times. Periods where I’ve had to dig deep and really push myself. I’ve worked harder the past six months than I ever have before.

But that pace isn’t sustainable. So now I’m slowly easing into another period. One where I’ll taking birthday trips with my mom, spending lazy weekends with bae, and beginning to think about next year, about exploring more.

I spent an evening with a friend eating and laughing and cracking jokes in this restaurant named after my granny in the Chelsea Hotel. Surrounded by granny’s art, with soft lighting framing the pieces on dark wood paneling, I felt like this meal was the equivalent of taking a few deep breaths after finishing a run. What a moment of peace in the midst of a whirlwind (and I left town shortly after for the next stop on tour). I really want to host an event at Teruko next year, I think it would be the ideal spot for a subscriber dinner, where we can all feel a little fancy.

Some of my favorite cafes in the US right now are Vietnamese-owned, all blending the approach of a third wave coffee shop with Vietnamese flavors like Memoire Cà Phê. I wandered in two mornings in a row while I was in Portland, first for a shrimp omelette that I’ll remember forever with fragrant rice and hot sauce, and then for a perfectly grilled breakfast burrito, the kind that will last you all day but somehow you still want more. I want to go back to Portland again soon, but maybe with bae this time, and maybe not to work but just to enjoy places like Memoire together.

Many would say that Caroline Gold rice brought immense wealth to the US. But that wealth would have never existed without enslaved experts whose labor and prized knowledge of rice cultivation created a vast industry (there’s a whole segment in my book about rice!). Today, Rollen Chalmers has taken his heritage as a fourth generation rice farmer and used it to champion heritage grains in SC, a Black farmer reclaiming an integral part of Black history and his family heritage. Rollen is a character, but also so kind and welcoming, along with his wife and business partner Frances. I was lucky enough to make the drive to their storefront outside of Savannah to pick up some grains, and I know I’ll be ordering more soon online. When I think about the stories I want to tell or video projects I would love to work on, I can’t think of a better story than Rollen’s.

Now I want to hear from you? What do you think makes a trip, or a project, successful? The numbers? The connections? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

I also added new restaurants, cafés, and hotels from this tour to my travel map, a resource packed with hundreds of recs from my journeys. Paid subscribers get access with your subscription, or you can purchase the map separately if you’re planning your own adventures.