Silent Retreat:
A Solo Summer Road Trip

Silent Retreat is a two-book collection documenting five weeks alone on the road in the United States of America. From the Northeast to Colorado, the Four-Corners Region, and through the Southwest, André Rober Beriau left home in Worcester, MA fully intending to spend the majority of his summer in Sante Fe, New Mexico. When things weren’t working out according to plan, he rolled out of the Land of Enchantment and let fate take over. His meandering journey brought him over the Mississippi, to Red Rocks twice, Mesa Verde National Park, a Fiddlehead gig in Phoenix, and Sound and Fury in Los Angeles. Some of these plans were predestined while others were purely a stroke of good fortune. André captured his experience on 35mm film and Voice Memos on a basic Sony voice recorder while navigating the highways and byways of America’s open roads. Those experiences are presented in this pairing of publications.

 

In a 100+ page hand-laid scrapbook, André presents the visuals, ephemera, and captions of what the day-to-day experience felt like. A separate, 30+ page publication of journals and reflections offers insight into his mental state, allusions to processing challenges he left at home, and his musings on the world beyond his windshield. Utilizing the same voice recorder from the road, André has recorded an audiobook version of his revised and edited journals – bringing a sense of authenticity and vulnerability to the inner workings of his mind and heart. The through line of these entries is a balance between humor and gratitude with the occasional bite of East Coast rawness that says, “I love you, but you’re a prick.”