It started in the summer of 2018 as a curiosity for Gagan Singh '09 and his wife of 13 years, Aman, first-generation immigrants from India who longed to dig into the heart and soul of their newly adopted country.

“We said to ourselves, ‘There must be more to America than what we see in the suburbs,’” says Singh, who earned a master’s of telecommunications engineering at Maryland. “So we started traveling, and during our travels we found layers upon layers of America. Some people call America a concept, some people call it away of life. I don’t have a single word for it.”

When they were done driving in June 2025 – seven years and 73,000 miles after they started – the Frisco, Texas-based family, including son Anhad, now 8, had developed a deepened love for the land and its people.

“I don’t think America will ever be done for us,” says Singh, a strategic program manager for telecommunications company Ericsson. “The more we travel, the more doors are opening, and we want to keep going.”

Singh turned the family’s voyage into a book, “United Travels of America,” which he describes as a visual journey that’s an “exploration of identity, belonging, resilience and human connection.”

Courtesy of Gagan Singh

The family set out on 36 separate road trips over the years, crisscrossing the United States in their 2014 Volkswagen Passat. 

They toured 32 national parks, hung out with bikers in Sturgis, S.D., and joined revelers at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. 

Along endless ribbons of highway, they spoke of hopes and dreams. Aman sometimes read books allowed to pass the time, including “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.”

Singh regularly wore a UMD T-shirt, which along with the turban representing his Sikh faith, invited curiosity from people he encountered. 

“It’s not like you get love all the time, but the shirt helps to break the barrier,” he says. “All of the biases are thrown out the window when you have an opportunity to have a human dialogue."

Courtesy of Gagan Singh

One of Singh’s favorite destinations was Saint Mary Campground in Glacier National Park, both for the area’s natural beauty, and for the family’s encounter with a grizzly bear sitting in the middle of the road.

“It was a surreal experience of anticipation and anxiety, but it was nature giving us what we came there for,” he says. “We saw him, and there was a heaviness in my chest. It was similar to asking my wife to marry me, and she said yes after two days.”

The family doesn’t have plans to stop wandering, as they still must visit 30 national parks. This year, Singh says, they’re focused on taking on several Texas state parks.

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