Skip to main content

A journey through Sad Topographies, a really sad Instagram account

A journey through Sad Topographies, a really sad Instagram account

Share this story

Some places in the world have strange, sad names. The Sad Topographies Instagram account makes sure we don't forget about those places.

A photo posted by @sadtopographies on

Texas, 2:00AM: I begin at a point of uncertainty in Uncertain. Tonight I realized if I am ever going to shed this feeling, it will have to be through some show of mental force, through a tangible delineation between what is real and what is not real, what is dirt and what is mud.

Craig says he doesn't understand why I can't just make the decision. I tell him I'm not sure what the decision is yet, and so instead I'm driving the car around in circles (big circles, because I tend to get car sick when anything is tightly wound) and try to see if there is anything solid buried in my brain that will point me in the right direction. There's nothing, so I hang a Louie onto Route 47.

A photo posted by @sadtopographies on

Kentucky, 4:00AM: I'm not sure how long it would actually take me to get from Uncertain, TX to Lancaster, KY, but in this story it takes two hours. We've arrived at Sad Road (or Sad Rd., if you're a local). Sad Road is paved with small bits of colorful beach glass, which looks nice, but is mostly useless for driving.

At this point I fall out of the car, because it has no seat belts and no driver's side door and driving on beach glass is, motion-wise, akin to being on an airplane stuck in hurricane turbulence.

Since I'm already out of the car (I'm fine, you can't drive very quickly on glass), Craig and I walk along Sad Rd. There are three Blockbusters on each side of the highway. They appear to be thriving; the lines are out the door. As we walk past one of the lines, a group of three men harmonize in song: "The DVDs are two-for-one." One of them has Milk Duds stuck to his gums.

I had a dream last night about birds, specifically, the insides of them. Their bones were so small they snapped when I touched them.

A photo posted by @sadtopographies on

California, 7:35AM: We found love in a Hopeless Pass.

Alone, Brescia Province, Italy #alone

A photo posted by @sadtopographies on

Italy, 4:04PM: I am alone because Craig is gone. I don't have the details of his disappearance though I can say for certain it was swift and not at all unique when it comes to how people usually disappear around these parts.

I expect one day he will be on a talk show and he will ask the host to harmonize with him as he sings: "The DVDs are two-for-one."

A photo posted by @sadtopographies on

Washington, 5:13AM: I have reached Termination Point, a place where things end. This doesn't mean anything has been resolved, it just means everything is over.