Summary

With his ragtag fleet of Cadillacs, school buses, motorcycles, and vans, Uncle Joe, "The Wandering Van Man," has traveled the roads of the U.S. for 25 years. In the spring of 2000, he challenges his friends and family to join him on a four month "Odyssey" across America. Two family members, sister "Aunt Effie," and nephew Batt Anderson, both working in the high-tech industry, quit their best-paying jobs ever to take to the road. The Odyssey begins in Arkansas where Effie and Batt first see Joe's trailer-a makeshift rig with wooden planks for beds, and the Odyssey Van-a down-and-out vehicle just waiting to spew blue diesel smoke at the new arrivals. Amid the crew's struggle for oxygen and sanity, Batt occupies his time interviewing the people he meets along the trip, asking them all the same 20 Questions. The hilarious, touching, and sometimes chillingly-insightful responses are weaved in among the travel segments, highlighting the misadventures of the crew and their guests. As the journey unfolds, Batt decides to pursue his wildest dream in earnest-to appear on David Letterman's "Stupid Human Tricks." To impress the Late Show, Batt performs his stunt-running and hula hooping at the same time-at national landmarks across the country. Although firmly a comedy, this feature length documentary proves also to be a penetrating look into the heart of America at a time of unique prosperity, confidence, irreverence, and innocence.