Awesome news about the photography assignment! And great that your spoke up about it!

I love a good travel story and think your cross-country trip would be a cool idea. I can't recall who at the moment, but I've read several authors' notes where the author says that their novel started out as a short story and then wanted to expand. So maybe writing a short story about your cross-country trip could be a good starting point to help you see where the novel might go?