As a tourist coming to Marfa, you might have certain romantic notions about this place, ideas about the magic of a small desert town. Sunsets, sound baths, epiphanies and photos in front of Prada Marfa. But what if you live inside of that fantasy every day? What if you’ve spent your entire life watching people take selfies in front of your firehouse, your clinic, your courthouse, and witnessing them having a magical experience over and over and over again while yours…is not that.

That’s the reality for Sam Salazar. Sam grew up in Marfa, and year after year, she’s watched the town she grew up in change into something unrecognizable. So she went out to talk to other people who grew up here to find out if they were feeling it too.

Produced by Zoe Kurland, Sally Beauvais, and Elise Pepple, in collaboration with Sam Salazar.

Music: Refraction, Pulsars, and Encounter by Podington Bear.