Updated at 3 p.m. Saturday with O'Rourke back home in El Paso.

WASHINGTON — As would-be presidents descend on Iowa and New Hampshire, Beto O'Rourke took a decidedly unconventional tack for anyone eyeing the White House.

Rather than courting voters or lining up staff and donors, he hit the road, solo, taking time to explore his roots and shake off the "funk" that set in after he fell short against Sen. Ted Cruz two months ago.

No aides, no livestream, and no obvious political calculus.

In Bucklin, a small town in western Kansas where his great grandparents got married in 1906 — and hardly a strategic waypoint on the road to the White House — O'Rourke stopped for lunch. The Bucklin Bar & Grill was empty and about to close, though the owner took pity.

Three days later, Lisa Nicholas was surprised to learn that the buzziest Democrat of the 2020 season had been at her restaurant. But given a rough description, she readily recalled the man who'd come in alone, taken out a laptop and ended up chatting instead, after ordering the daily special, at her urging: open-faced roast beef sandwich, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Did they talk politics? Presidential ambitions?

"He didn't say anything about that. Just asked about how I like living here," said Nicholas, 49. "He just said he was from Texas and his grandparents used to live here. He was a very nice man.. ... He kind of seemed like he'd be interesting to talk to. He was a little bit chatty."

"She told me she wasn't getting rich. But that she enjoyed the work," O'Rourke wrote on Medium, where he chronicled his wanderings online. "The food was excellent."

His itinerary wasn't so different from his Senate campaign, driving from one small town to the next, asking folks about their aspirations and challenges. Over five days he was sighted in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, returning Saturday to El Paso.

People he encountered along the way described him as upbeat, curious and a bit aimless. It's not the usual way to prepare for high office. And he sprinkled his travelogue with introspection that clearly hasn't been poll tested, let alone approved by any competent professional strategist.

"Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk," he wrote. "My last day of work was January 2nd. It's been more than twenty years since I was last not working. Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what's going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I don't know and I'm not known, it'll clear my head, reset, I'll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I've been stuck in."

The passage lit up social media. National contenders haven't admitted to being in a "funk" since Thomas Eagleton dropped off the Democratic ticket in 1972, after revelations he'd undergone electroshock therapy for depression.

Late to the party

Confidants say O'Rourke genuinely hasn't decided whether to run, let alone begun to sketch out strategy, or line up staff and donors. A few trusted aides field inquiries, mostly playing for time.

On Feb. 5, he'll be in New York City for an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The show won't air live, though, and he's one of several guests. So it's not the sort of platform a candidate would use to announce a campaign.

While O'Rourke ambled across the politically irrelevant heartland, rivals for the Democratic nomination were already hard at work.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts drew a large crowd Friday night in New Hampshire. Julian Castro, the former Housing secretary and San Antonio mayor, stumped there Tuesday and Wednesday. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown will soon visit the first four states on the 2020 primary calendar.

Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said O'Rourke hasn't missed his window yet. "Oh, no. No. There's plenty of time for everyone to come up," he said.

Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, agreed, but only because the field is so big.

"It's definitely a buyer's market here for political activists," he said, adding that, "There's more candidates than there are good activists."

Local photographer Debbie Lujan lights up social media with this shot taken today – posing with @BetoORourke at Taos Pueblo.https://t.co/tYZJdxTQnD#Taos #TaosPueblo #NewMexico pic.twitter.com/cCJpJ0kadJ — The Taos News (@taosnews) January 19, 2019

A week of ups and downs

As O’Rourke hit the road to clear his head, his reputation was being whipsawed.

Two fan groups, Draft Beto and Draft Beto 2020, released videos aimed at encouraging him to run. One featured footage of O’Rourke stumping in Texas, playing air drums in his car, and telling the crowd at his election night party that he was “so [expletive] proud of you guys!”

Within a day it had been seen nearly 700,000 times.

Another video featured supporters from around the country explaining why they want him to run. "He's one of the most progressive, inclusive candidates we've seen in a long time," says a woman identified as Shannon from New York.

At the same time, O’Rourke was catching grief for oversharing.

Derision persisted more than a week after he livestreamed a visit to the dentist to highlight the normality of life along the border. Then The Washington Post published a story based on a two-hour interview in which O'Rourke, apparently trying to appear open-minded, refused to say how he would deal with immigrants who overstay their visas.

"I don't know," he said.

"He goes to the dentist! He skateboards! He eats Whataburger while driving! Just don't ask him about policy," mocked the Republican National Committee's rapid response director, Michael Ahrens, calling the Texan an "empty suit.

1 / 7Beto O'Rourke visits Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith. 2 / 7Beto O'Rourke visits Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith (left, in green shirt.) 3 / 7Beto O'Rourke visits Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith. 4 / 7Beto O'Rourke (front row, center) listens to a presentation on wind energy at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith. 5 / 7Beto O'Rourke and Dylan Germaine, president of the student government association at Mesalands Community College, during a visit to the college in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith.(Brandon Smith / Photo courtesy Brandon Smith) 6 / 7Beto O'Rourke and Brandon Smith, a student at Mesalands Community College, during a visit to the college in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith.(Brandon Smith / Photo courtesy Brandon Smith) 7 / 7Beto O'Rourke inspects a wind turbine during a visit to Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, N.M., on Jan. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy Brandon Smith.(Brandon Smith / Photo courtesy Brandon Smith)

Rambling man

O’Rourke drove tens of thousands of miles during the Senate race, visiting all 254 counties in Texas.

He streamed countless hours of the journey on Facebook. For the solo tour, he stuck to the written word, with breezy blog posts recounting meals and foggy morning runs.

His first major stop was Tuesday in Tucumcari, N.M., five hours north of El Paso. His great-grandparents moved there from Bucklin more than 100 years ago. A search at the local library for clues about their life in town was unsuccessful. But he enjoyed blackberry cobbler at Del’s and some alone time at Ute Lake a few miles outside town, a spot recommended by a waitress.

“Had it all to myself and some ducks. Found some crab claws. Maybe left by a bird. Walked out on a pier,” he wrote. “Looked out, took some pictures. Leaned over, scooped up water and washed my face. Picked up beer cans that someone had left.”

He stayed at the Motel Safari — “mid-century everything” — and spent a couple of hours at Mesalands Community College, which trains students for careers in wind energy. Technicians can make six-figure salaries, if they’re not afraid of heights.

An aide had called the night before to arrange a visit.

O’Rourke marveled at the 250-foot turbine that towers over the campus.

He learned about pump storage, battery technology and production tax credits. He asked a lot of probing questions, students and faculty recounted.. He seemed especially interested in complaints from the oil patch about government subsidies for renewables such as wind and solar.

He joked that he’s unemployed, and acknowledged speculation that he’ll run for president.

“It was a great experience for them to be asked some hard questions from the 20,000-foot level,” said John Groesbeck, the college president, adding that O’Rourke connected well with the students. “I’ve been around. I’ve been a lobbyist at the state level. I got the sense that he was running for something. He was thinking about a way to land on his feet. That’s my political spidey sense.”

Dylan Germaine, 27, president of the student government association, served as guide with the head of the wind energy club, Brandon Smith, 29.

Germaine went online and watched the Texan's appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during the Senate campaign.

“The person I saw in that video was the exact same person I met the next morning,” he said. “He was very authentic. He was who he was on TV."

O’Rourke met with about 20 students and a half-dozen faculty. The school didn’t promote the visit, but word got around, and about a dozen residents turned out. One third-grade teacher took the day off to see him.

He spoke for a few minutes but mostly listened, “which we all thought was really cool, that someone who typically gets up on stage and tells us who he is would want to know so much about us,” said Germaine. “That really was humbling.”

Smith is from Florida and hadn’t heard of the Texan. “He does seem like a very good candidate,” he said. “He was very personable.”

The incognito contender

With no entourage and utter secrecy about his itinerary, O’Rourke still got celebrity treatment from startled bystanders.

In Pueblo, Colo., he posed for selfies at a Starbucks. In Dalhart, in the Texas Panhandle, he stopped for a green chile cheeseburger at the Grill.

“The table over asked if I was Beto. We talked about the campaign, about Dalhart. Talked about the livestock show they were on their way to,” he recounted on Medium.

At the Southwinds motel in Liberal, Kan., the owner looked up from behind the desk and instantly recognized him.

“You look like the guy who ran for Senate in Texas!” O’Rourke recounted. “We talked for a while. ... I asked how much a room was and he said it was nothing.”

Room 29 was clean and comfortable, he reported.

That’s a $53 freebie. But he’s a private citizen for now. If he steps foot in Iowa, as the candidate many Democrats hope he will be, that would be an in-kind contribution. He would have to report it.