Travis Parks

Full Name: Travis Parks

Role: Dan’s best friend since junior high; husband, father of six, and hospital worker

Personality: Travis is the kind of friend who shows up with dry commentary and zero filter, and somehow that’s exactly what makes him indispensable. He’s warm and funny in a loud, effortless way — quick with a terrible joke, quicker with genuine support. He teases Dan mercilessly but would do anything for him, and the two have the easy shorthand of people who’ve been through real life together for decades. He has a cheerful, barely-controlled chaos energy that makes sense once you know he’s managing a household of six kids. He’s perceptive underneath the jokes, and his opinion clearly matters to Dan more than Dan would probably admit out loud.

Interesting Facts:

• Travis and Dan have gone on a summer camping trip together every year since they were teenagers — first with family, then on their own, then with their own families. It’s one of the longest-running constants in Dan’s adult life.
• Travis’s wife Sarah got Henli’s number right away. His verdict mattered enormously to Dan, and he knew it.