Highway Ends 1/4 Mile

"It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to"

At the beginning of this summer I listened to Susan as she told me all about the trip she and her girlfriends were taking out West, the stops they were making, and the sights they were seeing. It made me upset to know I wasn't experiencing the same things, or going to get the chance to do something similar. As I spoke later with a friend about the trip, driving across this country is one of those romantic, Americana experiences, one of the ones everyone longs to do and dreams of how great it will be. Well, I wanted the chance. After talking with my family and Susan about it, we came up with how I could get my trip. My dad volunteered himself for a gruling 4 day trek across, and Susan offered to drive home with me, knowing how much I wanted to.

After four full days on the road and behind the wheel, we reached our destination. The trip out West wasn't nearly as bad as everyone told me it would be, perhaps because I was at this point expecting something similar to hell contained within a 4-door sedan setting.

We went each day in California like it was the first and last, never setting an agenda and doing whatever we pleased. We'd wake up to a beautiful sky and only want to enjoy the entire day on the beach. The most perfect part about it way, 90% of the time, that's exactly what we did. I couldn't have asked for anything more from a vacation than 3 weeks or relaxation on the beach with my friends.

We went to Disney, surfed, swam, played paddle ball, and ate more tacos over the course of three weeks than I've had in the past 6 months. We kayaked around La Jolla Cove, walked along sandy shores, went to a world famous zoo, and ate some of the greasiest and most delicious food I've had in a while.

San Diego was so different from being on Long Island, or even in New York. If you're on the sidewalk and even begin leaning into the street, cars come to a halt there. They only stop here if it's a certainty they will hit you, and even then they may keep their foot on the gas. Everything happens at a slower pace. People are less uptight, more relaxed and have a "just go with the flow" sort of attitude. It was the perfect place to kick back, enjoy the sun, and forget the fact I was coming back to unemployment.

But Sept. 1 the SoCal experience came to a close, and the adventure of traveling cross country began. The trip was everything I dreamed it would be, and more. Susan was a great travel-buddy, not only because she is my girlfriend, but because she was always open to refining our plan, doing something different, or going somewhere that made totally no sense geographically. Her attitude rubbed off on me over the course of our time in San Diego, so by the time we hit the road I was not going crazy when we didn't have a completed itinerary or chose to roll up to hotels without a reservation almost every night.

For the longest time, I have begged my parents to take me to California, not only because it is a fun place, but because I really wanted to go see the Redwoods. Susan really wanted to drive up the coast and when she brought the idea up, I really wanted to do it to as well. As we planned the trip, I said, "This makes no sense! We are crazy! We are going 8 hours North and then coming back South only two days later. It's not worth it, it's just crazy."

Her only response was, "So what?"

Well thank goodness for her. After driving through the winding, hairpin turns of Big Sur with heart-stopping views of the Pacific Ocean and getting to stand amongst some of the tallest trees in the world, I can't imagine doing the trip any differently. Those two stops were definitely in my top favorites.

Outside of those two stops, I'd have to say my other favorite was the Grand Canyon. I'm not sure if it's on the same level or higher that the other two. It is extremely close and a pretty impressive list of top things seen on a trip if you ask me.

We had a few major things we wanted to do on this trip: 1) Go to the Grand Canyon, 2) Stop in Atlanta, 3) Go to Cedar Point (too soon!). We accomplished the first two and decided the rest with a flip of a coin or a passing glance at a map and a "What can we do there..?" question.

In the past 41 days I have traveled a whopping 8,930 estimated miles. On our 16 day Odyssey-like trip home, Susan and I covered a minimum of 5,043 miles and at an average speed of 70 mph, that's 72 hours spent together just in the car. I've been through or stopped in 22 different states (13 Westbound, 9 Eastbound).

Susan always referred to this summer as her "transition period" between college and joining the work force. I never thought of it that way really, but looking back I think that's exactly what this trip was to me. I came out of college restless, unhappy to be back home, working every day, and wanting freedom a bit longer. I would be lying if I said I no longer desire to have that freedom and independence, but I feel more at ease with myself. I have taken a journey of a lifetime and one years from now I will recall in conversations with friends and family.

What I've seen and where I've been over the past month plus has truly been incredible, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, and something I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I would be remiss if I did not thank my incredible parents, who had no qualms with me going and tried to help me in anyway, and my amazing girl, Susan, for always being patient with me, encouraging me, and putting up with my craziness. Without you three, this trip would have never been possible.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading my posts, following the trip, supporting me, and taking part in the experience with me. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you all. From here I begin the much more arduous task of trying to find a job (since I haven't figured out a way to continue traveling and getting paid for it), but I am going to try to keep the blog going since I like the writing it lets me do. It'll hopefully become more topical and probably less frequent, perhaps only once a week.

Thanks everybody!