There and Back Again - Part 2

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” - Lao Tzu

A week before the trip, it became clear that my car, a 1995 Volvo, was the only car that we would be able to use for the trip. This was only slightly bothersome, seeing as it had broke down in the middle of the road twice less than three months prior. As worried as I am about this, I manage to push it out of my mind and we continue to prepare for the trip.

The week before spring break goes by uncannily fast for me. I start to realize my doubts more and more about whether or not we're going to be able to make it from coast to coast and back in a bit more than a single week. The car is definitely weighing heavy on my mind at all times. Encouragement from peers and lack thereof from parents and professors leads me to believe that maybe this is just a stupid college thing. It is. Which made our trip even sweeter.

The night before we went to Walmart and stocked up on food and some supplies that we didn't already have. We pick out meals of chili, bread, summer sausage and cheese, and, for some reason, about 100 corn tortillas. I thought it was a great idea. I'm extremely excited, but the fact that we're going through with the trip hasn't hit me yet. I sleep well that night in preparation of the next day. The day of the trip drags by with a snail's pace. Fact: Exams on the day before a big break have the ability to manipulate time.

After classes and work get our group scambles to get everything together. We say our farewells to friends who are leaving on trips as well before throwing all of our gear and food in the trunk of the Volvo. I say good-bye to my girlfriend, Lauren, and we pile in the car.

Doors slam, keys turn and I turn on the cd player. In that moment it hits me what we're all about to try to accomplish. What, in a few seconds, was going to go from excited talks to reality.

I step on the pedal.

More to come later in Part 3. Hope you are enjoying it so far, comments and criticism are very welcome.

There and Back Again - Part 1

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller

Forgive me for using such a generic title for a post about traveling. Off the top of head, though, I can't think of anything more appropriate. Last week, Spring Break, myself and three friends took a 1995 Volvo across the country through a grand total of 17 states and over 6,000 miles. For the next few weeks I will continue the story of our trip. The purpose being to document it for myself in the future and to share my experiences with others.

For the past two years, I have felt the nigh irresistible urge to travel. The word "wanderlust" comes to mind. I have never strayed too far from my south eastern home, except for the summer after my freshman year when I took a 10-day hiking trek at Philmont, New Mexico. It took me a great while, years in fact, for the gravity of that trek to sink in and when it did, it hit hard. I needed to experience the thrill of adventure again. I feel inclined to also mention that Project Pedal, or For Thousands of Miles (http://projectpedal.com/) had a large influence on me.

Which lead up to spring break. After much thought, the idea of a cross country road trip came up. The plan being to visit both the east and west coast and hit the Grand Canyon along the way. Over 6,000 miles of road, cities and all around glory. All within the time period of Spring Break, March 13th through March 22nd. Myself and three friends (Carlos, Cory, and Terry) decide that we are up for the challenge. Only Cory had been to the west coast and none of us had ever seen the Grand Canyon. The trip we planned out would no doubt be amazing.

The idea is only slightly crazy. At two weeks before the trip, however, we run into a slight problem. We don't have a car that we can definitely use for the trip.

Part 2 to come in the near future.






Picture courtesy of Mapquest.

Purpose of this Blog

I've had this blog with nothing on it for around half a year now and I figure its about time I do something about that. It has been far too long since I've written anything but papers for class. This blog will serve as a place where I can talk about my tastes in video games, movies and music among other things. I will also be posting about my recent travels across the United States and my hopes for future trips. Please be patient as I've never really done anything like this before. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy.