Stepping out of the Shire

Yesterday, Mom asked me how far my longest solo road trip had ever been. I realized the furthest I had ever driven on my own was to visit my dear friend Katie in Perry, Florida or as she lovingly calls it, "the armpit of Florida."

That distance suddenly felt incredibly short and I realized that I was diving into the deep end without really first learning to swim, and yet, I was so excited, I was ready to tackle the high dive.

On my drive today, I racked my brain trying to think of the farthest north I had been solo. The furthest I could think of was Huntsville, a mere two hours (if that) away. Sure, I went to Chicago on a choir tour, St. Louis on a mission trip and friends and I went to Nashville together just a few weeks ago, but solo? Nope, that was a totally new feeling.

As I crossed the Alabama state line today, an odd feeling came over me, a simultaneous pull towards home and a gust of wind pushing me onward. I felt like Sam as he ventured with Frodo. It was only the very beginning of their incredibly long journey when Sam stopped in the middle of a field and thoughtfully said, "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been." Frodo answered Sam's concerned thought with a quote his uncle Bilbo always told him: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Today, I stepped out of my own little Shire, and I can't wait to see where I get swept off to!

Miles traveled: 576.1

Gallons of gas purchased: 19.3

Hours in the car: 9.5

States: Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri 

Herman

Six years ago, when I was traveling to Europe, my cousins Laura and her young daughter, Ann Wright gave me a traveling partner, a little blue elephant that can easily fit in my purse. I took pictures of Herman everywhere we went, and he began to gather quite a collection of photographs.

As the years progressed, Herman became a part of my classroom, one of the students' favorite parts of the classroom in fact. Herman would travel the world at night, then send us photographs of where he had been. He would appear somewhere in the PowerPoint on the screen during the day, surprising students and offering interesting facts about a new destination. Students' curiosity about new places, new cultures, new people was automatically piqued.

Herman now has his own Instagram account (@whereisherman) so that former students can continue to follow the travels of this little elephant. For this upcoming road trip, he'll even be sending postcards to the first person who correctly guesses where he is!

We are both looking forward to exploring beautiful places in our own country! 

Preparations

I am just two days away from setting off on my great Western Adventure, and I'm ready... I think!

I've never been on a road trip to this proportion.  Sure, in middle school and high school road trips with the school choir or church youth trip were frequent, and road trips to the beach, Atlanta, Savannah and New Orleans still happen fairly often, but none of those seem to be quite the same.  Those trips always involved traveling with big groups of people, or just enjoying the road on our way to a destination.  It was never as much about the trip, as it was the destination.

This trip is my own, one where the road will be my traveling companion and while the destinations and the friends I get to see along the way are a huge incentive for the trip, the focus of the trip seems to remain on the traveling along the way.

I've also never really been on such a massive trip where the dates of my departure and return were not etched into a flight schedule.  Sure, I have to be back for work in early August, but the glorious part about being in my own car is that I can take my own time sight-seeing, or rushing back if need be.  Sure, I'm a bit anxious about driving that far with merely my thoughts, audiobooks and music to accompany me, but I also know that there are breathtaking spots in this country that I have yet to see, nor do I know how many opportunities I may have to see them, so why not take advantage of them now?  And if something happens, and I realize my own thoughts are not nearly as entertaining as I had planned, well, I'll just take the quickest route home.  But I'm hoping instead that I find my own way meeting new people and seeing some of the many wonders this country has to offer.

What have I packed?  Well, I think just about everything but the kitchen sink.  Which actually, would come in handy if I knew a way to pack it...  You would think I'd be better at this packing thing since I do it so frequently, but I seem to suffer from the "What-if" syndrome.  You know, "what if... the temperature changes drastically and there is a blizzard?"  "What if I fall in a lake and ruin all the clothes I'm wearing?"  "What if I get invited to go to a fancy ball?"  Yes, and I know you're waiting for "What if aliens come down from the sky and... "  But, come on, that would be ridiculous!

My packing skills, nonetheless have never been minimalistic.  Perhaps it was my Girl Scout upbringing, "to always be prepared."  However, when you are going on a road trip in your own car, by yourself, the size of your suitcase doesn't seem to matter as much.  Which is a good thing since I'm planning on camping out both in the desert where temperatures are near 100 and in Glacier National Park where the temperature still reaches freezing at night time not to mention Seattle and Portland where the cool damp air feels more like my beloved England.  So, perhaps I can just blame my overpacking this time on the fact that I will seemingly see all four seasons within the next month.  And of course I've got everything else from duct tape to toilet paper to bug spray to a solar-powered charger.

Since most of my packing is complete, I think I'll move on to more important "what-ifs."  What if this becomes one of my greatest adventures of all times?  What if all other trips seem too small after this one?  I guess, I'll just have to see!

Epic Road Trip

Last year, during the 2012-2013 school year, I had the incredible opportunity to teach abroad in England as a Fulbright Teacher Exchange. I taught an American Studies class to middle schoolers, teaching them history, polititics, geography, food and pop culture. In one lesson, I invited the students to create their own road trip around the USA. I gave them maps, printed out brochures and told them about interesting places. It was then that I realized there was a whole lot of my own country I wanted to see.

So, after years of traveling abroad, I've decided to spend this July seeing a bit of my home country and discovering the many beautiful treasures that she holds.

I've found a great app and website (Roadtrippers) that has allowed me to put in key places I want to see in the country (Mt. Rushmore, Glacier National Park, Seattle, Portland, Arches National Park and Santa Fe) then guides me to good routes and other treasures along the way that I may want to discover. The more I explore what our country has to offer, the more I add to my map!

I am so excited to be embarking on this #dreamroadtrip to explore my home country!