t-minus 55 days

I love quotes. I read them for inspiration, comfort and perspective. I recently stumbled upon a quote from Napoleon Hill that just made sense, "Don’t wait, the time will never be just right."

Fact.

I can think back to a thousand moments where I haven’t done something because I didn’t have time, or money, or courage, or a good enough reason. What a waste! As a result I am inspired. This summer I will have friends randomly scattered from California to Connecticut; a perfect opportunity to road trip & visit a few of the places I have always wanted to see along the way.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a teacher; a profession that conveniently provides me more than two glorious months of freedom every summer. Even though I waitress & bartend, I am in no way opposed to taking a month off.

Thus, I have started this blog to track my travels, provide insight to those who are novice road trippers like myself with what I will learn along the way, & offer inspiration to anyone looking for it. I plan on departing Monday, July 18^th after summiting Katahdin & returning August 5^th just in time for the Beach to Beacon & a Guster concert. Nineteen days of pure, unadulterated adventure.

I am still in the planning phase. What stops to make, how long to stay, cost, food & so on. My ideal budget is $2,500… but as I mentioned, I am a teacher. So my goal budget is more along the lines of $1,800.

Step 1: Where do I want to go? (In no specific order)

· New York: Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty

· Missouri: St. Louis

· Arizona: Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam

· Connecticut: East Windsor

· New Mexico: Santa Fe

· Montana: Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park

· California: San Diego, San Francisco, Redwood National Park

· Utah: Arches National Park

· Washington, D.C.

· Ohio: Cleveland

I don’t know if I’ll be able to hit all of these stops in nineteen short days, so I’m in the pruning process. Any suggestions??