5 posts tagged “travel”
"A remarkably freeing experience!"
How it made me feel: Contented
How I did it: I spent a few months planning my trip, and in the end just ended up doing what I felt like at any given moment. I wrote lists and lists (I'm a list-maker) of places I wanted to see, routes I would take, people I would visit, cheap hotels...and in the end, the people won out over places and routes.
I brought along my camping gear, stayed a few nights in state parks, stayed with family and friends, and even a few nights in highway rest areas. Only two nights did I spend money on hotel rooms.
I was on my own, so I had a great playlist put together, and if I didn't feel like doing a planned activity or sight, then I didn't go. If a billboard on the highway moved me to some weird corner of the backwoods, so be it.
All in all, it was a great way to see the bit of country I saw, catch up with friends and family, visit some old haunts, and have some quiet time for self-reflection.
Lessons & tips: Make sure your car is in good, working order. Nothing worse than having to call AAA in The Middle of Nowhere, South Carolina.
On that note, make sure you have AAA, or a similar roadside service. If you're that far away from home, no one will be able to come to you when you lock your keys in the car at a rest area in Michigan.
If you choose to stay at a rest area to catch some zzz's, you might consider doing it during the daytime, and drive at night. If you do sleep at a rest area at night, choose one that is monitored by the police. I slept next to the cop car both nights.
Don't be afraid to TALK TO PEOPLE. The people make the trip memorable, and they can offer you lots of info for the places you land in.
Resources: Good maps are absolutely necessary, and there are plenty of guides - especially if you are sticking along a major highway.
If you have a GPS system, they are a nice tool for finding some of the more "out-of-the-way" places. Also for finding something to eat other than McDonald's.
AAA. Period.
Rest areas/Welcome Centres on the highways. The always have deals and resources for the state you are in. Because do you really want to miss DinoWorld? Okay, maybe that's one worth missing, but I caught a beautiful state park I wouldn't have known about otherwise.
(originally posted 12/1/08)
1. Bok Sanctuary
2. Hemmingway House
3. Elizabethtown, KY
4. Maid of the Mist
5. Gateway Arch
6. Beale Street
7. Houston Museum of Natural Science
8. Savannah Historic District
9. Historic Charlestown
10. Asheville, NC
11. Boone, NC
12. Gettysburg Cemetery
13. The Survivor Tree/Oklahoma City Memorial
14. Outer Banks
15. Nashville
16. Louisville
17. Red Rocks Amphitheatre
18. Olympic Peninsula
19. Forks, WA
20. Boulder, CO
21. Taos
22. Mesa Verde National Park
23. San Antonio
24. New Orleans
25. Appalachian Trail
26. Cherry Blossom Festival
27. Duquesne Incline (Pittsburgh)
28. Mackinac Island
29. Upper Peninsula
30. Ann Arbor
31. Cedar Point
32. Chicago
33. Chesapeake Bay
34. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
35. Fell's Point (Baltimore, MD)
36. Blacksburg, VA
37. Harper's Ferry National Historic Park
38. Uffington White Horse Hill (England)
39. Memphis
40. Little Rock
41. Charlestown, WV
42. Roanoke, VA
43. Blue Ridge Parkway
Since I only need to pay for gas and 2 nights in New Orleans, this will be a bit easier to pay for than Seattle (which was a little astonishing as far as travel costs). I'm excited! I wasn't able to attend the NCTE conference that was held here in November, and everyone came back with such great photos (I was a little jealous of pictures of friends and coworkers with authors my kids would die to have autographs from)!
Catie - thanks for the Seattle tips. I'll be holding on to them until July :-)
I was prepared to buy my plane tickets for Seattle today, but am so glad I didn't! I should have known it wouldn't come off without a hitch, but oh well. I should be able to reschedule for this summer, as long as nothing too drastic happens with this newest money snag. I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's not cancelled - just postponed. *Sigh*.
I hate it when trips bite the dust.
I have a 3-day weekend this coming weekend, and I was wondering what to do for it. Or rather, where to go. my dr. appointment had to be rescheduled, so it's wide open for me. I have decided to stay at home because I was away for a week just 2 weeks ago, and those bags are still sitting on the floor in my living room. But I am still restless again.
I think that over spring break, I will be making my way over to the West Coast. I have done the Northeast and Midwest, and the Southeast because I have to drive through it to get to either of the aforementioned. But I think I will play with the idea of ditching the Ireland trip in exchange for a longer trip to the Pacific Northwest to explore Seattle and the Olympic Penninsula (this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Twilight series. NOTHING. I swear......DON'T JUDGE ME!!) :-)
Anyway...if anyone has any suggestions of anything to see in Seattle (and I NEED to see the coast off of the Penninsula) I'd love to hear them! I'll definately see the Market and the Needle, but what are some less tourist-y ideas?
States I have been to:
1. New York
2. Massachusetts
3. Connecticut
4. Vermont
5. New Hampshire
6. New Jersey
7. Delaware
8. Maryland
9. Pennsylvania
10. West Virginia
11. Virginia
12. North Carolina
13. South Carolina
14. Georgia
15. Florida
16. Tennessee
17. Kentucky
18. Ohio
19. Indiana
20. Michigan
21. Wyoming
22. Montana
23. South Dakota
24. New Mexico
25. Minnesota
My Groups
-
Book Reviews Updated: 6 hours ago
-
Teachers Lounge Updated: Oct 20, 2009
-
Road Trips Updated: Oct 14, 2009
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
