Around the Country in 40 Days

On June 20, we embark on a 40 day trip around the country. We won't hit every state, but we will go through 22 states in about 6000 miles. My daughter has already been to most of these states, but my son has been to only a few. But in both cases, we'll have plenty of new spots to write on their U.S. puzzle maps when we get home.

Since taking six weeks off at once is only something you can do in certain European countries (and often not even there), my husband, Ed, will only be joining us for the first and last weeks of the trip. The rest of the time will just be me and my kids: my daughter, age 10, and my son, age 7. I can do what I do from anywhere, fortunately.

We will visit a few GeekDads (and GeekMoms) along the way, in addition to plenty of my other friends and family. We will spend time surrounded by natural beauty and stop at historical sites. We will enter government buildings and go to a wedding. We will see museums, study architecture, and play many, many board games.

A Ginormous Trip in My Future?

Image via Wikipedia
My planned trip back east to the Mid-Atlantic region for next summer's 20th high school reunion has morphed a bit. Or should I say ballooned? Turns out my half brother is getting married at the end of June. In Wisconsin. So I don't want to go all the way over to Wisconsin, turn around and come home for a month and then go farther east at the end of July. So I'm strongly contemplating a massive 6-7 week trip. If I find enough people to stay with, I should have enough money to do it. We'd go through about 23 states on the trip. I've been to them all, my daughter has been to most of them, and my son about half.

We'd get to see parts of the country that I haven't seen in a long time and my kids haven't seen ever. We'd get to visit many friends and a few family members. We'd get to see historical sites. It would be great!

But it would be in the summer. Ick. Humidity and mosquitoes are not my friends. And I'd be the only adult most of the time. There's no way Ed can afford to take off of work for that long, assuming he even has a job by then. So the idea is a bit scary to me. Can I do it? I think I need a pep talk.

My People

Image by Kup Kup Land via Flickr

As I am gathering ideas and lists for our New England and Mid-Atlantic trips, I'm also making note of people to visit and people to possibly stay with along the way. Staying with people, for at least part of the time, is the only way these trips will be possible, since funds are quite limited. But the sheer number of people I know in the locations we'll visit is growing rapidly! Even the people to just visit, that I know wouldn't want to or be able to put us up. I can't wait to see/meet some of these folks!

Not surprisingly, the longest list of people is in the D.C. area. There are several people to visit that I knew when I lived there, but the most interesting part is how many people I know from completely different circles in my life that have moved there since I've been away. Some family, Arizona friends, Colorado friends, GeekDad contacts... And wouldn't it be awesome to tour the ThinkGeek offices while there? Something to ask them when the time comes.

So I'm really hoping that when we embark on our trip that we'll be able to visit a whole bunch of people. And I hope that some of them will join us on our adventures in their area, such as to museums, historical sites, and.. well.. more museums and historical sites. =)

Friends Afar

Image by atlas922000 via Flickr

As I am making friends all over the country and all over the world through my work at GeekDad and through the internet, it makes me want to travel to visit (or meet) them all. I've accumulated friends and acquaintances all over the United States, Australia, many countries in Europe, and at least one in Asia. I'm looking forward to working in visits with them into our upcoming trips.

In the end, it is the people in our lives that make life worth living and make every day special. I treasure my people, and hope you treasure yours, too.

One Trip Becomes Three

Image by afagen via Flickr

It would be easier to fly to England from the east coast of the U.S. than to start all the way back here in Arizona, so I contemplated linking my trips together. But the more I read, the more I realize that this is going to be three completely separate trips, not just one or two. I want to go to my high school reunion in northern Virginia in 2011. So on that trip, I was planning on doing everything in D.C. such as architecture, museums, and government buildings. I want to go down to Williamsburg and do that area. Pennsylvania isn't too far north of there. So those things together, plus environs, are probably going to end up being one trip. New England, including parts of New York, will most likely be its own trip as well, since I'd love to really spend some quality fall colors time up there. And my high school reunion might not be in the fall. There is so much to see, that a month will easily be taken up much far north of Pennsylvania. England will have to be its own trip, if I ever manage to make it happen, since I don't want to be away from home for forever.

So this post is pretty nonsensical, but it was the best way I could explain it today. Apparently my brain isn't working correctly or in an organized fashion. I'll explain more clearly another time.

I've Added England to My Plans

Image via Wikipedia

Perhaps attached to the New England trip (since we'd already be out east), or perhaps as a stand-alone trip, I'm planning a trip to England. Specifically, London to Dartmoor to Bath to Oxford or Cambridge to the Cotswolds. I even dreamed last night about my Dartmoor research. It was really great! Now I just need to make a few thousand more dollars than I originally had planned. But at least our passports are up to date.

Will Write for Travel

Image by oh_candy via Flickr

There is a feeling that hits me in mid to late summer every year. It is a yearning for the east, a desire to see fall colors and feel cool, crisp air on my skin. The smell of fall rarely makes itself known where I live. The lack of leaf piles to jump in here saddens me. Don't get me wrong. Most of the year, I love the weather where I live in northern Arizona. It has relatively mild summers and mild winters and lots of sunshine. Though as a very fair skinned girl, it is easy for me to get too much sunshine.

Once in a long while I get to travel back east. Unfortunately, it's usually in the summer, which only reminds me of how much I hate humidity and mosquitoes. But a trip in the middle of autumn would be delightful. So I'm planning a trip for 2011. It all started because my 20th high school reunion will occur (if it does) in that year. It is possible it will happen during the summer instead of the fall, in which case I'll have to make a tough decision. Do I go in the summer and brave the humidity and mosquitoes? Do I go in the fall anyway and miss the reunion? It's a decision that I won't have to make for at least a year. But it's also one I may not be able to make at all.

See, money is an issue for me. I don't have a paying job, but spend my time with my children, taking care of them and homeschooling. I love what I do, but it doesn't allow for many extras such as traveling. I hope that some of my writing endeavors start paying at some point soon, but if they don't, I need to find a way to make a couple thousand dollars in the next two years. I figure that if we're going to make the long trip back east, we might as well see everything we want to see. So from Virginia up to Connecticut, or even possibly Maine, I'd like us to see all the family, friends, historical sites, and regional activities that we can. School isn't an issue, obviously. There will be more learning done traveling from museum to historical site to governmental building than we'd ever be able to do at home. My kids will be 10 and 7 for the trip, and, since we homeschool, our schedule is flexible to allow such a long trip.

Depending on how many wonderful souls will put us up for free, my very rough initial estimate for the cost of the trip for the three of us (transportation, food, activities, occasional lodging) is about $2000. This doesn't include airfare for my husband if he decided to meet up with us for part of the trip. There are many free and inexpensive activities to do, so about half of my estimated cost is transportation. I am envisioning an Amtrak journey out there, then renting a car.

So I'm embarking on a two year mission to raise funds for this trip. I'll start saving money where I can, but until we sell our house, that'll be tough. So it's up to me to make some extra money.

I write for GeekDad and have done proofreading and editing for a living in the past. So if you have any writing or proofreading needs, I'm open to suggestions and offers! I'm happy to send my resume if you're that interested.

Otherwise check out my writing at GeekDad.

Another idea I had was to take our experiences from taking this trip and writing it up in great detail. The planning, logistics, trip itself, and aftermath ("what we learned") could be interesting for others to read. So if you want to help fund the trip so that I can blog about our experiences, or perhaps to write a book (a girl can dream), let me know. Thanks!

Tune in for another post soon about where I plan to go!