It’s coming up to be my “1 year anniversary on traveling the country all alone” AND the 4th of July, what better to celebrate it than writing about it and sharing my knowledge. Firstly, this trip I took wasn’t for the faintest of hearts, I did over 4,000 miles on my little black Chevy Cruze, by myself, in uncomfortable situations and really having to get out of my comfort zone.
1.(and probably the most important): A Kick In The Ass
I say it’s the most important because it took me four whole years to muster up the balls to get up and do this. You can share as many motivational Pinterest quotes on Facebook as you want to but no quote is going to really kick you into a place in your life where you’re actually going to have that epiphany and wake up and say “hey, I’m going to go do this.” Unfortuantely, it’s usually something bad that makes you see that silver lining and for me it was a divorce, not a civilized one either and it really got me thinking on how much in life I hadn’t done but wanted too. I had a couple other “firestarter” motivators. (ex: Kacey Musgraves album and the North America documentary on discovery channel”)
2. Plan
The planning part got me kickstarted. To make this long story short, if you don’t know me, I’m Jaime, I’m from La Crosse, Wisconsin where, well, there’s not much to do other than drink Bud Lights and take shots of Fireball. My first stop from my town of 50,000 was Pittsburgh, PA. I mean, why not? I am a huge Steeler fan and it’s about 11-12 hours away. This stop I planned a couple of weeks prior, I booked an AirBnB.( http://www.airbnb.com/c/jaimea621) things: AirBnB is awesome, if you are doing something like this, I would recommend just the couch options. MUCH cheaper. ALSO, I wish I had known about the App: Couchsurfers sooner. It’s a free app to allow people like myself a place to crash for free for a night. The one other thing I did in advance was to contact ANYONE I knew around the country for a place to stay. This really paved my route for the most part and you really see parts of the country you probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. To be honest, I was really nervous about this part, I hate asking others for things but it was extremely enlighting on how excited people were that I was coming for a visit. I stayed with everyone from family to my attendance lady from high school.
3. Don’t Plan
I know, I know. Bullet points 2 &3 are very contridicting, however, like I said planning got me off to kickstart BUT not planning made my eyes wide with excitement with not knowing where I was going to go next. I knew I wanted to go to Maine, that was my #1 destination on the East Coast but to my surprise, you really don’t realize the distance between cities until you are actually in a new one. I would have never ended up in Philly, The Jersey Shore or Boston if I had planned each and every stop. Rememeber when I told you this trip wasn’t for the most faint of hearts? This is one of those times. I knew absolutely zero people on the East Coast but I wasn’t going to bypass it all together, I really had to sleep in my car a lot and I had to choose where I was going to sleep carefully. I felt that truck stops or rest stops under street lights were the best places, I tried hotel parking lots and wal-mart parking lots but just got bad vibes.
4. Odd jobs
This part I’m going to be bluntly honest about because, just a secret, I wasn’t always honest getting jobs. I didn’t feel like any place would hire me if I just said I was going to be around for a week or two, so I kinda sorta left that part out when interviewing. Waitressing and bartending jobs are about as easy to find as shotty drivers in New York City. If you currently don’t have experience in either, start right now! Usually restaurants and bars hire on the spot because they are always in turnover with employees. I also planned, which also decided my route, I looked for festivals that would just need a bartender for the weekend; like Sturgis, EDM and country music festivals. If you haven’t seen the documentary “Craigslist Joe” it’s a much watch. Basically he’s an extremist but some of the ideas are great; look on the Craigslist section of “gigs” AND especially skip the ads of “hot girls wanted”
5. Put Your Wallet Away
Also, to be honest, I had one random job the whole trip. I am positive it was because I didn’t spend money on useless things. It’s really hard not to buy a coffee cup for every member of your family but you have to control the urge. The reward? I ate like a Queen. Lobster in Maine, Oysters in Boston and Alligator in Georgia and I always made sure to try the local beer they had on tap. I like trying new food, so if buying souvenirs is your thing instead then go for it! Those $10 coffee cups start adding up though.
6. Have A Great Support System
Remember the first bullet point? You need a kick in the ass which means you probably are not in the best place in your life. I left weeks after my ex-husband and I split, their were times I cried all day and wanted to go home. He even got a new girlfriend while I was gone. If I didn’t have friends to tell me to keep going, I would have gone home the first week. I firmly believe you turn into who you hang out with and are influenced by the people surround yourself with. If you have no support, you’re screwed.
Of course, I have other tips, tricks and hacks for being able to travel as much as I do BUT these are the basics.
Stay Tuned!
Jaime
thegypsytraveler 