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Blog #8: Country Roads

07/13/2021

Currently driving through roads where pro-life billboards are placed in front of graveyards… we are officially on the road back home.

Traveling fast but seeing the most we have while covering 1,500 miles and two time zones in the last week. 900 miles to go. We jumped from Portland to northern and southern Montana then all the way through to Chicago… our last stop ;(

We met some really nice people out here- the kind of people that want to take time out of their day to interact with you. People actually smile at you and mean it when they say “have a good day.”

There were a lot of experiences this week that were indescribable. All senses were at full throttle from sleeping in the heart of Portland to camping in National Parks.

Being our last stretch of the trip, it has been hard to not feel sad when we are closing such a big chapter of our life. It’s a weird feeling of being sad but also still being so excited for the next stop. I hope the excitement doesn’t end.

Who

Who is ready to rumble…

In Portland we got to meet up with Maya’s cousin, Michael and his daughter Thea. He moved out there 13 years ago and never looked back.

He was telling us he did a similar trip with his college buddies back in the day and fell in love with the city, so moved there shortly after the trip.

Sounds fun, might fuck around and move…

Batman was ready to rumble, and fumble and everything in between. While whitewater rafting in Glacier National Park, we had the pleasure of riding with Batman The Guide. Batman, because you can’t change who you are but if you can always choose Batman.

He had been living in Montana for 17 years after moving from Oregon. He had previously worked in the park as a shuttle bus driver and recently switched over to a whitewater rafting instructor.

He was a funny fucking dude; the whole crew was super hyped but he had a comedic sense that made it an entertaining day.

While on the water, we were joking around and splashing the neighboring rafts, an independent rafter said they will bomb us with beers if we splash them. One of the other people on the boat yelled back, “Are they full beers?” and they responded by launching three full miller lite beers at our raft.

At the end of our tour, Batman gave us the three beers then we dedicated those three beers to him with a funnel.

More Friends!!! Its wild how many people we got to see throughout this trip. Hitting Yellowstone National Park, we met up with Mayas friends from home: Cole, Jamie and Declan.

They were just starting their cross-country trip from Nyack, NY, hitting the Northern route to the southern, vs our trip ending in the North. Funny coincident.

We camped out with them for two nights… it was too beautiful to just stay one night, so we pushed back our trip to badlands and stayed the extra night.

We were all out at this joint called Buffalo Bar, it had a great outdoor area with corn hole, ring toss and puppiesss. There is something so fulfilling in petting random dogs with a beer in your hand.

This one dog I was petting had an exceptional owner who was traveling him across states to bring him home. I spoke with the owner for quite a while, she was so friendly about letting me pet her dog. She really was doing it all, back at home she has three kids and two other dogs.

When people hear about our travels, their reactions usually make us realize how cool it is to have the opportunity to do a trip like this.

Many times they wish they did the same when they were our age, *cough, cough, go travel right now, cough, cough.*

This woman explained how she jumped right into working out of school and has always regretted it. Her children were already teenagers so I told her she should get out there and do it. Traveling her new dog home was a great start to the on-the-go lifestyle, she seemed to be enjoying it.

I later found out she picked up our tables tab… thank you Jennifer, you have a heart of gold and a generous soul. She explained her hopes that her kids will one day get out there and see the world like she always wished, and we were accomplishing. It was a pass it forward request, when I am able to cover the bill of a lovely traveling stranger. I hope I cross paths with this family eventually and pay it forward for her children that may travel.

What

What a reality…

The National Park pass is something you buy and are given access to all the national parks in the US. We got one in the beginning of the trip knowing we would be reaching quite a few parks. Unfortunately, we lost it after just seeing the Grand canyon.

It fell in a black hole… the area where your dashboard and windshield meet. Remember this when you put shit on the dashboard. It can slide right down to its death, the only way to get the shit out is by taking off the windshield.

Those passes are irreplaceable, of course.

In badlands, we posted up around 10 p.m. in our hammocks. It was a new experience for us, we thought hey its our last time camping, lets try it a new way. 

We set our hammocks up underneath this podium and slept there. It was perfect for a quick and easy set up/clean up. There was a solid amount of people around us, so we weren't too worried about getting attacked by coyotes again. 

Where

When driving to Portland we drove through the Redwood National Forest. This made me realize how long this Earth has been around.

Trees take a while to grow, and these trees were as thick as three full grown pine trees and as tall as two stacked on top of each other.

Neck breaking tall.

After crossing through, we hit the upper west coast and traveled on route 101 until we hit Portland. It was filled with jaw dropping views, so much so I woke Mary and Maya up every 5 minutes to show them the views. Most times it was the same view as before, just with a new massive rock to look at.

It was a relatively foggy day, so we couldn’t see certain lookout points, but there was something so majestic about the fog within the forests and hanging on the coast.

There were points where you cross over a bridge and there was nothing around you, just white. It appeared as being stuck in a dream or driving my bitchass to heaven.

Arriving in Portland, we stayed at a place in ChinaTown. It was so cute and located on top of a great deli, Charlie’s Deli.

We checked out a bunch of shops and stores while in Portland. While we were walking around, this coffee shop had the sweetest workers. They enjoyed interacting with their customers and weren’t just looking to take your money.

Portland is filled with mockingly friendly people, they weren’t mocking anyone though, they were just that fucking friendly. They actually want to converse with people... what a concept.

For dinner we went to this food truck pod place, which is about 15 different food trucks serving food, with a communal sitting area to eat the food.

We met up with Maya’s cousin there for a drink and to catch up.

Hitting Glacier National Park, we started our camping excursion. We started off sleeping in our car since we arrived late to our campground after driving 10 hours to get there. It was pretty comfortable and with the knowledge of bear attacks in the area, it was a secure place to sleep.

While in Glacier, we decided to go whitewater rafting, a whole new way of seeing the parks. It was so dope, the rapids were on the weak side since the heat waves.

After rafting, we found a great lake front public access point where we hung our hammocks up and took a nice long nap.

There are lakes EVERYWHERE here in Montana and great fishing! Let’s travel and fish all over Montana, okay? Cool.

We waited until 5 p.m. when the park lets you in without a pass, to do a sunset hike in the park. We took Going-to-the-sun road to the highline hike, where we got to see some wild animals!

In the parking lot we got to see a horned sheep (looks like a ram) and more mountain goats!! We saw three full grown goats and one baby goat.

This horned sheep actually stormed at us and we had to jump into our car. The people that parked in the spot before us left their cheetos on the ground. This guy was hungry as fuck I guess. Relentless to say the least. 

This National Park is my new favorite spot-on Earth. Spread my ashes here. Moseying through the park was a full body experience.

All your senses are involved, the smells of the forest are beyond refreshing. The touch of the crisp air brings goosebumps to your skin, and the taste of wind in your face emphasizes the overload of oxygen in that area.

There are no commercialized areas for hours outside the park. Just a fuck ton of trees.

The sounds of different birds chirping harmonizes in your ears with the wind blowing and the rocks falling below you. Your sight is spiked the highest out of the senses. These views seemed so unreal they appeared fake. When you finally touch the grounds around you, you realize how really unreal this land is.

Heading to Yellowstone the following day brought a similar element of nostalgia. We camped right outside the park, on the state border lines of Wyoming and Idaho.

Our friends we stayed with luckily still had their national park pass, so we all took our car and got into the park early that next morning. We got to see some bison! Fun Fact: Bison and Buffalos are actually the same thing.

There were so many beautiful trees and hot springs throughout the park. So many cool colors to see. We also watched Old Faithful blow her hole!!

Getting to Badlands eventually, we got a campground directly in the park. Since we got there later than five it was free. We posted up our hammocks for our last night camping on the trip ;( when we woke up, the views were so cool.

Badlands is a shit ton of clay forming giant sandcastle hills all over. But there is so much green for a desert it was an interesting combination.

When

When can we shower…

We have completed so much of the drive home its wild. We stayed in an apartment for the first two nights in Portland and then spent the rest of the week camping.

We hit our record of days without a shower… 5 full ass days. I’m so proud of Mary and Maya, they really can’t stand being dirty.

When driving long ass 10 hour plus drives for a week you find yourself enjoying nothingness. Head empty is such a vibe after jamming to music and listening to murder mystery podcasts for hours on end.

Our music ranges widely, depending on crashing periods. Whenever Mary is driving, she is either blasting screamo edm music or 2000s pop music.

Maya plays some bomb bops; I really don’t know any of the songs, but it has opened my mind to all these new artists!!

I personally love the murder mystery podcasts, there were a few times I had to change it though because it got too spooky. In the case of this week, we were driving to camp in Montana and a murder mystery came on about the Montana Child Killer… dope.

Why

I have ruled out ever living in a city. From the driving on busy ass streets to the dirty smells everywhere, I will happily reside somewhere in the country. Where? Still have no idea… Why? Because there are so many pros and cons to all these places we saw.

I guess i'll just have to come back out here!

I’m really thinking somewhere up north on the west coast. The west coast will forever hold my heart, but I really don’t have the money or the ability to live in a city out there. Maybe one day with a bombass money making job.

Coming back to the East has made me realize how much nicer people are out west and how much slower of a pace it is.

How

How are we coming up on our last spot…

We are hitting our last stop… Chicago. Shoutout to my cousin for going to school here and letting us use and abuse his apartment! Hehe just kidding we will take care of it for ya, Owen!

It feels so strange to be this close to New York. Our license plates being from New York is no longer that cool.

I’m going to miss people peeping our plates and asking us about our travels and/or wishing us luck!

Thanks everyone throughout, we are almost accomplished with this chapter!

#blogging for beginners #fuck it #post grad #cross country #jubilation #travel #beginners guide #covid made me do it #road trip #bloggersdiaries

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #7: Polar Opposites

7/6/2021

From San Francisco to camping in the Folsom Prison woods, we got the best and worst of both worlds.

Driving into San Francisco, we took the coast up from LA. It was an indescribable experience; making you feel things, you never thought an inanimate object could make you feel.  

Upon arrival, we were hit with the lovely smell of old urine and human feces. Not dog shit… human shit.

Our hostel was located in downtown San Francisco, which is a very sketchy area. It was so sketchy, we were warned by cops themselves to not park anywhere but a secured garage because with our out-of-state plates. It would be almost inevitable that our car would get broken into.

Johnny Cash would have approved of our campground for the weekend, it overlooked Folsom Lake, home to fish, boats and possibly a dead runaway body from the prison.

Our location for the fourth of July couldn’t have been more ideal, minus the fact they were in a massive drought, so fireworks were not allowed anywhere. It was a quiet fourth, but thankfully we only drove through one wildfire on our way out of town.

More of our college friends came out to represent. Our buddies Kyle and Noah were driving out to their new jobs in San Diego and made an appearance at our campground for the weekend.

A day trip to Lake Tahoe was all fun and games until a storm cloud rolled in and almost took us with it.

Who

Who popped the floats…

More friends!! Surprisingly enough we have seen a good amount of college friends throughout this trip. It gives me hopes of seeing them all later in life.

Noah and Kyle are our friends from Oneonta. They were driving cross country with San Diego as their final destination.

They both got jobs working at a horse race, videotaping the events. They seemed super stoked to be living out there until September. Congrats guys! Best of luck!

It really is so nice to have familiar faces on the trip, its always a blast meeting new people, but something about meeting up with a homie in the middle of California for the fourth of July, just hits different.

It was a blast having them around.

At the Walmart near our campground, we were fucking around in the parking lot (as per usually) and I was playing on Noah’s skateboard. Yanno doing tricks and shit;) To my surprise the people shacking up in their car next to us brought out two ripsticks and tried to go trick for trick with me.

They seemed to be struggling, so friendly Kyle helped them out and taught them the ways of a ripstick. About one minute after, they offered us the ripsticks and got extremely heated over not being able to get up on it still.

In their defense, they were probably not sober considering the many needles surrounding their van in the parking lot.

Ripsticking is not for everyone kids. Remember, don’t shoot up and drive anything with wheels because it can cause more damage to your cell-less brain.

What

What is jumping in the water…

Driving up the Pacific Coast, the views were unbeatable, especially when you catch a glimpse of a whale jumping as you are stopped at a stop sign.

As soon as I saw the flop, I knew it was a whale. I pulled a quick left and drove down to see the water. There was the most spectacular view of cliffs dropping  into the ocean, and sure enough we saw even more whales.

I had never seen a whale before, but in my mind I kept thinking, people really pay to see these creatures, and I got lucky enough to see it from the road.

The number of whales jumping and blowing water was insane, one of the locals we talked to said this almost never happens, they were migrating from up North. What a coincidence.

San Francisco was good for two things, the street art, and the food. I mean they have REALLY good food.

After finding the hidden gems of the city, including some local parks and some mural ally art, we hit up a really authentic Chinese place my uncle recommended.

When you walk in this place you can already tell it’s going to slap.

The best part: you don’t order your own food. It sounds horrible if you have trust issues, but it really was the best way to eat at a place this authentic.

We just told our waitress our food restrictions and she handled the rest.

My gawddd I cannot begin to describe this food. It was just so fresh, and the presentation was spectacular.

10/10 recommend the House of Nanking.

Where

Where can I submerge my body in water…

San Francisco is known for its petty crime rates, so many cops just give you heads ups that your car will most likely get broken into.

The homelessness was just as bad as Los Angeles. About every other sidewalk had tents pitched up and needles all over.

One perk of having face masks still handy is it helps with the smells of the cities. In this case, it helped mask the smells of old urine, and human shit.

I never actually thought about the difference between dog shit and human shit, but after seeing a human shit on the sidewalk, I can now see the difference. Size and smell may vary.

Besides these sights, San Francisco was not all that bad, it had its perks. Including: its well-maintained parks that overlook the city.

The whole city is built on high hills, so the architecture is very unique and fills the landscape well.

Lake Tahoe was a day trip we all took from our campground in Folsom. It was a beautiful day outside, we were going to rent some paddleboards and chill on the water all day.

Just our luck, they ran out of paddleboards, however it worked out for the best since we ended up leaving the area abruptly.

Parking a car anywhere in California is like winning the lottery. There is simply too many people and not enough spots, and/or the spots are too sketchy to park in.

We drove around for an hour trying to find a spot to park. After finding a spot in a residential area, we walked about 20 minutes to the beach.

The spot we found was super isolated and we basically had an island to ourselves.

We did have to walk through a small river of muck to get there, but totally worth it.

About two hours into being there a massive storm cloud rolled in out of nowhere!  

We were just going to wait it out on our island because we could see the cloud wasn’t too long. But then we had a freaky thing happen.

All our hair started standing up as if we had just got off a trampoline. The static was insane, full pieces of hair were just standing straight up.

That’s when Maya proceeded to inform us that this was a sign that we are going to get electrocuted.

She was right! So, we quickly hurried off our island through the water to get to our car. Luckily no one was electrocuted, but it would have been a cool story to tell and id get some pretty cool scars to go along with it.

Back at Folsom Lake, we had our campground set up perfectly, with arguable the best spot on the campsite.

We got to see some amazing sunsets and were able to walk down to the water.

Prior to arriving, we picked up some cheap floats for the lake. We were able to float around all day long.

And only one of them popped after a day, considering we got them for $5!

I also got to break out my new fishing pole, finally! Too bad the fish weren't biting, I was hoping for a good ass dinner.

When

When can we leave…

Having the constant fear your car will most definitely get broken into and there is nothing you can do about it is quite exhausting. Therefore, when it was time to hit the countryside, I was READY.

Simply having out of state plates on your car is, “asking for it” when it comes to car thefts.

That first night sleeping in the city, it was a constant sound of car alarms going off, not very reassuring that our car was being held safe.

Thankfully we drove out of that city with our car intact.

When we got to Folsom, we set up our tents and hit the lake where we sat in that water for HOURS until it was dark and the air had cooled down.

The heatwaves have been hitting hard inland and we got to experience it first-hand. It was nearly impossible to be out of the water for longer than 20 minutes.

On the fourth, we exited the water once, to make dinner of course. We cooked up burgers, dogs and pasta salad.

It was so brutally hot we just cooked the food and ran right back into the water.

What a day

Why

Why can’t we help everyone…

Like Los Angeles, there is an abundance of homelessness in the city of San Francisco. It is so sad to see the system had failed them.

The community these people have created though is kind of sustainably wonderful, to see the silver lining.

Yes, these people are severely addicted to drugs, and they can’t help their addiction. That is something that takes over one’s life, leaving a battle between themselves.

The community they build is together, there is never just one man lying on the side of the road drugged out, it’s a street filled with tents and old furniture, giving these people neighbors and maybe even friends, or enemies we don’t judge.

Seeing the overpopulation of homelessness makes me wonder who or what wronged. How did they end up here and do they want to be here?

How

How much longer…

We have only two weeks left on this life changing trip. How did time go so fast? Who the fuck knows.

The remainder of the trip is going to be long stretches of driving to get home. We successfully completed a 16-hour trip yesterday, and will be embarking on a lovely 10-hour trip tomorrow morning. 

The rotation of driving is nice. Splitting these drives between three people is not too bad, especially when your views consist of national forest and ocean drives.

#blogging for beginners #fuck it #post grad #cross country #jubilation #travel #beginners guide #covid made me do it #road trip #bloggersdiaries

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #6: Coast to Coast

6/29/2021

The homeland of the rich, the famous, and the homeless junkies of Los Angeles, California will always have my heart.

With my first near death experience, I have come to see life in a new light… YOLO!

Remember that term? Yah, it was one of those fads that had meaning to it but no longer holds a place in fashion... thank god.

Everything on this coast is slow, even the way people talk is dragged out. No one J-walks here. They seriously wait for that little white man to pop up on the cross walks before walking, even if there is not a car in sight.

Yet everyone here has a serious addition to coffee.

Hangovers are even more dragged because everyone is so uber healthy here, they straight up do not have greasy food.

I made the mistake of ordering an egg and cheese, knowing it’ll only be a disappointment compared to a New York BEC. It was beyond disappointing, especially being hungover as fuck.

Everyone here is stoned all the time and have been for years. I truly believe the whole city moves so slow because everyone is high all the time.

No wonder they can survive with the shitty food- they are too high to realize.

They do have some fire weed here, so it makes sense, but damn… they are so slow and ditsy.

There is so much art here, from music, to painting, to theater, to creativity, everyone comes here with a dream. Some make their dreams come true, others end up addicted to crack, but everyone originally came here in hopes of making something of themselves.

That energy runs through the streets, it is so lively and so filled with hope. It is truly an inspiring place to live.

Who

Who have you become…

The people on the west coast are just genuinely nicer. We had a conversation that consisted of outrageous hand gestures with a random man in his car.

He had blocked an intersection accidently so I couldn’t make a left turn, where he then proceeded to see me raging about it and trying to mouth to us how sorry he was. We straight up had a conversation with this guy and were joking around while waiting for the light. We left mouthing, “We are from New Yorkk, move outta the way” as a joke, and he just understood and left us with a peace sign.

There is a surplus of homelessness here, and it is sad to see but also so interesting to watch them set up communities on the sides of highways and all along the beach.

There is never just one homeless dude posted up under a cardboard box. It’s always 15+ people posting up together in nice ass tents they probably stole or making cardboard houses with tarps for extra coverage.

They get super creative with their homelessness; it is fascinating to watch.

This one guy was zipping down the road in what looked like a decked-out bike, with high handlebars and a motor. He was moving with traffic and was looking cool while doing it.

As he got closer, we realized his get-up was made from an ironing board he bent into a seat, a plastic crate holding up the ironing board to a lime scooter he probably stole a month prior. Topping it off, he added tall handlebars for that 70s badass look. That man mastered one man’s trash, into another man’s treasure.

The saddest part is knowing majority of them came out here looking for their big break and got so hooked on drugs, they could never make it farther then that last $10 in their pocket for drugs.

On the other hand, some of these people have money to their names, but choose this lifestyle.

They really enjoy the life of nothing. This one woman was offered a job and a home, and she politely turned it down because this was her home. She loved the community around her and wouldn’t trade it for any material. What a way of life.

My family was so generous to let us three, stay with them here in Venice Beach. My Uncle Greg is my mom’s brother. He moved out here with his family to further his comedic career. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t see my cousins often.

My cousin Owen is a year younger than me and in the same grade as my brother. My other cousin Jojo is four years younger but grew up so fast. I always said the water in California was cracked out, because she always appeared older than my brother and I.

Since COVID I hadn’t been able to see them in two years, so I was so excited to hang out with them.

Jojo just graduated high school, so she is finally old enough to do drugs with!!

We also got to meet up with our friend Izzy from Oneonta. She is living out here for the summer with her sister. What a life.

Izzy is thriving here with her job at this night club and is living in her sister’s cute ass apartment in Echo Park. She has the total LA vibe and even knows all the local spots to hang. Shout out to you for sneaking us into a random hotel’s rooftop pool! Confidence never gets questioned.

We love meeting up with friends from school, it makes the trip feel more homie.

What

What’s hanging dude…

Joshua Tree National Park was something out of another planet. It seriously looked like Jurassic Park and a dinosaur should be appearing at any second.

It was very different from anything we had ever seen before, but it was still a desert and was hot as fuck.

We did some gorgeous hikes through all the massively large, rounded rocks that somehow were placed on top of each other ages ago.

The trees that are all around are Joshua Trees, also considered Trees of Life.

This means they produce a way of life for other creatures at all stages of its growing/dying process.

While in beginning stages of its life, Yucca moths use the trees pollen to lay their eggs in and produce pollen scatter, creating more trees. When the trees are gown, the caterpillars use the tree for habitats and provides food sourcing for a lot of other desert species. When the tree dies, the bark is used to create habitats for humans and used to wove baskets and other materials.

These trees look like a palm tree and a cactus went to TOWN together.

Los Angeles is the other city of dreams. It is not comparable to New York City besides the homelessness and the traffic.

The Ocean really makes the whole city’s surfer aesthetic. Everyone, even the rich and famous, dress like they are in last weeks outfit.

The style is so different from New York. People really don’t dress to impress but spend half their life savings on their wardrobe.

Visiting my family here has always been the ideal way to do this city, since they take us to all the local shops, and we do fun activities like surfing. It’s not just another tour bus showing us where Kurt Cobain shot up some heroin for the first time.

They also show us the best food joints. We got these sushi balls, and it was the greatest -post beach snack- imaginable. A little hit of the wax pen and a bite of this ball is comparable to an orgasm.

Where

Where are all the famous people…

Joshua Tree was so beautiful, it is a place I will be re-visiting, considering we were only there for one night.

Los Angeles is where I have always wanted to live, ever since a young girl. Whenever we would come out here to visit my uncle, he would take us to the coolest places, and we would meet the coolest people.

One year I was here on my birthday, and his buddy stopped over to say hi, when I came downstairs in was Zach Galifianakis chilling there with a $20 bill and my name on it as a birthday gift.

You could imagine my teenage self shitting a tiny bit in my pants as he handed me $20… However, in my head I was thinking, “I know you’re rich, give me more you cheap fuck.”

This year for graduation I only got a phone call from him… how rude.

My Uncle is a popular comedian, if you know him you know him, but if you don’t, he is very irrelevant to you.

When we arrived, he took us out to a show he was preforming at in West Hollywood, featuring other comedians you might know or might also be very irrelevant, including Bill Burr, Anthony Jeselnik, Pete Holmes and Beth Stelling.

It was a cool venue, and a fun time. My favorite part was being called out for attempted DUI’s in every state we have been in due to my funneling addiction, thanks Uncle Greg, that was supposed to be a secret.

After the show he dropped us off at this bar that his friends said was the “it” spot. When we walked in, the bar itself was perfect, expect it was populated by older rich men trying to find their next sugar baby.

We had some contenders, but they were asking for too much… No, I don’t want to go back to your house and sneak past your wife and kids as we dart to your hot tub.

When

When will we leave…

When we first got to LA we had full intensions of staying only four nights and getting out of my family’s hair, but then plans fell through.

Because I love it here so much, we decided to stay!!

Just kidding, I wish we could stay longer… One day I’ll move out here though.

COVID restrictions are back at it again, ruining our plans of going Yosemite. They are the only National Park that requires a whole ass separate pass just to enter the park, on top of the $30 day pass we already have.

The only reason our route was heading inland California was to see that park. So, we did a little digging and decided to just send it up all the way up the coast and do the legendary Pacific Coast Highway.

This is what we originally wanted to do before we found out about Yosemite. Guess we will have to come back to see the park, aw shucks!

Why

Why can’t I afford this…

California is fucking expensive; I can see why the population of homelessness is so high… Even gas is $1.00 more than it is back in New York.

And for Why? They are on a coast, it’s not like the desert where there is a gas station every 100 miles.

They know people here have the money, so they overprice literally everything. A fucking water bottle is $7.00. Sorry didn’t realize paying for survival would be this expensive.

The older man at the bar loved to throw the fact he had money around (as do most people with money around here). He kept saying he works on wall street, but wall street is literally a street in New York City.

He just wanted to flex he works in finances and has a hot tub, okay we get it you have a small dick.

How

How we almost died…

This is my favorite part of the last week, but also the most traumatizing.

So, have you ever heard of cowboy camping?

Well, neither had we until our friend that had just camped in Joshua Tree told us about it and how legendary it was in that specific spot.

Cowboy camping: you don’t pitch your tent, you just post up with your sleeping bags under the stars.

Since Joshua Tree is known for their stars, we thought fuck it, we are here for less than 12 hours, the weather is perfect let’s do it.

That night was a full moon, and it was a killer sunset (all pun intended). We cooked up a nice rice bowl for dinner and then laid in our sleeping bags watching the stars.

The moon was almost too bright, it was taking away from the illumination of the stars, but it was legendary because I’ve never seen such a big and bright moon before.

But you know what they say about the full moons, it brings out the crazies. And in our case, coyote crazies.

After drifting off to sleep under the peaceful star and moon lit sky, I was rudely woken up to really loud growling and whimpering.

It was not something that was off in the distance, it was right next to us… barebone in the wild.

I quickly and quietly turned over to grab my bear spray that I keep next to me when camping. I started thinking, “Alright this is the only thing keeping me from getting mauled by whatever the fuck is next to me.”

Not knowing what we were dealing with, I slowly popped my head up hoping the animal didn’t catch my movement… I saw about 5 feet in front of us was a pack of about 10 coyotes, running around chasing animals.

We happen to be the center of their circle and were surrounded by their pack. Thankfully their attention was diverted to our asshole neighbor’s whose food was left out. Thanks for that.

We just laid their paralyzed in fear of death. As we laid there, I saw two shooting stars and wished for life… Shoutout to those shooting stars.

We tried to stay as quiet as possible, so we didn’t become their next victim. Maya was not having it though and couldn’t stop shaking. There was a moment when her shaking was so loud, and I could see a coyote right next to us, so I had to hold her body so it would stop moving.

We laid there for about 20 minutes until the noises stopped… then we booked it for the car. We slept in the car until the sun rose.

As the sun was rising all the coyotes simultaneously howled for the rest of the pack to meet up and disappear before daylight. That was one of those, “holy shit that was the coolest most terrifying moments of my life”, moments.

We left the next morning as fast as possible, running on no sleep and fear… we headed for the city. I had never been more grateful to be in a city.

#blogging for beginnerstravel blogjoshua treelos angelescoast to coastroad trippost gradwe are brokesugarnear death experiencecoyote #blogging for beginners #joshua tree #los angeles #coast to coast road trip #post grad #broke #near death experience #coyote

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Blog #5: Staycation

Arizona is the beloved state of cacti, palm trees, and dry heat.

We were lucky enough to be here for our longest stay in one location yet… six full days in one spot!!

Who would have thought six days could feel so long.

Every other place we have stayed had only been for about three nights. Including the Grand Canyon, we have been in Arizona for a whopping eight whole ass days. Its relaxing to say the least.

Now we go back to our ‘roughing it’ state, of living out of my mom’s Honda and our tents. This is coming after staying in a Villa with access to two whole ass pools.

I’ve come to appreciate the idea of time. I just came across a beautiful quote: “Enjoy the space between where you are and where you’re going”

This time of just staying still makes my mind wonder, what’s next for me? The same question I have been antagonized by my family with and what I am now continuously ask myself.

It is important to keep remembering the now... What I have right now is a beer, my blog and my best friends by my side in some random ass locations.

Life is good.

Who

Who the actual fuck are you…

Whilst in Grand Canyon, we maneuvered our way through the mass crowds of people known as “tourists.”

Yes, we are very much tourists ourselves, but there is more to it…

You see there are the people less touristy than us; tourists who don’t feel the need to snap a photo. They just get off by looking at the differences and beauties of our world.

And then there are people who actually look and sound like they are from the area, the “know it all’s.” These are your, “I’m scared people will think I’m a tourist so I’m going to be one of the locals,” kind of tourists.

Then there is us, the people trying to see life’s beauties and treasure while still taking pictures for the mems and the gram… but not too much where our phone cameras are our new eyes.

And then there are the families; 20 percent of them enjoying the trip and then the rest who are too busy complaining where they can’t even realize what’s in front of them.

And finally, you’re a-typical tourist… the ones that even dress the part. You know, everyone’s got matching shirts with an “inspiring” travel quote on it. They even have a camera strapped to their neck while they are videotaping on their phone and wearing a fanny pack (in case of pick-pocketers, of course).

Now, the Grand Canyon consisted of 90 percent of the people I described in the last sentence and the other 10 percent were assorted among the other categories.  

We got to meet a nice gentleman at our campground right outside of Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, we never got his name, so let’s call him Henry.

Henry was a tatted-up lad; very handsome and very short. He dressed in your classic, “yah I go to the gym” outfit, including a cut off wife beater and cargo shorts with white sneakers on.

Let the record show, we are in the desert, where anything white turns orange from the excessive red dirt everywhere.

Henry sat with us as we were eating our dinner, explaining to us his adventures in the navy and his life growing up in Texas.

He was currently stationed in Southern California and took a weekend getaway to this campground.

He was obsessed with the fact that we were from New York, he clearly had never met anyone from there surprisingly, since he kept comparing his life while growing up vs ours.

We talked about the different slang terms we used, different dance moves and differences in musical taste.

“Two-step” is what he referred to as the south’s version of grinding in a bar. We got a show from him, as he took my hand and showed us how to two-step… it was very far from grinding. Way too much coordination and foot work.

After we killed our bottle of shitty whiskey, he asked us “So do y’all drive cars or just take cabs everywhere like in the movies.” I don’t think I’ve laughed harder in my life. He really didn’t know there was more to NY then the city. Most people don’t, but this was the best quote from someone so far.

We left the next morning, never getting this man’s name… best of luck to you Henry!!!

The other significant ‘Who’ of this trip was an elder man who owned a vintage cowboy bookstore… Yah, not really our cup of tea either, but he insisted we check out his store before he closed up for the night.

We never caught his name either, but he sure had a lot to say. Most of it scary and depressing. He surely won’t be winning the salesman of the year award.

We started talking about how we are not super into cowboy memorabilia, but he really wanted to sell us something. The only problem was that everything in that store was $$$, as yelp would say.

After declining and referring to our broke college bank accounts, he started lecturing us on the work force and how we will have to sell our souls to the corporate devils soon enough.

He even added the classic, “Oh you’re young good for you for getting out there, I’m too old now my life is sad” ploy, to get us to buy something.

You’re never too old people, grab life by the balls and just do it!!!

What

What happens is Scottsdale stays in Scottsdale…

The Grand Canyon is HUGE… I mean it looks a fake kind of huge! Like this shit could have easily been a green screen and we were all dumb enough to think it was the real-life Grand Canyon.

It was cool and all at first, but about five minutes in I was really over it. Not just because it was 110 degrees out, but because everywhere you walked around it, it all appeared the same. You were just looking downwards into the whole thing.

It really was just an inverted mountain.

Scottsdale has a party scene! I repeat it is not just a place for older folks to retire and live by a pool!! This place goes HARD!

Do not underestimate its powers… there is some kind of Nashville meets Vegas vibes… and that leads to blacking the fuck out… HARD.

We got to spend the lovely Maya Elizabeth Wilsons’ birthday here in Scottsdale. Since she didn’t get bars for her 21st, we gave her bars for her 22nd.

Well at least going into her 22nd, we could not actually move for her birth-DAY.

When our Uber dropped us off, we were prepared for some cowboy themed bars, but it actually was a strip of clubs after clubs after clubs. All had an outdoor area, some even just had no walls period.

You could club hop without entering a single bar. We went to this bar called “RIOT” and it was a RIOT for sure.

There weren’t many memories from that night… the only thing I remember from that night, (besides running through the streets looking for Mary and Maya because yet again I lost them and my phone was deader than a doorknob), was instead of smoke machines, they would blow mist out into the audience for visual (and physical) effects.

Scottsdale 1, Julia 0

What I do know is we made it to this bar called MAYA for Maya’s birthday at 12 o’clock. Pretty legendary play on words.

Where

Where are my friends…

The area we stayed in while at the Grand Canyon was so cute and got my wheels turning for a lifestyle that I could imagine myself living.

We stayed at a hostel style campground… for those of you that don’t know what hostels are, it is an interactive environment that provides budget friendly lodging and communal areas that encourage the engagement of fellow travelers.

This area was different then the past two hostels we stayed in because it was camping style. Before staying here, I had actually thought about doing something along those lines… re-creating the idea of a hostel and mixing it with fellow campers.

I loved it, needless to say. Their communal areas were so thought out and fit their aesthetic so well. They have a communal kitchen with running water… which was rare to find in that area as it was all desert land and little to no oasis.

They also had a dope hangout area, including a pool table, dart board, corn hole, ladder ball and even a lasso cow game.

They even had their own petting zoo… well, more live exotic pet area. They owned a llama named Oreo, an alpaca named Chewy, and a donkey named Dodger. They also had a roaming rooster named Rodger (he way our favorite).

We went to a dope hike in Sedona on our way to Scottsdale called “Devils Bridge”.

We then finished that hike at an energy vortex. It’s an area in the desert that has a strong energy force you can feel and “see.” The trees were growing in spiral shape. I would love to say I felt some crazy revelations, but with the heat exhaustion, I couldn’t tell if I was just over heating, or I just felt some crazy shit.  

Scottsdale was beautiful, we stayed in a Villa (I know pretty fancy huh). Maya’s parents own it, so we just paid them for the time we stayed.

This resort had two pools: a quiet pool and the other pool. The quiet pool was where we would send most of our time reading our books and floating in the water.

The other pool was the child infested, “sorry kids, but mommy need a drink”, kind of pool. There was a bar next to that pool, so our time spent there was due to the close proximity of alcohol.

When

When are we not moving…

Grand Canyon was nice but in the back of my head I kept thinking, “when the fuck am I going to be in Scottsdale” (knowing that was the halfway point of our trip), but also there was a fucking pool.

We had not been able to fully submerge in water this whole trip and I was craving the thought of a cold pool on a hot summer day.

While in Scottsdale we stayed put for the longest time yet, six full days! Six days has never felt longer to me. Usually, you go on a week-long vacation and you’re not ready to go.

These six days felt like a lifetime since we had been living a lifestyle of on-the-go for so long, it started to feel normal.

Being here for six days was a vacation within the vacation of two months. It’s weird but every other place has been a lot of researching what to do, where to stay next and when we would be able to shower again. It was tiring, but this was complete relaxation.

We even got to chill in the hot tubs at night, like come onnn I could stay here forever.

But travels do be calling, so onto the next we go… again.

Why

Why you always lyinnnn…

Why is someone traveling around the United States in their moms Honda Pilot so fascinated with Arizona?

Have you ever been to Florida and fell in love with it, but the humidity completely tarnished that love you had?

Welcome to Arizona, besides it being 120 degrees (which we found out is only for three months out of the year) there is little to no humidity and its it almost always sunny, and the best part, there are motherfuckin palm trees bitchessss.

As Mary would say, “Gosh there is just something about Palm trees that get me going!”

Plus, there are some nice ass red rocks here, just slightly different than the ones in Utah and Colorado, these are more rustic and smoother.

How

How long is too long…

Transitioning from moving every day, cramming in massive cities into three days, to relaxing in one area for six days takes a toll on the way you see life on the road.

It didn’t hit me until I was doing nothing and realized I was doing nothing, it just felt wrong. On the day of Maya’s 22nd birthday we just laid, all day, inside and by the pool.

Sounds like a dream, but by the next morning I was up and ready to go, I even went to the gym as soon as I woke up and it felt great.

I felt myself starting to miss people…?? I never even knew I had those kinds of emotions. But this was the first time I got to self-reflect and actually think about all I have seen and done.

There are people I have met and probably will never meet again but they have significantly impacted my life.

I even started to slack on my writing, so catching up today was rough. It was nice to see how little I thought I encountered in my last week of staycation, versus how much actually happened.

Writing has been so beneficial throughout this trip for me. It has opened my eyes to what is happening for me now. It shows me the peace in-between the “what’s next” and “what’s now”.

I have learned so much from so many people, but writing down my experiences is starting to help me learn about myself and remind myself how important this time is to be a nomadic individual, and how to fully grasp who I am.

Desert Botanical Garden, Scottsdale

#blogger #travel #postgrad #arizona #cacti #roadtrip #cross country #beginnersblog #fuck it

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #4: Red Rocks and More Red Rocks

06/16/2021

This blog was probably the most challenging to write yet, considering we have just been hiking a lot and seeing a fuck ton of red rocks everywhere.

They all look different, but they are all just red rocks. Round, sharp, big, small, dirt-like rocks… its all the same, but different.

Throughout all the states we have seen, the terrain has changed drastically as we pass over each border. New Mexico was straight white desert land, Texas was flat as fuck with windmills everywhere, and Arkansas was even more flat but without windmills.

Colorado, however, was very different throughout each region. We started in sand dunes and deserts and worked our way up to the mountains with lots of rain and snow run off. Then being in Colorado Springs, there was a mix of desert and moist mountains, plus some massive red rocks.

Traveling into Utah, there was not much difference in terrains, just some different shades of the red rocks.

Zion National Park was the ultimate red rock arena. Ironic, since we started off seeing Garden of the Gods -both are red rocky parks- but completely different.

Who

Who are the New York girls…

This chapter of traveling includes less new friends, but more last-minute links with old pals from college. It seems like it was just yesterday we were out in Oneonta… oh wait.

Myrene was a family friend of Mary. She opened her house up to us three, as a nice break up between campsites.

We got to wash our clothes and shower; you’ll never know how satisfying a shower is until after living without one for a few days.

Her house was in Colorado Springs, about 30 minutes away from Garden of the Gods.

They chefed up for us the first night with a little surf and turf; steak and salmon with a bombass salad.

Thanks, Myrene.

My dear friend Dee Jay, also known as, Daniel Joseph McDonnell, aka DJ, happened to be camping out in the same area as us in Blue Lakes Colorado. However, due to of lack of service, we had no idea.

Being in such close proximity of us, he sent it to Utah to come hang and meet up with his friend Kailen.

Kailen visited Oneonta this past semester. After meeting him, I mentioned this trip.

He was so welcoming to take us out with him while in Salt Lake City, and give us a locals only tour.

Upon arrival in Orem, Utah, Kailen gave us some good recommendations for hiking and an invitation to a house party being thrown that night… a house party in Utah??? Yah, not what we expected either.

At the party we caught up with DJ and his buddy Brad who was on the cross-country excursion with him.

Brad was a cool quiet dude; he goes to Buffalo State for engineering. He is also in classes to become a pilot…pretty dope.

At the party, we were constantly being asked if we were the girls from New York. Yes, yes, we are.

I guess everyone else there was a part of a friend group or Mormons.

What

What are you doing here…?

Bottom line, there is a fuck ton of red rocks, if you couldn’t tell from the beginning of this.

While in Colorado Springs, we got to experience the Garden of the Gods. It is this beautiful State Park with crazy large rock formations. They were smooth red rocks.

Before the sun set, we drove down the block to a LEGAL marijuana dispensary and acquired some flowers ;)

One pre-roll, and two chocolate bars later we returned to the Gardens of the Gods for a fiery sunset.

The atmosphere around the area already appears to have a sunset hue throughout the day, guess why??

Yup, the red rocks.

But it gives the sunsets this crazy enhanced color, with a little joint it make the sunset even more spectacular.

The following day in Colorado Springs, we went to visit this town that the locals call, “the town stuck in time,” also known as Manitou.

It was this super cute hippy dippy town with herbal Apothecary’s, glass shops, and bohemian little boutiques.

After, we stumbled across this crazy dope bar in Downtown Colorado Springs. It was an instillation art museum bar, and the main exhibit at the time was based on the Netflix original The Queens Gambit.

This giant bar had about seven different bar areas within the one location. Each spread out and each with their own vibes and aesthetics.

The vibes ranged from the specific beers they had on tap and the cocktails they offered, to the wood used for the bar top and lighting. There was even an upstairs with neon paintings, where you were provided with 3-D glasses to get the full effect.

There was an outdoor area with cornhole and an indoor game room with every board game you could imagine.

I could live in that bar forever… I peeked on a Wednesday night <3

In Utah, we rented a cute barn Air bnb for three nights, in a lovely air-conditioned upstairs unit.

We cleaned all our camping dishes as soon as we arrived, utilizing the water as much as possible.

The following day we went on this lovely hike to see some great views, and yup, you guessed it… some more red rocks!!!

After the hike in 100-degree weather, we decided to look for the nearest body of water to submerge in.

We went to Utah Lake State Park, a body of water that does not exceed 9 feet at its highest water level (and it stains your skin).

I thought I’d seen the nastiest water in the Hudson River, but nope, this shit was so dirty I could not see my toes when the water level was at my ankles.

Post standing in the water for 20 minutes questioning if we should go in, we indeed did not fully submerge, thank god because Maya informed us Utah often dumps sewage in the lake to dispose of it.

I instantly felt like I was in the lake in the Simson’s movie that stored Spidey Pig’s halo of shit.

That night we went to the Utah house party. We had no idea what to expect going in. Usually, house parties are small gatherings, but here we were the bitches from New York.

A small gathering is indeed what it was.

The following day we set off for a hike to some hot springs. Hot springs are natural hot water pools often off the side of a river or creek.

These hot springs were different from the ones we saw in New Mexico, it was about a mile long of multiple hot pools. The farther up we went the hotter the springs got.

After hiking two miles in 105-degree weather, the heat from the water was our enemy. It also smelled like rotten eggs?? I guess they forget to warn you of these things before you start the hike.

Post hike we picked up some Chinese takeout food and went on our way back home to pack up for our departure.

Driving to Zion area, we passed some new textured red rocks, these were sharper and more linear.

We spent two days there, because it is near impossible to see the whole park in that heat, let alone in a day.

At nights, we would cook dinner on our portable propane stove. The first night we chefed up turkey burgers, with sauteed onions and zucchini. The second night we made camping mac and cheese… boxed mac, cheddar hot dogs, and grilled chicken with a side of roasted veggies. The last night we ate the left-over chicken in a southwestern salad wrap.

Cooking in the woods is probably my favorite part of camping because you reinvent ways to create easy meals that satisfy your every need.

Where

Where to next…

Colorado Springs was a gorgeous area with a very large city and hikes everywhere. It was the best combination of hmm I want to go out on the town for some drinks, and hey let’s get lost in the woods and hope a bear doesn’t attack us.

The quote, “take a hike!” really applies here. You can get annoyed at someone in a bar and say, “take a hike” and it is very possible for them to just walk outside and take a fucking hike.

Post springs, we hit up Utah.

We set off on our 9-hour drive to Utah!! The home of Mormons and more red rock mountains.

In Utah there is a surplus of children. I know this sounds like it would be anywhere like the baby boom, but this shit is super locational.

Specifically in Orem, which is right outside of Salt Lake City, their target audience in stores is children and parents.

The Walmart there was divided up between 25% of food items, 25% household items, and 50% baby accessories and food.

While out on the town, basically every person has a baby or kids in bulk. About 5-6 is the average amount of kids per family.

Within Utah we stayed in Orem and Virgin (which is right outside of Zion National Park).

The town of Virgin was exactly how it sounds, prudent, quiet with little to no action.

While camping there for three nights, we traveled to Zion National Park for the day. Zion was this gorgeously large area of BIG red rocks.

So, my question is, why is that one area of red rocks considered a national park? What makes that area better than the other red rock areas for the national parks to take ownership of it?

When

When the fire starts to burn…

While in Colorado Springs for two nights, we caught up on laundry and energy, in a nice, air-conditioned house.

We drove to Utah and stayed there for six nights, three nights were spent in a loft Air bnb, and the other three were spent camping out in the desert in our tent, while DJ and Brad slept in their hammocks.

We were lucky enough to get some shade within the average 100-degree weather of the deserts. But not lucky enough to have a campfire, since there was a fire ban in effect, due to the lack of rain fall which hasn’t happened in weeks and wont for longer.

We are now back on the road…

Why

Why is it so hot out…?

I never thought I would enjoy a super-hot atmosphere, but with dead heat like this, it doesn’t feel too bad… plus my tan is coming in faster than ever before.

The weather consists of dry heat. So dry and hot that you kind of feel cold sometimes. It’s the kind of heat that makes you sweat, but the sweat is evaporated off your body before you realize it exists.

It’s not too bad… next week it will be 116-degrees in Utah. I don’t know how people live here without pools.

How

How you doinnnnn…

Being that bitch from New York comes with a lot of questions… How did you guys plan this? Why now? Where to next?

All I can say is we just out here doing our best… we made it this far, wish us best of luck and follow my blog for updates

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #3: The Fun Has Just Begun

06/08/2021

Currently camping at 11,720 feet above sea level, there is snow all around the mountains and mother nature really decided to take a shit on us with weather conditions.

New Mexico is considered a desert and you can tell why… tumble weed actually flies across the roads.

Staying in hostels generated some great people and awesome experiences… including a hitchhiker, a random roommate, and a transformed school bus. Oh, and a hot tub.

From New Mexico to Colorado, the temperatures and the altitude changed drastically, forcing us to adapt in hopes of survival… kidding it wasn’t that serious.

With little to no cell service ever since entering Colorado, there is a lot of time for self-reflecting and reading! I just dove deep into the Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer, Anthony Kiedis’, autobiography.

Who

Who wants to be friends…

Staying at a hostel I expected it to be similar to a college dorm. You basically walk around and ask people if they want to hang out.

We set out for a hike as soon as we arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico and got some food to cook up for later in the courtyard. We got out there pretty late, but the gentleman that checked us into the hostel was still out there cleaning up the food he chefed up only minutes ago.

When we started eating, a couple came outside and we invited them to join us, but they nicely declined. It began to feel like our chances of meeting people were getting slimmer.

The following morning, we sat outside our room and started making plans for the weeks to come. Exploring campgrounds, hikes and must-see places. As we are sitting there, we get a new neighbor.

She seemed to be around our age and had a friendly face that seemed like she was open to being friends.

After a little while, she came outside and sat with us and chatted us up! She was going to college in the area but was in-between apartments. She happened to be staying at the hostel for the same period of time we were.

Her roommate came out after and sat with us. They recommended some good places to eat and must-see spots in Santa Fe.

Later on, we were hanging out in the common area, and they came to join us. We re-introduced ourselves and that’s when we become friends. Misgana and Miselo, were just around the same age as us. A bit later, someone new checked into the Hostel. She soon joined us and introduced herself to us all as Deanna.  

Deanna was staying at the hostel for work purposes. She was doing research on regenerative farming and had an interview with a farm nearby the following morning.

After a while we decided to get some brews and keep the conversations going throughout the night.

While we were hanging out getting to know each other more, one of the hostel volunteers came over and sat with us. She was wearing a “South Butt” sweatshirt not North Face, and I knew she was going to be fun to hang around. Aster, she soon introduced herself as, was from Wisconsin and was living and working at the hostel. She was on her way up to becoming the manager of the place soon enough.

As we are all hanging out, the newcomer of the hostel came over and introduced himself.

Christian, hitch hiked all the way from Rhode Island down to Santa Fe, on his way to meet up with his buddy from home who transformed an old school bus into a mobile home.

He mentioned he was leaving Friday to hitchhike up to the Great Sand Dunes… coincidentally Mary, Maya and I were heading to that exact location on that exact day. We offered him a ride up north.

When we dropped him off, we got to meet his buddy who owned the transformed school bus. It was painted all blue on the outside with Van Gogh’s Starry Night mural on the side of it.

Aiden (his buddy) had just recently gotten a 7-week-old puppy named Waldo. We got to play with Waldo along with the owner of our campgrounds three other puppies.

Jack, the owner of our campground was a wholesome dude. He was older and had lived an interesting life before settling down on the land he has now.

Jack gave us his whole back story and showed us around his new lifestyle. We were staying on his weed farm, and he was more than welcoming. He showed us around the grow house, all while giving us free samples of everything as we went along.

The plants he is growing were more like trees. At about 3-weeks old they were already fatter and taller than me.

Jack lived on the property alone and had his five dogs to keep him company: three puppies (Dirty White Boy, Little Man, and Boo) and their parents.

Jack started renting his land out to campers because he gets lonely and wanted to get some cool experiences in before his time is up.

Unfortunately, Jack has stage 3 emphysema, due to his history in custom car painting back in the day. He also has a bad heart, so this land was for him to settle and be there until the end

It was a welcoming and unforgettable experience staying there. Jack was a one-of-a-kind dude, and I hope he enjoyed our company for the time being.

At our second hostel in Colorado, we had the pleasure of paying for three beds in a room of six. We got lucky with having only one other roommate, Drew.

Drew was staying there for a week, as he was looking for a job in the area. He had been traveling around the world doing this kind of thing since about 20 years old. He was now in his late 40’s and was rocking the minimalist nomadic lifestyle. Also from Wisconsin, Drew was adopted at birth, and began his traveling lifestyle in hopes of finding his birth parents. He referred to his lifestyle as not normal, “There is nothing normal, except the cycle on the laundry.”

What

What is real anymore…

In New Mexico, we drove through a road that lasted 40 miles and it was straight up desert land. There was nothing but sand, wild cattle, and small bushes.

I had never experienced an atmosphere like that before, so it felt beyond unreal. It was one of those, “pinch me so I know I am awake”, moments.

There were a lot of those moments on this week of the trip. These were places and things I had only seen in movies. Trust me, cameras do not do this experience justice.

These moments are fully sensory moments. Everything from sight, to smell, to taste, to sound, all played a role in framing how unreal these places felts.

While driving into Colorado, seeing these massive mountains was the first time this whole trip I got to see a mountain range that topped the Hudson Valley.

There is so much land everywhere and the elevation is so high up you can see for miles and miles and miles.

The mountains were everywhere and larger than life itself. The land in between the roads and the mountains were long and open. You could see some housing along the way, but everything appeared to be small.

It was hard to tell how far away everything was because the only comparison was the mountains, making everything appear miniature.

Windows down, good music playing, head out the window; I was living my best life feeling, seeing, smelling all these new things.

Where

Where should we stay…

New Mexico is a totally different world, with large deserts and little to no grass anywhere. The architecture looks like a giant had a fun day at the beach making sandcastles. And there is strange wildlife too, they have prairie dogs and coyote just chilling in the daytime. There are also just free roaming cows on any open land you see.

We stayed more in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico which was “whitewashed,” also known as commercialized. It was built to satisfy the white elder rich man, with little to no nightlife and overpriced goods on every corner.

The hostel we stayed in was called International Hostel Santa Fe Pension. Upon arrival we were greeted with such a warm welcome by the staff. They even brought us a basket of food that was donated from the local Whole Foods, since this hostel was non-profit.

Our room had its own bathroom, which was nice after trying to authentic Mexican cuisine…

Throughout our time in Santa Fe, we got to see some beautiful views from our hiking experiences.

We also visited an installation art museum, Meow Wolf, that made you feel as though you were in a wonderful acid trip. It was interactive for all ages, and we got to go with our new friends!

Heading up to Colorado after Santa Fe, we stopped in this wonderful town named Toas, a small area with lots of rock shops. On our way out we hit up a natural hot spring on the border of Colorado and New Mexico.

The hot spring was HOT! I know it seems self-explanatory, but you really don’t expect it to be that hot (it had to be around 110 degrees). We even got to float around in the spring with a nudist. He was a very nice middle-aged man, with a large uncircumcised flaccid penis and three beautiful dogs!

About 20 minutes after our arrival, a group of three different families walked down to the spring and were also greeted by a flaccid penis. The nudists respectfully asked the youngest boy of the group to grab his swimming trunks so he could exit the premises, respectfully. I guess kids were not really his forte.

While heading into Colorado, you can’t help but look out the window at the insane mountain range… a big step up from flat ass farmlands. These mountains are so large they have snow tips on the top.

Our campground for the night was located right outside the Great Sand Dunes National Park, on this elderly man’s property.

We booked our stay through Hipcamp, which is like the airbnb of private campgrounds. We did not realize this meant the owner of the property would be living right out front of our tent.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the owner and handed a nug of marijuana, freshly harvested out of his underground grow farm. This weed was purpleee…It made New York weed look like dirt.

After setting up our tent, we dropped off our hitch hiker at the dunes, were we then explored the natural sand mountains and watched people board down them. I have seen boogie boarding and snowboarding before but add sand underneath, and you got a bootleg ass version of both.

After leaving the Great Sand Dunes area, we went to a waterfall that was supplied by the spring run-off from the melted snow tops of the mountains. Getting to the waterfall you had to walk through a stream of water. It seemed easy enough while wearing my trusty Teva’s. NOPE, it was so cold two seconds after my feet entered the water, you begin to feel your feet going numb. It was near impossible to have your feet submerged longer than 10 seconds, but watch out there are some slippery ass rocks, so running away was out of the picture.

After successfully making it to and from the waterfall, we headed to our next location, Blue Lake Dispersed Campground, in the Breckenridge area of Colorado. This is right in the Rocky Mountains, full of snow capped mountains.

We were actively driving into a giant storm cloud when it hit us…This massive thunderstorm was not letting up. We had to rethink camping for that night, and find a new location to sleep, preferably inside.

Our experience at the first hostel in Santa Fe was so wonderful, we decided to find another around the area we were camping.

The Bivvi hostel was right around the bend from where we were originally going to camp. Walking in we were expecting a similar experience to the last hostel, so we were confused when this place was nicer than any hotel, I’ve ever stayed in.

We got lucky enough to get three beds in a shared room. At the time there was only one person staying in the six-person bunk bedroom.

Seeing that the rain was not going to clear up anytime soon, we booked the three beds and got cozied up with a pitcher of PBR in the hot tub available to all guests.

Leaving the Bivvi was sad, but when we arrived at our campground, we were taken aback at the views.

We stayed in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, with a lake in the middle from where the melted run-off snow pooled.

We quickly got our tent set up and explored around the area… Trees, grass and abandoned mining houses were discovered along our hikes.

We even got to see a mountain goat up close and personal… where my Oats at (yah you, you know the vibe)

When

When life gives you lemons…

We had a lot of time to settle into the places we saw this week.

Being in New Mexico for three nights was a great amount of time to utilize the area around us and hang out with some cool ass people.

Colorado was spread out by towns, but we are here for a week in total, so this is just half the time being here… stay tuned for the rest of the time in Colorado in next week’s blog!

Why

Why won’t the rain stop…

I get it now, why people want to live a life on the road. A life of little distractions and full control over who, what, where, when, and how you get to live your life.

There is something so refreshing about meeting people, knowing you have little time together, and being content with that fact.

I could envision myself working at a hostel and getting to experience new people weekly and being okay when they leave. There is not a time limit on those relationships necessarily, but there is some peace knowing you have made an impact on their life and vise versa.

Life on the road doesn’t sound too bad.

How

How are we this far already…  

Two weeks into the trip… How is that possible? Time is flying and I want to slow it all down.

Help how do I slow down time!!!

#travelblogger #covid made me do it #fuck it #jubilation #road trip #post grad #blogging for beginners #mountains #goats #camping #hostel

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #2: Deleting States

06/01/2021

Greetings from the south of bumble fuck. Currently, we are driving through farmlands longer than the naked eye could see.

Driving into Washington D.C., you can feel the power of the city oozing through the beloved Brads and Chads.

From D.C. we drove directly into Tennessee which was a five hour stretch of flat land. We were greeted by an army of confederate flags right off of the state boarder line. I guess they did not get the memo that it is the 21st century. However, this makes sense since they all still have their Trump 2020 flags flying.

From Tennessee we landed in the lovely Little Rock Arkansas, where the human population is outnumbered by cows alone.

Now we’re in Amarillo, Texas for the night on our way to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a three-day rest from driving.

Throughout the last week, I can’t say much self-discovery was made (other than Nashville taking a serious toll off my life). Fresh out of a two-month bender due to college coming to an end, and I still can’t wrap my head around the amount of alcohol consumption that takes place in a day alone there.

The Who’s, the What’s, the Where’s, the When’s and the How’s are all very different from life in New York, I am still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or not.

Who

Who do you think you are…?

In D.C. that is just the question everyone is asking themselves. If you are not walking around in business casual, you’re a tourist.

Brads and Chads swarm the streets, and I say that in a literal sense…

Story Time: Mary, Maya and I had reached ‘E’ on our energy levels after seeing some amazing monuments in the heart of D.C. Anyway, we stopped at the closest bar and grill we could find for a beer and some appetizers… little did we know those don’t exist in D.C. and we ended up in this high-class cigar lounge that advertised themselves as an American Tavern. Inside we had the pleasure of eavesdropping on a conversation Chad was having with the waitress. His buddy Tyler, a regular there, was name dropped five times in a 3-minute conversation about how he took home some banging hot girls’ from there the week before. Naturally, he came back to host a business meeting there with some major clients, ordering the finest cigars and drinks for the table. Some business meeting I’d say. It’s too bad we didn’t stay long enough to see how that night turned out…

The people and the city know the power they hold, considering they live in the capital of the country. How ironic that the capital was our first stop.

It is hard to know what the city was like before this past year, but they incorporated a lot of great Black Lives Matter art throughout, including a massive mural on the street in front of the White House as well as a street named after the movement.

It was a tough pill to swallow still seeing a majority of homeless men being colored. A heartwarming interaction happened while walking through the park where majority of the homeless slept. There was a white man handing out care packages to them filled with water bottles, sandwiches and granola bars. He was able to hand out multiple to each person in the park.

The culture shock was extremely different heading from D.C. to Nashville. Both cities, have polar opposite intensions.

Nashville was filled with 99% of tourists that were there for the weekend or had already overstayed their welcome. Even our receptionist was from Westchester, New York.

We got to meet some really cool people and some great bands. We even became weekend groupies for two bands and ended up bar hopping with them.

Our new friends, Gabby and Autumn, showed us a great local experience. They were residents of Nashville; however, Autumn was born in Colorado and Gabby was from Portland. They took us to some other great bars that night, and we got to pick their brains on the cool spots to see in their hometowns, since we will be stopping there later on in trip.

Sweet Leah Music, was the best band to be groupies for this weekend. Being that we were the only non-country music fans in Nashville, this band blessed us with their southern rock and roll vibe. Playing by request, we were able to live our best lives through their amazing soulful sounds. With drinks in all their hands throughout their set, we were blessed with their hilarious and relatable toasts. My favorite: “This one is for the ladies. They love us in leather, they love us in lace, but they love us best when we sit on their face!”

What

What happened last night…

Hitting two large cities and two small layover cities, we got to see a lot about each place through museums and bars.

D.C. was filled with history on history, presented in some of the most beautiful ways. Our founding fathers and all those big guys walked those streets. You can’t really miss it either. Each road is named after a president or an iconic moment in history (just in case you missed the massive landmarks).

Nashville being the music central, was filled with great museums and of course the most insane bars with live music and voices of angels.

The Musicians Hall of Fame Museum was an interactive experience for all ages to enjoy. We were able to make beats and play with all these dope instruments.

The Johnny Cash Museum was filled with his memorabilia down to his report cards from grade school. I never knew anything about this man, and now I could tell you his favorite color. It really was a well-stocked museum.

The bars held my heart, besides the hole they burned in my pockets. They don’t warn you about the toll this place takes on your mental and physical well-being. Mentally, I hit an all-time high, overdosing on serotonin while head banging to every song I knew.

Oh, and did I mention I rode the bull… no bullshit! I full-on rode the fuck out of a mechanical bull in a karaoke bar. That killed my physical being… four days later and it still feelings like I got gangbanged by Shrek and his posse.

In Little Rock, Arkansas we had the pleasure of attending the most depressing zoo ever. We only stayed a night there and left the following morning for Amarillo, TX, but thought it would be nice to see something signifying during our short layover. With all museums being closed because of the “four-day weekend”, the zoo was the only thing open. We got there just in time for the monkey show!! The lovely chimpanzees gave us front row entertainment to their 69ing!! Full X-rated animal porn, even got to see some fingers in buttholes.  

To make the trip in Arkansas even more complimentary, we had the best welcoming gift! A giant pile of vomit in front of the restaurant we ate at… shoutout to the random man that screamed watch out two inches before I stepped in it. Needless to say, we still ate there… 4/10 would recommend to a friend. The vomit and ambulance sitting out front really gave it this phenomenal aesthetic!

Where

Where’s our car dude…

The City of D.C. is filled with great architecture and beautiful monuments. The World War II monument was a full body experience, views at every angle you turn your head.

The White House on the other hand is extremely overrated, I had to pull out a $20 bill to make sure I was staring at the correct white building.

Nashville is the other capital we were lucky enough to see, the capital of binge drinking.

Sitting downtown for the first time, I acquired lockjaw from the insanity that just casually strolled down the block.

Party bus after party bus… each getting more outrageous than the next. First was the peddle yourself bar on wheels, then came your classic roofless school bus with a nice amp and a small bar in the back of the bus. Then came your large tractor carrying a large wagon of drunks, I thought I had seen it all. Lastly, the ultimate party bus then approached us; a massive roofless party bus with smoke machines, disco lights and three large amps blasting music louder than the bars. Oh, but wait there is more… Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, a bus with a hot tub come strolling down the street, bitches in bikinis… what in the world.

This was the land of drunk people on buses screaming at the other drunk people that were landbound.

When

When does the bar close….

This was the most driving we will be doing, deleting states like it’s our business.

A whopping seven days ago we were in New York, now we out here in New Mexico.

What’s next to come is the long stays? Hiking camping and so much more :)

Why

Why the face…

Still not sure, there was not much time for “self-discovering” between getting plastered at bars and driving hours on end to conquer this mother fucking country.

The worst part is I had some crazy revelation last night but was too exhausted to get up and write it down and now it’s gone. Like Maya says, “If it was good enough it’ll come back,” let’s hope I haven’t completely smoked out my brain and I can come to it again.  

I would have to say I would go back to Nashville again but with my posse, there is a great number of things to do with groups of people there, and I need a new mentality when I return… And a new liver.

How

How about no…

Splitting up the distance in driving we have all equally drove around 10 hours since the trip started.

It is not horrible, having two other people in rotation to keep you occupied helps a lot. It seems the rotation is: drive five hours, then your co-pilot will take over and the person snoozing in the back become the co-pilot.

Road Trip Tip: Down south people really drive the speed limit, there is no complimentary 10 over as New Yorkers do it.

Bottom Line

We are on the road again, just trying to find a place to fall in love with. So far New York still has the most beautiful scenic drives… that Hudson Valley hits different.

Accents are changing, people are friendlier, and time is moving WAY to fast… how has it already been a full week :/

Onto the next…

#travel #road trip #beginners guide #fuck it #cross country #post grad #covid made me do it #blogging for beginners #jubilation #down south

[comebeonetwothree]

Blog #1: The Beginning

05/25/2021

Welcome to my, I have no clue what I’m doing so bare with me, travel blog!! For these next few weeks, I will be driving across the country and back, hitting around 19 states in 8-weeks. 

Post grad life is a strange in between stage of: YES I DID IT and oh fuck I think I’m supposed to be an adult now. That comes with the constant question circling like a gnat on a hot summer day... So what’s next? 

Honestly Grandma, Aunt Karen, Uncle John and Kyle’s mom’s lesbian partner, I have no fucking clue so please stop asking!!!! 

But my actions are an answer to that question. I chose to postpone that whole adult career thing for a little longer. So I’m traveling for two months and I will avoid that question “What’s Next?”

COVID-19 really messed up the picture perfect ending of college, nevertheless, I still managed to have a blast every night in a “socially distant” manner ;) 

Traveling has always been a dream of mine, and I always assumed it would be there when I was ready and I would be ready when it got here.  Sheeshhh was I wrong... who would have imagined a pandemic closing down not only our borders to other countries, but state borders as well. 

It’s now been over a year since I have left New York State, and quite frankly, I am ready to explore. So naturally I got home from college a week ago and now I am off...

 Who

Who cares... 

Three girls, one car... How bad could it be? No, really, if we come back with bruises and cuts all over, I didn’t “fall down the stairs” or “walk into a door”...it’s official, our cycles have linked and we have gone mad. 

The goal is to meet new people along the way, people that touch our lives and make this trip more spectacular. And maybe we will touch some lives as well.

I can only imagine that who we are now will change and evolve throughout our journey, having only started this trip with hopes and dreams. When reality sets in, things will change, and discoveries about ourselves will begin to happen. 

Self-discovery is such an important aspect of this trip for all three of us. Personally, by not having any clue what I want to do for the rest of my life, I  hope the open mindedness of my current state will help me find joy in the simple life and give me insight into my future. 

 What

Whatever man...

Eight weeks of sight seeing, connecting to ourselves and trying new hobbies.

I hate jumping the gun and announcing any new hobbies because, 10 out of 10 times, I do one for a week and give up on that bullshit.

And sorry in advance if this blog takes a back seat... My plan is to prioritize life's natural beauties and learning. 

I’ve always wanted to start writing but was never inspired, and fiction isn't up my ally... I have the imagination of a 12-year-old boy, so go about that as you please :)

While trying to disconnect myself to the social world as best as I can, this new digital age is not going anywhere and as a Communications major, I am not escaping its black hole effect anytime soon. 

Blogging makes this feel less Gen Z and more “intellectual” if you will. 

I hope to keep this blog updated once at the end of every week, including the stops made within the week and the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How’s of that weeks adventures. With some room for special surprises:) 

Overtime this blog will hopefully shape into what it needs to be. I researched many ways to blog and nothing caught my attention, so why would it catch yours? Here I am trying out my own version of this, so feedback is greatly appreciated in finding new fun ways to keep y’all entertained!

 Where

Where are we...

Give or take, there will be 19 states we will stay in. Starting in New York, we will slowly move down south and wrap back around. I won’t be revealing the locations until the following week's blogs, or on my Instagram and Facebook. 

We have secured 75% of the locations we will be staying at, and the rest is a fuck it. Hopefully finding some first come first serve campgrounds, or we’ll just sleep in the car. 

When in these locations, we will either be camping or staying in motels/hotels in cities. Trying to do this the cheapest way we can think of, my glizzy art might just have to make a reappearance (If you don’t know what glizzy is, hop off this blog right now and go to Urban Dictionary. And if you are not familiar with my glizzy art, well you probably should have followed me on snapchat during the last month of college in a pandemic). 

When

When in Rome...

Tomorrow people, it’s happening...

 If you are reading this today, its tomorrow!!! If you are reading this tomorrow it’s today!!! And if you are reading this a week from today, go fuck yourself, now you have to catch up... don’t be late again mister!

Why

Why the fuck not...

There is some serious independence when it comes to taking off for two months in a car with friends. 

I still remember when my mom had to drive me to my friends houses, and would talk to their parents to make sure I was safe. 

Going away to college was a leap in the direction of being an independent young woman. But I also went to a small town college and had roommates, making it a great step to the adult world of being fully responsible for my own actions. 

Next level right now.  I will be living out of a car, buying my own food and supplies, and not having the security of my family being a simple three hour drive away... not that I ever took advantage of that (sorry mom). 

Why the blogging... 

Not knowing what I am good at is quite frustrating, four years of college later... so I am going to just try new things until I find my passion. And this blog is a great place to reflect.

Spending two months out of the job force is already a weird concept to me. I've had a job for the majority of college waitressing at a local joint (shout out to Sloan’s NY Grill!). I worked all throughout high school as well. 

Not having any job obligation now seems strange, so let's hope this becomes  self-discovery into multiple opportunities or it will be the most publicly awkward diary ever:/ 

 How

How did you make it this far...

This came about one night drunk at a bar... simply expressing how weird it is COVID can take almost everything away from us so quickly. 

Maya and Mary both have a direction in their life as to “What’s Next.” Both having spent their last semesters of college pursuing opportunities for their future, they have become idols to me. 

I was lucky enough to bring this idea up before they left me for their full adult lives... getting an opportunity to travel with my two best friends. 

Mary is pursuing a teaching degree and spent her last semester as a student teach back home. Maya spent the last few months doing an in-person internship in the city to further her connections in the fashion industry. 

They both have this responsible adult thing going on, and I’m over here saying some dumb shit like “Hey let's take two months off of life and travel!” Weirdly enough, alcohol might have had an influential factor here, but they said hell yessss!! 

The next morning, waking up with a classic hangover, we all texted each other and reiterated the idea of this whole cross country, two-month excursion. 

And now look where we are :) 

 Bottom Line

Sooooo, this is a temporary blog that may or may not last. Don’t get your hopes up too high! I want to share this experience with everyone who has supported us through this crazy idea, and give a shout out to everyone who has reached out and wished us the best!

I am fully winging this and hope it's not too illiterate for you smarty pants out there... I’m just trying to have fun with it. This is not meant to be a job, but a start to finding the answer to everyone's question...

What’s Next?

#travel #beginners guide #fuck it #cross country #post grad #fuck covid #blogging for beginners #we are young #jubilation

[comebeonetwothree]

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