Hitting the Open Road

By Alyssa and Brittany

Quit Job: Check
Sell All Belongings: Check
Hit the road: May 27th!

I’ve been dreaming- nay, obsessing, about a road trip through the US for 3 years. So why has it taken me so long to actualize this dream? One word: Brittany. There isn’t anyone I wanted to do this journey with other than Brittany, and I wasn’t going to leave without her. After hearing “I can’t because of X, Y and Z” she finally came around and decided “I CAN” (and I’d like to think my brainwashing skills led her to this decision :D ). When we flew back from Iceland in January we pinky promised each other on the plane that we would make this journey happen this year.

Once I was totally on board, it started with little things like stopping my monthly massages and putting away part of my paycheck into a jar until I saved up enough to (very frugally) live off no income for a while. I’ll save you all the time of taking online surveys, bringing your recyclables in for money, and selling your bone marrow and plasma (although we did not get around to those 2). The best way to save is work your job and don’t spend your money on ANYTHING other than what is absolutely necessary.

So here we are, about to depart paradise (aka Santa Barbara), and begin life as nomads. We’ll be couch surfing and camping our way through the states (a Wigwam in Arizona is also in order), and we WON’T be driving a fancy campervan or RV, we’ll be taking Brittany’s Toyota Corolla. The “Black Widow” will be our new home for the next few months.

This isn’t some get up and go operation; this is planned out. Of course there’s some flexibility in our agenda, but having a plan (even a loose one), is the best way to save yourself time and money. We’ll be relying on locals and our own curiosity to guide us around, and with no real expectations for how things should go, everyday will be a new and fun surprise.

In two weeks we’ll be headed to Lone Pine to attempt a summit on Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states...and THAT is how we are kicking off our trip! We’ll be blogging and filming the whole trip so you can get some ideas for your own road trip, or live vicariously through our experiences. Stand by for pics, stories and videos to come. See you on the road!