#NerdsUnite: Off the Grid and Unplugged: How to Travel with Technology & Remember to Look Up

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to offer her travel advice to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Lindsay MC

One of the greatest things about backpacking is the freedom and adventure that comes with falling off the grid and being completely unplugged. 

Until this trip, I was the biggest advocate of leaving all technology at home (except for a camera.)

I felt (and I still feel) the only way to really do justice to what ever place you traveled so far to see is to leave any and all mental tethers to home, at home. Cellphones, lap tops, iPads are portals to where you came from and checking your email every night or Skyping your bestfriend everyday keeps your head way too much at home for my taste.

Plus, having a working cellphone takes all the fun out of getting yourself out of a mess. Having to walk around a town from hostel to hostel looking for vacancy might totally suck at the time but it also might just turn into a super funny memory that you will always then have with your travel buddy. 

These kinds of things really add some much needed humor and challenge to your backpacking experience and shouldn't be forgone for the ease of a cellphone.

All that being said, I am beginning to learn and really appreciate the advantages of bringing a smart phone along with you on your trip.

This is my first ever international trip with an iPhone and I am loving it.

Not only does my phone have a better camera than my actual camera but I also love the filters that I downloaded before I came overseas like Instagram and Hipsamatic (I turned the Share option off.) They really add some edge to my travel photos and sometimes, by altering with a filter, I feel I can capture how a place makes me feel even better than with a regular camera.

Being able to take quick HD videos on my iPhone is a killer plus too. Sometimes a photo just isn't enough and being able to quickly switch from still photo to video has really enhanced my documentation of my trip.

Because I've kept my cell on Airplane Mode this entire time (which is free) and I have only used free Wifi in hostels and restaurants, traveling with my phone has helped me cut Internet Cafe costs and time... which after two months of being in Central America would have really added up. 

I am officially living inside a screen saver. It's also extremely convenient for me personally because I can write blog posts on long bus rides or while laying out on the beach in Panama, which is what I'm doing right now. I can save my blog post or email and upload or send it at another time when I have Wifi. The way I look at it, writing on a cellphone that is not connected to the internet is the equivalent to writing in your own travel journal or diary and I see no problem dedicating however much time you would give to either of those activities. Prewriting when I have some down time is the ultimate time saver which helps me stay unlocked from WiFi hot spots or internet cafes.

The trick is strict moderation. If you are staying at a hostel with WiFi, ONLY turn your WiFi on when you are using it. Budget time each day (or better, once every few days) to sit down and upload or email or research or whatever. Stay with in your time limit and when you are done with whatever you needed to do, turn your WiFi off. DO NOT get sucked into Facebook or YouTube or some other time wasting site. Keep your research focused like you would if you were being charged to use a computer at an Internet cafe and keep social media a One Way Street. What I mean by that is, by all means, upload photos and update your Facebook status but don't start searching for what your friends have been up to or using your precious travel time to Like status updates or random links of your friends. You can do that all at home when your back and bored at your office job- just upload your own shit and get the heck off line and back into the world. 

Don't whip out your cell every time you have a bit of downtime. This one is the most challenging to me because I ALWAYS have a video I could be editing or a blog post I could be writing but being bored is a GOOD thing while traveling. The Art of Doing Nothing is something we Americans typically suck at and down time on the road is a phenomenal way begin to flex this muscle. Even so, I mess this one up on a regular basis. I will be sitting, waiting at bus stop, trying to expand my Zen-ness and take in every moment of what's going on all around me... and without even realizing it, all of sudden, I come out of a daze and I'm trimming a video on my damn iPhone! Yeah, that happens- but I'm trying.

Once a week, maybe you want to budget an hour or so to stupid online stuff. Check out that link your friend posted, respond to silly but irrelevant posts on your wall, Facebook stalk your ex, whatever- just don't let it consume you and stay within in your preset time limit. I promise, your favorite travel memories will have nothing to do with you browsing through wedding photos of some girl you went to high school with.

Traveling with my iPhone has been a game changer for me. Being able to take better photos, updating my blog while actually on the road and being able to occasionally video Skye my parents has absolutely enhanced my travel experience. Finding the balance of being unplugged while still being technically plugged in has been a fun challenge that I am still mastering. I hope my tips help you get the most of our travel experience while staying off the grid and unplugged.


While I'm traveling with my iPhone internationally for the first time, these are the apps I have found most helpful and the most fun while abroad. I would also like to point out that by keeping my cell on Airplane mode and using only free Wifi, staying plugged in has been 100% free.

Heytell
•Heytell is one of my FAVORITE Apps in the US and I was so super stoked to learn that it works internationally too! The catch with this one though is that you have to have it set up and all of your friends must be added BEFORE you take your phone abroad (it requires a text message invite which is not free, and sometimes not possible internationally.) 
Think of Heytell like verbal text messages or a Walkie Talkie that stores the audio until you are ready to listen- it's amazing and so so fun, trust me. Download it and have fun going back and forth with family and friends while traveling and while at home.

Blogger
•Googles Blog App. Obviously, I love this one. It's a seamless way to update your blog while on the road.

Mobli
•This App allows you to upload videos and photos directly from your phone to their site. "Share your story" is the App slogan so other users can share and comment on what your posts as well. 

Skype
•Skype is a free way to video or audio chat with friends and family back home through WiFi. Set your Skype up at home on a desktop or laptop to make easier on yourself and upload the App on to your cell before you leave. Skype is the shit, just trust me on that. Set your mom up with an account before you leave so you two can video chat to make her really happy. 

Hipsamatic and Instagram
•These are just two of the wonderful photo filter sites available from the Apple iStore. Hipsamatic is like $1.99 or something like that and Instagram is free. I have both but to be honest, I like Instagram more. I like how you can choose your filter after you take the photo and easily try all of them out so you can really get the best. Far from 'cheating,' filters can really help you capture the feeling of a place that simply isn't possible to do with regular film. An example, the hostel I'm staying at in Panama has the Caribbean glowing, literally GLOWING from slits under the floor boards. Regular film just doesn't show the glow but Instagram filter Lomo-Pro makes it glow the way it looks in real life. 
Install both of these Apps before you leave home because of long download times. 

Have an APPsolutey wonderful trip :)

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Lindsay and her adventures abroad!

#Adventures in Adventuring: 30 Days Around the US By Rail (If I can do it, anyone can do it!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! HARDCORE!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to share some of her experiences to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @LindsayMc

I am currently in the middle of a 30 day, cross country rail trip and it is AMAZING! Amtrak offers a USA Rail Pass that allows 30 Days of travel or 12 Segments of travel- which ever one comes first for $579. Basically, for the next thirty days, I get to choose 12 of my favorite US destinations (as long as they are DIRECTLY on an Amtrak route, which is most definitely a catch but I’ll get to that later) and go all over the country by rail.

It’s awesome. It’s incredible... and I am loving every minute of it.

Before I continue to rave about how amazing this trip is and how easy it is for anyone to do I first want to put out a little disclaimer here.

Amtrak is not known for their shining customer service. Period. Over the phone, all I can say is “Good freaking luck” and service on the train is hit or miss at best (but I will say, the ‘hits’ were actually really great employees, just few and far between.) The reason you have to deal with the frequent less than awesome customer service is well, Amtrak is the only choice for the US rail system. Oh, how allowing for zero competition in an industry (plus a hefty government subsidy) impacts customer service in a capitalistic society.

This article is meant to give you a quick intro to the amazingness that I have discovered in the Amtrak USA Rail Pass plus give you tips and tricks to make your trip even better. I would like to quickly say these tips are NOT condoned by Amtrak and they WILL save you money but if you get caught, these MAY get you kicked off the train.

PLANNING: I planned my trip around a few things. One, where do my friends live? Two, where will be interesting to see by rail (I will be spending about 1/3 of my time on a train so the scenery better be pretty.) Logistically with constraints of the pass, I also had to taken into account transit time and where are the direct routes provided by Amtrak.

While planning my trip, I spent a lot of time on the phone with various Amtrak employees trying to understand exactly what the pass entailed and how I can book trains without incurring extra fees. It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration if someone would have told me that dealing with Amtrak employees on the phone is the equivalent of dealing with an employee at the DMV. It takes forever to finally get through, they don’t care at all and most likely they don’t know about what they are talking about. Lots of misinformation, lots of attitude and some serious questioning of whether or not I even wanted to give any of my hard earned money to this company.

HOWEVER, now that I understand the Amtrak phone game, it’s not so jarring and I’ve actually gotten quite efficient at it.

AMTRAK CALL TIPS:  Only call when you have a good book you can read while the hold advertisements play on speaker phone, know exactly what you want to ask and have back up questions and dates should the date you want be sold out and have done your research on routes, rails and times on their website before. If that sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is but just try to get what you need from an Amtrak phone operator without it...

Once you have an idea of where your friends are and where you would like to go, it’s time to plan the first leg of your trip. Just pick a direct destination, decide how many days you want to spend there and then pick a few more places. I only planned out the first half of the trip at one time. I am still in the process of planning the second half while I’m on the road.

When you call, they may tell you that you need to have all 12 segments booked at the same time, this is not true. You may book segment by segment but understand that if the limited amount of ‘USA RAIL PASS’ seats are sold out on the train for that particular date than you will have to pay an extra fee to get on that train or ride a different day. A segment is when ever you get off a train, whether you want to or not (not including technical difficulties, of course.) One segment can be all the way from Los Angeles to Seattle on the Coast Starlight which is a direct line however if you choose to get off at any other stop (say in Santa Barbara or Portland) and then still continue to Seattle, it will become two segments. That’s easy enough to understand, what gets tricky is if there is not a direct line from where you are to where you are going. Say you want to go from New Orleans to Denver because there is no direct line, you must go up to Chicago, get off and change trains in Chicago to carry on to Denver and that counts as TWO segments. With only having 12 segments to play with, you can imagine the planning and preciseness that must go into figuring out your destinations and how you are going to get there. Keeping in mind the 30 day limit as well as sell out dates, there is a lot to think about but it IS worth it.

TRAVELING: Traveling by train ROCKS! Watching the US whiz by as I sit comfortably in a loveseat style chair in the Observation Car of the train, life does not suck. Traveling by rail gives access to places unavailable by road and places I would have never had the opportunity to see so easily. Just in the first half of my trip, I saw dolphins playing in the Pacific Ocean, watched the beginning construction of a US Rocket on a military base and took about 1,000 photos as we traveled through Glacier National Park. The views have been stellar... so much so, it took me this long even after being on a train for 75+ hours to be able to stop looking out the window to write this. Honestly, those are some amazing views.

I’m finding that the layouts of most trains are all pretty much the same. There is an Arcade Car (which harbors four games from the ’70’s that no one plays so it became my personal ‘talk really animated because I’m so excited to be here’ car) an Observation Car which is a long car of windows to enjoy those views I mentioned earlier, a Cafe which is under the Observation Car, a Dining Car and some kind of weird but pretty awesome Dressing Rooms which are located by the Bathrooms under almost all of the Coachclass Cars. Being able to get up and walk around makes transit completely manageable... however being able to get drunk makes it downright fun.

You heard me, you are allowed to get drunk on Amtrak (kinda) and that helps the 30+ hour trip from LA to Seattle seem absolutely not so bad. What is bad though, is the railway robbery of $7 per 12 ounce beer. Buuuulllllllsssshhhhiiiiiiittt.

I solved that problem by bringing my own booze which is ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOWED but I’ll take my chances of getting kicked off the train rather than pay that amount of money (or worse yet, stay sober.) I packed a handle of the cheapest bottle of vodka that I could find and poured it in to water bottles on the train. Easy enough plus, if you’re the only member of this captive audience to BYOB, you make a lot of friends really quick. No need to be worried about drinking alone as it seems, most of the ‘kids’ (college students, grad students, backpackers like me) all seem to hang out in the Observation Car and it’s a pretty social atmosphere. You can buy chasers from the Cafe Car which I recommend over bringing your own chasers and just asking the Cafe Car for cups of ice. You are allowed to ask for ice or hot water for free however, they begin to catch on after the 10th or 15th cup and they are the ones who will report your ass. Soda and juice are obnoxiously expensive ($2 for a half can) however, if you’re the one who brought the booze, I think it’s fair to ask your new drinking buddies to pick up that part of the tab.

It’s a surprisingly fun crew that rides Amtrak and the Observation Car turns into a traveling bar at night. Just watch your back with the staff, apparently BYOBing on Amtrak is a pretty serious offense because they make a lot of money off those $7 beers (no shit) and if anyone offers you to smoke pot or a cigarette in the bathrooms, DON’T DO IT. That shit will get you kicked off the train in a heart beat. Just wait for the Designated Smoking Breaks (you can find them in the little booklet on the train) or bring a pot brownie, you little pothead, you (they say there are drug dogs at Amtrak stations, I have yet to see one but I’ll admit I haven’t exactly been looking.)

Speaking of free hot water and ice, I brought packets of instant coffee and I saw guys have stacks of Cups of Noodles for long trips which seems really smart.

Those are just a few of my experiences and tips I’ve come up with along my 30 day trip and I’m not even half way through yet! If you want to check out see photos and videos of my crazy-amazing adventure, check me out on Mobli. I have been documenting my entire trip almost in real time on their site, Zombie Pub Crawls, yoga in the Sears (now called Willis) Tower SkyBox, trolling it up in Seattle and all :)

Thanks for reading! Happy Travels!

www.mobli.com/lindsaymc

#nerdsunite

#NotANerd: Officially Now A Nerd ... ish

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to offer her travel advice to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @LindsayMC

So I started off on this site as 'So Not a Nerd' and I have to confess that today, I have officially become a Nerd... but on my own terms.

I just got on Mobli last week and I have somehow managed to get over 20,000 views and 2,000 subscribers in less that 5 days. Not only am I super super SUPER stoked but I am having an absolutely BLAST uploading in almost real time all of my most recent adventures.

See life through my eyes at www.mobli.com/lindsaymc and if you guys like what you see, please Subscribe and FACEBOOK LIKE me (that parts important because I am rallying for my own channel and I need FB Likes, wootwoot.)

I'm going to be Mobliing my whole cross country trip so you guys can follow me the entire way. Plus I just Moblied from the Doheny Days music festival and from Wakeboarding Wednesday. Just check out my site and you'll be in the loop. :)

ThankyouthankyouTHANKYOU and now I have to get off my laptop because the waves are good today and I gotta get in a surf session... okay, so maybe I'm not totally a Nerd yet... xoxo

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Lindsay on twitter

Editors note: Alrite Lindsay, you may THINK you are being nerdy now ... but let's face facts, nerds are BORN this way!! Products of genetic predispositions, ftw!! You my darling are geeking out over something, not nerding. But yes, you are on your way ... you are on ... your ... way ...

#NerdsUnite: Tried and True Backpacking Hangover Cures

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! HARDCORE!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to share some of her experiences to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

So I heard this past Labor Day weekend was a blast. A few of my friends went to the lake, my best girlfriend invited me to a raging rooftop party and my roommates played beach volleyball all day in Venice... I would LOVE to be able to post about all the fun times I had too but my ass spent the ENTIRE WEEKEND nursing an out-of-control hangover. Literally, I wrote this while lying on my bathroom floor in between dry heaves. I don't know what the heck happened when I turned 26 but body ain't kickin' like it used to but I'll be damned if remember that when I go out with old friends (my snowboarder friend, Jared, I blame you!)

Two days on your floor wanting to die while everyone one else is out having fun blows. The pool for the apartment complex is right outside my window, I could hear all the happy children and smell the yummy BBQ, plus my cellphone was dinging off the damn hook from friends calling, texting and Hey Telling to see where I was and what I was up to... yeah, needless to say I had a lot of time to sit and think (and curse vodka sodas.)  

I decided that I wanted to write a post on my personal hangover cures however, because at this point you know how I am, I had to throw traveling in there somewhere. So, with no further ado- here are my hangover cures while on the road.

Drinking comes with the whole backpacking thing, everyone knows that. Rowdy nights with other travelers in youth hostels, bonding with locals over a pint, scoping out local watering holes or night clubs are all great ways to learn about whatever town or city you may find yourself in and sometimes it's just plain rude to not accept a beer or a glass of wine as an act of hospitality. But let's face it, even the best of us can go a little overboard (and usually, a lot overboard) and traveling with a hangover just plain sucks. It's one thing to waste a day under the covers in your own hometown but that's a completely unacceptable thing to do while on the road (and probably impossible if you are staying in a hostel.). The whole point here is to make yourself feel better for real so you can sightsee all day which means these tips are a little different than they would be if all you had to do was zombie through work or have a movie marathon with your roommate. 

Here are my personal, tried and true Backpacking Hangover Cures. Please be warned, they are not for the faint of heart, they are for the desperate in transit.

Make Yourself Throw Up.

This is hands down the best (and sometimes the only) way to fight a hangover while on the road. Lots of times, you'll wake up in a hostel or guest house and will have no access to food or drinks without having to actually go out and get them yourself which is obviously extremely annoying and painful. I recommend getting your ass into the shared bathrooms, pick your favorite stall and try to get it all up. Don't be a pansy about it, if you need to stick the back of your toothbrush down your throat and wiggle it around for a bit, so be it but just get something up. I profusely yell apologies to anyone unfortunate enough to have to use the bathroom or showers in between dry heaves as well.

Drink My Not-So-Secret Secret Hangover Drink.

After getting up whatever booze or late night munchies you had left over in your stomach from last night it is now time to fill up on fluid and lot's of it. My Go To is half water, half cranberry juice. A lot of people say sports drinks are the best because of the electrolytes but my tummy can't handle all that sugar when I'm hurtin' (and it's hard to find Gatorade in say, Ghana) so I like whatever juice I can find diluted with water. Getting (and keeping) liquids down is absolutely necessary to begin feeling better so take tiny sips and man up. 

Eat Something HEALTHY.

I know all you want is some big greasy cheeseburger or an overload of bacon and eggs but DON'T DO IT! That stuff is fine at home, where you can cuddle up on the couch and veg out for hours but overeating and grease is not your friend while on the road. Eat something bland, HEALTHY and light. Think a small serving of plain eggs and toast, steamed veggies or plain pasta with garlic and oil. The idea is to get something in your stomach that will settle it but not settle YOU down. This is also a good time to say, DON'T DRINK YOUR REGULAR COFFEE IN THE MORNING. Wait until after you liquid up and get some food in there before you throw in some acidy coffee in to the mix so you can get the caffeine kick without wrecking yourself even more.

If you are in the UK, Track down some BEROCCA.

This multivitamin is the best I have found and after you've done what you've could by eating and drinking, these will fill in the crucial B vitamins that you lost with your 17th vodkasoda. Any vitamin (or sports drink) with B6 and B12 is beneficial but this particular brand is the booomb. Matter of fact, I need to hit up my friend in England and ask her to send me a few more packs of these.

If you are in Morocco (or maybe any other desert climate), Track down some PRICKLY PEAR.

They sell them on the side of the road for 2 cents in Morocco and these babies are like natural Pepto Bismol. Eat a few and feel your tummy settle quicker than you can say "I will never drink again." Another way to settle your tummy while in transit is by picking a window seat and staring at objects far off in the distance, snack on carby-salty foods like Saltines or pretzels and of course, have a barf bag always near. 

Get Out!

After you baby yourself for a little bit in the dark comforts of the hostel, force yourself to get out for some fresh air. So today might not be the day to finally try skydiving in Vegas for the first time but you don't need to waste any time either. Look into cheap Hop On and Off bus tours where you can just sit and relax but get off at your leisure, check out a mellow, airconditioned museum or art gallery, hunt down an internet cafe and get up to date on your emails to home and post photos to Facebook, lay around at a park or the beach or even just take a long, lazy lunch and people watch. Take it easy but don't take it lazy, you can't get a day back on the road.

DON'T FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE (also known as Hair of the Dog)

Please listen to me on this one (and not to your fellow hostel friends who are tempting you with Bloody Marys). Don't try to fight fire with fire by drinking again the next day. No matter how crappy you feel, chugging a beer or sipping a Bloody in the am is like putting a band aide over a broken arm (okay, a broken finger- let's not get dramatic.) Sure, at home that Bluemoon is the perfect breakfast beer after a long night of drinking but on the road, that Bluemoon is gonna kick your ass in about an hour when it wears off during your Seven City hike or climbing the stairs of the Washington Monument. Hair of the Dog only works when you continue your drinking throughout the whole day so unless you want to spend the day drunk instead of sightseeing, put down the damn booze (and that's how you got yourself in this whole mess in the first place, isn't it?) I love Bloody Marys just as much as the next backpacker but unless you're okay with only remembering your travels through photos because you were too drunk the whole time, Man up, nurse your hangover and go explore!

BTW... speaking of EXPLORING- I just got on www.mobli.com

It's a super rad website that let's me upload videos and photos in almost real time and I am LOVING IT  (it sounds like Twitter but it's different, promise.)

Please check it out and if you do, give a look at my page.
http://www.mobli.com/lindsaymc

Thanks so much and see ya'll soon (check out my cross country trip and let me know if I will be by your hometown!) :)

#HappyTravels

Click here to follow Lindsay on Twitter!

#NotANerd: Planning a Road Trip with No Plans

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to offer her travel advice to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @LindsayMC

I'm about to go on an insanely amazing epic adventure... but don't be jealous because I'm gonna break it down for you every step of the way so if you want to, you can go on one too! 

I am taking the next two months (read 60 whole days!) to go on a cross-country road trip across the US. I don't have much money, I'm not making any plans and I KNOW it's gonna be one heck of a ride. 

Three months ago, I literally had $20 dollars in my bank account, I managed to save up about $2,600 (how I saved up was an adventure in and of itself. I lived in my car, worked on a pot farm, picked up random promotional jobs and day-played for television shows on NBC and the MTV's VMA's- phew!) I'm gonna share my budgeting with you every step of the way so you can see how doable this really is if you can afford the time (MAKE the time.) 

Greyhound sells something called a Discovery Bus Pass that is $560 for 60 days of unlimited bus trips anywhere that Greyhounds goes (and they go EVERYWHERE.) That's my mode of transportation. "WTF, Greyhound?!?!?" you ask. Yes, Greyhound. It's perfect. The new buses have free Wi-Fi and any long trip Greyhound has an outlet under your seat to charge your laptop or cellphone- it's literally like a mobile office which is perfect for me because I am going to be blogging and researching the whole time in transit (when I'm not daydreaming out the window.) 

You know I'm a hostel kinda girl but even the cheapest hostel is more expensive than a free couch from www.couchsurfing.com or crashing at a friend house so that's where I'll be sleeping during my cross-country trip.

Because not having a car and only staying places for free is such a variable, everything else is going to have to work around those two things. Absolutely this trip is gonna be a make-it-up-as-I-go kinda thing.

The unknown variables I am foreseeing are:

Getting from the bus station to town. Will I be able to get a ride to where I am staying or visiting? Is there other public transit available? What time does everything shut down, will I get stuck somewhere at night?

Transit Times. Everyone knows that buses and public transit takes forever and sometimes requires double backing to get places but how long really is 'forever?' I totally know that I will be spending an insanely long time on a bus but am I going to have enough time to actually enjoy the places I travel to as well? 

Backpacker rule of thumb is If you don't have much money, you better have a lot of time. I got 60 days- that HAS to be enough. 

I am budgeting $1,200 for spending money for the whole trip which comes out to be $20 bucks a day. That is extremely low if you look at it one way but I'm thinking it will actually be enough taking into account that many days will be spent completely in transit where I'm only spending money on food (I'll be granola bar-ing it up) and I am hoping to be able to spend at least a good few days back in Virginia with my parents so I won't need money then either. I DO have about $500 as a buffer if I really really blow my budget but that $500 is actually for when I get back to LA after my trip for really important stuff, like rent. 

Ugh. Typing all this stuff up gets me not-so-excited and a little anxious so now that that's all out of the way, let's get on to the good stuff.

Okay, sooo I'm beginning to form my IDEAS for my trip. These are IDEAS, very different from PLANS because I am loosely intending for these things to happen however I am not trying to control anything and my panties won't get in a knot at all if some (or none) of these things happen. It's about having intentions, not expectations and just going with the flow. When your backpacking, Ideas are better plans. 

Starting up the coast of California from LA up to Santa Barbara to San Francisco, I am looking at an northern route across the US. I have friends I would love to see up in Oregon and Washington and I have never been up there so that will be super amazing. I want to go up to Vancouver because I have never been to Canada (I know, WTF? right?) which means I'll have to find a place from Couchsurfing there for the night. Then I'm thinking down, all the way down to Colorado, up to Montana and Minnesota (I have friends in Minnesota but not Montana- I want to try to ride a horse in Montana somehow.) Minnesota to Chicago to visit one of my best college girls and then from Chicago up the west side of New England. "Hi" to my girl and her boyfriend in Maine, get a little hippie-ed out in Vermont, meet some college boys in Boston, visit friends and party all night in NYC and finally, kick it in Virginia with my family for a bit. 

Back on the road and down to North Carolina where I went to college and visit my little bro who goes to college there now too. Through the south all the way down to South Beach, Florida to visit my very best girlfriend (we are basically sisters) in Miami. I'm gonna see if I can talk her into partying in Key West for a night, back up the west coast of Florida and hopefully getting involved with a volunteer effort to help clean up the oil spill for a day or so before heading to New Orleans. I want to get rowdy on Bourbon Street and help out with a volunteer restoration project for a few days there as well then off to Texas. I am super excited to meet up with a friend in Austin who is a Texas Roller Girl and wants to see if I have what it takes to make it in the roller ring with her. Bounce around to somehow get to the Grand Canyon because I have never seen it and I have ALWAYS wanted to (I have heard it makes you feel so small, I love that feeling. It must be the same as looking out into the ocean at night or laying in a field, looking at stars in the country.) From the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, of course. Party it up, fully taking advantage of free booze while I gamble quarter slots (just make sure to tip your cocktail waitress and she'll keep coming back even if she knows you're not really playing.) Then hopefully finding a bus that goes from Vegas to San Diego to have a surf session with some friends in Ocean Beach before a quick 'Tequila shot and Taco Trip' to Mexico for the day. THEN and finally then, back up to good ole' Los Angeles where my car is parked inside my friend's apartment complex's garage holding everything I own. 

Wow. 

Just wow. So that's my trip- it's gonna be a trip. I'll keep you guys posted the whole way. 

I was 'planning' on leaving September 17th but I booked a job just yesterday to make a few extra bucks on the 24th so I will be leaving sometime after then (ha, that's what I get for trying to make plans.) 

I haven't bought my ticket yet but I have basically prepped everything else in my life to be gone for two months (which was extremely easy as I keep everything in my life changeable at a moments notice.)

Absolutely the ONLY reason I see this trip not happening right now is that I am currently in the pitching process for a travel television show based on my adventures (go figure) and if we somehow sell this thing or enter negotiations or anything like that within the next few weeks, that obviously takes precedent over my little cross country expedition (but that would be like, THE raddest reason ever to have to postpone my trip.)

Well, that's that!

#HappyTravels

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