Start where you are...
...because it is the only place you can start from.
Hello and welcome to 49 Adventures! A blog about Rebecca traveling to every state in USA. 49 Adventures or 49A is the trip's name, because my goal is to drive to 49 states and I want every state to be a fun adventure! A month or so ago I decided that after visiting 49 states it only makes sense to fly to Hawaii as well. So in the end I will visit 50 states, but it's hard to change a blog's name and web address, so they will remain "49 Adventures". In an attempt to stay human (not assume and make an ass out of u and me) here is this blog's back story, caution: it's a bit messy because how can a person explain parts of "who they are" with mere words?
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| Hello |
I graduated from college with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and a focus on ceramics, sometimes also called pottery. After college, I moved back in with my parents, found a good local job and worked full time for almost eight years. I paid off my student loans, bought a car and paid that off too, then started saving some money from every paycheck for a travel fund. I survived the COVID pandemic, but lost family during that time. I am an introvert, artist, night owl, gardener, book worm, and have curly frizzy hair. I also don't like cold drinks, smiling for "just one more" photo, I am insecure, a perfectionist, often sleep deprived, underweight, frequently worried, and uncomfortable in many social situations.
You, the reader are probably; family, friends, former coworkers, teachers, or mentors and we have traveled together at some point in our journey of life.
Trip Preparations
This trip has been in my head in one form or another, for over 7 years. The early thoughts were of traveling cross country by Vespa, motorcycle, or bicycle. Living in a tiny house is another dream/goal I have and that minimalism life style is helpful when living in a car. I bought my car in 2016 with the desire of having one with back seats that fold down flat, or could be removed for more flat trunk space. I started financially saving for this trip around 2020, and in 2021 actively started planning and preparing.
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| Places to visit |
Locations to visit: My goal was to travel by car, spend a week in each state, and avoid hurricanes, forest fires, winter in the north, and summer in the south. To this end, I made a spread sheet of when & where such natural disasters occur, state's average monthly temperatures, and when the Milky Way Galaxy and Aurora Borealis can be seen. I was unable to make everything line up, but I am content with the state order, driving route I picked. Next, I needed to decide where in each state to visit. On someone's suggestion, I picked two places of interest for each state. I mapped those places on google maps, and it became a bit like connect the dots. This point is how far I got in planning locations before my trip started. Specific locations, like where to sleep, are all planned out during the trip. This gives me some flexibility, and I sometimes only visit one place of interest for the state, but it also means that part of my week is dedicated to making camping reservations for the upcoming states.
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Platform, view looking in from trunk |
Car: Camping is less expensive than hotel rooms. I have very little camping experience. Van life has been romanticized in our society. Those things influenced my decisions. With my car, I wanted to make a flat space I could sleep on, privacy covers for the windows, and add extra insulation where possible. I started by figuring out what I could and should not dismantle from the car's interior. I ended up only taking out the top half of the back seats and the foam in the trunk. Then I sketched out plans for a sleeping platform and consulted with my brother Michael. He has carpentry experience and tools, I was the assistant and designer. We built the platform over a weekend. Later I added additional side supports and got help with finishing touches around the trunk and the mechanics behind passenger's seat. (Thank you Mike, Funks, Fosters, and Kyle!) The lovely platform is long enough for a 5' 4" tall person to sleep on if their feet are between the two front seats. It also provides a lot of space for storage in the trunk and behind passenger's seat. Window covers were cut from Reflectix, and other than that I did not add extra insulation to the car. After the car was ready, I went camping close to home one weekend to test how well everything worked.
Gear & supplies: The goal was to pack everything in my car, not on top or behind it, and take three days of emergency supplies. I had a mental layout of where food, clothes, and kitchen tools would go in the car. My list of supplies to pack and things to do before the trip was five pages (one-sided) long! I did not checked off everything on that list, but I got close and it was helpful to have. Writing everything down in one location helped me stop worrying about forgetting something. The day I left town, was the first time everything was in my car. It was a surprise how well everything fit! Nothing impeded the line of sight out the trunk window! Thank you Mom for helping me load the car. Some of my more special gear includes: MSR Pocket Rocket backpackers camp stove, 20 degree winter sleeping bag, a 5" memory foam mattress, and rain guards for car's windows. Less fancy, but just as important to pack was a week's worth of clothes plus a few winter and summer specific clothing, three gallon jugs for water, and a cooler (not a Yeti) that can be plugged into my car to keep things cold, but I rarely use that feature. My car's outlet is often being used to power a GPS and dash camera.
Job & health insurance: I left my job to travel, which means I lost my health insurance. I knew this trip would take over a year, and I did not want to do it in sections while keeping my job. I considered a sabbatical leave, but did not like the thought of having to be home on some specific date to resume full time employment. Working remotely was also not appealing. I want to focus on traveling and seeing new things, trying to also work full or part time would be unhappy for me. So I am unemployed. I have Crohn's disease, which means good health insurance is very important. I choose to stick with the health insurance I was receiving from my employer, by paying the entire premium through COBRA. I picked what was known over the unknown. Health insurance marketplace might have been less expensive, but figuring out if they cover my medications, would have been a challenge. Paying the full insurance premium was something I planned for in my budget.
Finances:
I estimated one and a half year costs for health insurance, gas, car
insurance, and groceries. After I reached those saving goals, I kept
going, knowing that prices rise and I don't really know how much I'll
need. I created a weekly budget for the trip and I track my trip
expenses. It's a work in progress, but I know if I somehow unexpectedly
become penniless in Alaska, it might be a sign to get a job and stay a
while in AK. Or borrow money from family, and pay them back when I
finish traveling and start working again. (Five months into this trip,
I'm not worried about my finances!)
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| My cat Harvey |
This
travel adventure is something I needed to do. And five months into it,
I still believe it was the right choice for me, even though it was
hard. I hope you enjoy reading the blog. -Rebecca