Edward on Tour

i’m listening to metro station’s “shake it” and taking everything in my room apart.

the desk stuff is downstairs by the door now and i’m in the reading chair updating from the corner in that picture

In case you were wondering, the maximum number of destinations Gooogle Maps will allow is 25

From Oceanside, NY to

1. Albany, NY
2. Montreal, Quebec
3. Toronto, Ontario
4. Dayton, OH
5. Indianapolis, IN
6. Waukesha, WI
7. Lincoln, NE
8. Denver, CO
9. Moab, UT (Arches National Park hike)
10. Salt Lake City, UT
11. Missoula, MT
12. Seattle, WA
13. Eugene, OR
14. Eureka, CA
15. San Francisco, CA
16. Salinas, CA
17. Los Angeles, CA
18. Las Vegas, NV
19. Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon)
20. Tucson, AZ
21. El Paso, TX
22. Austin, TX
23. New Orleans, LA
24. Ormond Beach, FL
25. Hallandale / Miami, FL
26. Atlanta, GA
27. Chapel Hill, NC
28. Washington, DC
29. Brooklyn, NY

showing the OL tag some love today

I hate putting things off or starting things late or being late.

It happens way too often, and I get frustrated about it every time.

It also happens that it does work out.

This too happens every time.

The people buying our house had some issues with the mortgage and so the closing got pushed back and even now, there isn’t an exact date. I worked my last few sad days at the Library and at Starbucks, and have spent the past three days packing and moving things to my sister’s and my new place in Brooklyn. I spent the night here and am at the kitchen counter/table thing now.

In the interest of being able to pack without haste and plan my trip appropriately, I’m now going to leave on October 25.

I love the support I’ve been getting from people about my trip, with offers of people to contact in various cities, suggestions on where to go or what to see and things to bring, listening to me ramble on and on about it while I try to work it out for myself out loud, mix cds, care packages, a custom mug(!).  Thank you.

The next two days are more packing and creating a new list of cities, a new map, and a new calendar.

I’m going. No more delaying.

• complete the calendar
• post the calendar
• find or confirm places to stay
• find possible attractions in destinations
• find places to eat in destinations
• completely clean the Mini
• pack all my stuff
• move into the Brooklyn apartment
• snacks for the road
• get a new laptop, apparently
• more lists

As it usually is, my initial urge is to start this with “I think”

“I think” I use a form of passive voice to remove myself from taking responsibility for a decision.
“I might be leaving on October 18th.”
“I might have people get together Saturday night.”

No.

I’m leaving on the 18th.
I have the other theme I was looking for: allowing myself.

All of that about taking characters or performing parts or acting silly fits right into it. I have to allow myself.

Great, so now that I know and have told any passersby that I’m self conscious and insecure, is a 3 month road trip blowing through non-existent moneys really at all necessary? If I know what is I need to change, can’t I just change it?

Yes.

And that’s incredibly difficult.

The trip is something I want, and have wanted to take and so why not. When else would be a better time?
I’m packing my things anyway, I don’t have a full-time job, the only real ambition I have says go, drive, write, and learn. I’m going.

With my final shifts at Starbucks and the library within the next two days, and my departure growing more and more imminent, the nervous has given way to some excitement.

I’ve been spending time cementing dates and considering themes, and the thing that sticks out most is the reminder that during my trip, I have nothing else to do but take the journey. As I’m sure lots of people have been familiar with at some point, working 50 or so hours a week can sometimes lead to the constant feeling of having somewhere else to be or having something else to do. It really takes some effort and reminding to stay in now. I’m usually alright with that (at least mostly), but during the trip, that’s ALL I have to do: take my trip. That’s a very cool feeling.

So, about that theme.

I’ve always wanted to take part in a free hugs campaign, I’ll be bringing my roller skates with me,  I love taking in people’s stories, I love writing down those stories, I want to take pictures, I’ve got a strange disregard for some social norms, and then there’s Craigslist and its missed connections.
Should I explain?
I’m abandoning the comfort and consistency of my 3 part-time jobs to run-off with the unknown and towards the unnervingly questionable something that I love doing. But what?

Since that has no answer yet, I plan to:

• Skate. As much as I can, wherever I can, I’m going to rollerskate – at rinks, in parks, on sidewalks in the middle of the day… why not. One of my part-time jobs pays me to rollerskate now and it’s amazing. The skates are definitely coming with me as part of the trip.
• Do something silly that makes at least one person smile
• Offer hugs to strangers
• Something involving office buildings and their workers and something to interrupt the flow of monotony. This might involve passing out crayons and coloring books or bubbles.
• Write. Not necessarily even anything fancy, even if I just write a full page of string of consciousness, I’m ok with that.
• The Craigslist part might be a bit of a surprise. I’m still working on this one.
• Use bullet lists. Because <3 UL

1) The camcorder came today, so I’m sure I’ll post something stupid on YouTube within the next few days.

2) Calculating my budget earlier today gave me a better idea of what I’m in for. Granted it was through gross estimations, but I need to have something in mind. Looks like gas alone will cost me around $900, and I still have to figure out how to work food and lodging. Staying with friends along the way will certainly help, and I’m growing more and more fond of the couch-surfing idea.

I had tentatively planned to leave on Sunday, October 11, but now it seems that the following Sunday will prove less frantic – I failed to mention it in the last long-winded post, but my  parents are moving from Long Island to Florida, and my sister and I are moving to our own place in Brooklyn. Everything has to be packed and transported to either our new place or some sort of storage facility AND I’m taking this somewhat desultory trip. I’m definitely excited, but terribly nervous. Maybe both in a good way?

I’m a big Tetris nerd, so pardon the goofy allegory [ww? anyone? sort of?]
October 18 is just over 2 weeks away and while things haven’t fallen into place just yet, I’m creating the space for the possibility – I’m making it happen.

Originally, my plan was to travel the country in my Mini, working at a Starbucks in each city I stopped for a few days at a time – connecting with customers, listening to and combining their stories along with mine right here on this site.

18 cities, 2 and a half months.

I’ve been a barista for a year and a half, and I’ve loved it–the people I work with, the customers, making the drinks, the rushes, the lulls, even the frustrating parts–it’s given me all sorts of insight into my self and into how I deal with other people (and how I would rather approach them) and being the shy, somewhat scattered person I thought I was (and how I would rather be). To that,  it has also all been an exploration into the characters I take on in order to compensate.

Somewhere along the line, I missed the transition between my being withdrawn, shy, and indifferent to this whatever it is I’ve got going on now and how my characters have breached and sieged parts of my existing personality.

So, since Starbucks wants nothing to do with having me work my way around the country, picking-up shifts and blogging, Tweeting, and YouTubing my adventure, and since I haven’t found a full-time job in the past year and a half I’ve been looking, I’m hitting the road on my own.

I do have a few objectives.
Along the way, I will

• talk to as many people as I can about the personalities they take on in their different environments
• observe the way people interact
• compare both to observations about myself
• find that something that I love to do
• find my voice both physically, and as a writer
• discover, for myself, what strings us together
• probably reveal far too much about myself in a public forum

I’m far from perfect.
I don’t claim to be now, and I won’t be once I return.
All I’m looking for is a change of mind, and usually, when I’m looking to spend some time thinking, I go for a drive.

That’s all I’m doing, really.
That, and taking a ridiculous road trip.

hey there, early bird

it’s going to be a minute before I get things up and running around here

why don’t you go try the facebook or twitter in the meantime?