Day Ω - Blogabond

What did I learn?
- I can live out of a suitcase no problem as long as I have daily access to interwebs and upload capabilities from my phone.
- I'm not entirely a lone wolf, sometimes I really need to talk with someone, but not very often.
- Beds are better for sleeping than couches. American beds rule, European beds suck.
- Flying by the seat of your pants limits your access to sleeping places. Had I kept to a schedule I would have been able to communicate with people through couchsurfing.com and saved myself a few hundred bucks in hotel fees AND met some cool people along the way.
- I thought the views were going to be the driving goodness, but they were just scenery. It could have been the lack of pure highway 1 goodness, but I doubt it.

What was awesome?
- Seeing all my peeps. The people were the best part. Family, friends, lovers, the whole enchilada.
- Being in a great financial place where I could afford to rent the car, get the hotel room, buy easy foods, occasionally treat friends.
- Being so well received. Awww, I am loved by wonderful people.
- The smells, all the varied smells. Living in one place reduces your exposure to new smells.
- Even though it was a bit on the expensive side I'm glad I paid for a month (and soon to be paying another month's worth just to cancel) of AT&T internet access. Available at your local Starbucks and Airport terminals.
- Feeling my social newor(k/th) grow and expand. I met lots of new people and connected with known people in new ways.
- Free time to process my past, all the emotions and memories.

What sucked?
- Not enough time to see the rest of my peeps in LA, the Bay, and Portland. I saw about 60% of the people I really wanted to see and spent about 40% of the time that I really wanted to spend, face to face.
- I bought two west coast travel books that I didn't even crack open. I'm sure I have the receipt somewhere.
- Lack of kick ass music on mp3 cd. I had brought way too much chill music. While chill music is usually safe for mild mental distraction it's deadly at 10pm when my eyelids were open with caffeine and a prayer.
- The US/CA boarder kinda sucked. Next time I'll be taking my birth certificate and something else. It seems my passport is jinxed.

What would I have done differently?
- Obviously, more time to travel, sight seeing, hanging with friends. I'm thinking 6 months next time. Maybe from Point Barrow to Baja. Now that's a road trip!
- I would have sprung for internet via my cell phone as the wi-fi at hotels was spotty at best.
- I would have traveled during the summer, at least in the north west. It wasn't snowing, just a little chilly. That said, I do miss the snow, just a little bit.
- I would have posted my pictures to my flickr.com account at the same time I was posting to blogabond. One better I would have made a list of all my social networking sites and posted daily to them linking to the blogabond.
- I would have at least invited a navigator for a few legs of the trip.

Would I recommend this trip to others?
- Yes, if you don't mind spending gobs of time alone OR have a navigator. You'll be able to make better time and you'll be far from boredom.
- No, if you have no psycho-social-spiritual connection to the North American west coast. Check out a national park or two. Without familiarity I fear the whole trip would be a waste for you.

So, thank you dedicated readers for checking in when I bugged you, or even checked on your own recognizance, or even has me on your rss feed. Thank you dear readers who have come here after it was all done. And an extra special thank you to all my hosts:
Dawn and Brian
Mom and Phil, Heather and Ivan
Marriot
Grandma and Grandpa
Suzanne
Some hotel in Humbolt I can't remember
Ralph and Patty
Autumn and Sara-Jane
Libby and Dave
Dad, Louanne, and Crystal
and, of course, BlogaBond.com

Aloha!

written by

kleer001 on December 4, 2008 from Novato, United States

from the travel blog: Tijuana to Vancouver

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