The end of the "no expectation vacation"

Current location: My loft
Mileage: 6,920
2 full days home from "no expectation vacation"


I have traveled 6, 920 miles in 21 days. I drove thru  Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and back to Georgia. (10 of which I had never driven thru) I went to three National Parks (Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Glacier) I have seen a grizzly bear, a moose, an elk, a white mountain goat, and bull horn mountain sheep all in the wild, in their own habitat. I have watched the sun lower on my left as I watched a full moon to my right. I have watched the sunset into cornfields, glaciers, and  rocky mountains. I have learned more about the Native Indian culture. I have felt extremely patriotic watching the four Presidents at Mount Rushmore under a clear sky and a full moon. I have built a camp fire all by myself, I have set up a tent as well. I have reconnected  with old friends. I have encountered extremely wonderful people all across the U.S. I stayed in my first Bed and Breakfast. I showered at truck stops. I saw windmills, cornfields, ranches, and did I mention corn fields? I had brunch with the Governor and senator of Wyoming (without a shower I might add) I did not turn on one TV, open one book, open one magazine, and I made my phone calls limited. I never even made it into a bar on this trip. Every day I had to figure out where I was going to sleep and what direction I was heading.

When the idea of this trip formed in the back of an airplane, I knew that I had to do it. I didn't know why and I really did not know what to expect. I also knew that I needed to challenge myself. People always wonder why did u stay in rest stops, campgrounds, and peoples houses. Yes I could have paid for a hotel, but then I would have gotten into bed, turned on the TV and not really experienced all the things that I did. Sometimes I think that we need to take away the modern conveniences of life to remind ourselves, there are other ways.  I started a blog, so I could write my feelings in the moment.When someone ask about the trip, it is easy to leave out details that happened along the way. My favorite author, Paulo Coelho says, that every time you speak of a dream  or a goal you give a piece of it away. I kinda feel the same way about this experience. Writing is not comfortable for me, and so it was another way to challenge myself.

I had to fill up my jeep 25 times ( you do the money calculations) but most importantly with each one of those stops, I was also filling up my soul. I have come to realize that people and cars may be very similar. When a car gets low on gas it needs to be filled up to be able to continue to drive. As with people, I think we also need refueled. Sometimes we need to refuel our emotional selves, our spiritual selves, and our mental selves. They also sometimes get low. I am starting to learn, that expectations will not always be met, goals not always accomplished. People will disappoint, as I am sure I will disappoint. There will be challenges, struggles, and heartache throughout ones life. The fact that you can not change people you can only improve yourself is starting to become more and more clear to me. My "no expectation vacation" did me good, but I am now back to the reality and challenges of life. I did not wake up in a bad mood once on the trip, and I think I may have been grumpy to my mother once on the phone (I accuse altitude sickness) J/J and sorry mom. What I realize though it is our choice on how we decided to deal with these things in life, because inevitably they are going to happen to us. I do not claim to be perfect, but I do know that after driving 6, 920 miles, thru 22 states, and doing a big ole circle around the U.S. I feel that I am finally on the right road. I am sure there will be detours, and U turns, but I can honestly say that I feel that I am on the right path for myself.

I know that I could not have done this trip without the amazing support of my friends and family. I had tons of CD's to get me thru the trip (so many that I never once turned on the radio) I had great snacks, and let's not forget the mace and very large knife my father bought me. I was glad that I was able to refuel myself thru my "no expectation vacation" and I highly recommend that you plan your own, whatever that might be.

I have decided that I will continue to blog, when I feel there is something important that I might want to talk about. There is a fine line with putting your thoughts and feelings for all to read, and as my friend stated once to me "some things you need to hold onto and keep for yourself, you need to keep a little of yourself so that one day you can share it with that special someone in your life" I couldn't agree more!  Til Next time Peace and Love ~KT~