plan one it is!

After pitching my SF travel plans, I heard back from my  cousin immediately, with a resounding "Yes, I'll do anything!"  At the time, it was exactly what I needed to hear. 

So come April, we're off to Big Sur.  More research to come…

In the meantime, I’m getting in the  mood with this:

One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur

first steps

So my first pass at planning a cross-country road trip has been a bit frustrating to say the least.  In my mind, I completely romanticized the idea of a road trip: long scenic stretches of land, discovering secret niches of Americana, running through a cornfield.  Unfortunately, the person I assumed would accompany me didn’t share my enthusiasm.  Having done his fair share of long drives, he opted out.

Despite the first bits of criticism, I’m determined not to give up.  Instead, I’ve devised a more manageable strategy: divide up my ideal trip into parts and prioritize which ones are actually do-able in terms of cost, timing, and travel companions.

 via  flickr

Plan One: San Francisco to Big Sur (the most modest plan)

• Fly to SF, stay with friends, drive down to Big Sur for the weekend (luckily my SF friends have cars)
• Miles: 150 miles south of SF
• Route: scenic Highway 1 (PCH)
• Length of trip: Friday – Sunday
• Travel companion: my favorite cousin
• Best time to go: Spring time for the: whale migration, flowers in full bloom, hiking, end to the rainy season
• With the above pics, I’m totally sold!

via flickr

Plan Two: Los Angeles, CA to Zion National Park, UT 

• Fly to LA, visit the fam, drive to the Southwest Utah
• Miles: approx 430 miles 
• Length of trip:  5 days? 
• Travel companion: my oldest childhood friend 
• Route:
  -    Los Angeles, CA
  -    Death Valley, CA
  -    Las Vegas, NV
  -    Lake Mead, NV
  -    Zion National Park, UT
• I've been dreaming about canyons after seeing photos featured on the anthropologist site by David Eustace

via flickr

 

Plan Three: NYC to the Outer Banks, NC 

• Rent a car, visit family along the way, go south!
• Miles: still looking into this one- over 500 miles.
• Length of trip:  A week? 
• Time to go: Summer
• Travel companion: A
• Route:
  -    Philadelphia, PA
  -    Washington, DC
  -    Virginia Beach, VA
  -    Outer Banks, NC 
• I admit this plan isn't ironed out so well, but I've been curious about the Outer Banks since my friend came back from there and made this one solitary beach her screen saver for months.

small adventure in a big city

just under the bridge- a beautiful display of wanted ads

inside the local seafood market

To continue on with my whole adventure seeking dreams- I discovered how nice it is to find very local places within my own city to explore. This past Saturday, on the eve of Chinese New Year, I decided to stroll around the streets of Chinatown with a friend who kindly let me borrow his fancy camera to shoot for the day. The slushed out streets and cold temperatures quickly made it difficult for a prolonged outdoor shoot- but we were able to make our way down a couple streets I've never walked on before. Our wandering took us under the Williamsburg Bridge near E. Broadway and Eldridge. I was able to get a couple of nice shots before we made our way up to the newly opened, overrated Meatball Shop on the LES. Luckily we consoled ourselves with some Poutine, a Canadian gravy heavy french fry situation, at Pomme Frites and ended up at a not so secret speakeasy in the East Village.

Lesson learned: There is a lot to explore in the city even on the coldest of days...

starting something...

I've decided, after much over thinking and many lists, I want to go on an adventure- a real life adventure! As I write this, I have no idea how big of an adventure I'm going to take, but I wanted to write it down and have it be something concrete that I can hold myself to. Initial thoughts for trips include: a cross country American road trip and teaching English in Asia. In the next week, I'd like to plan out a couple of scenarios, their costs, and maybe a time line. Couple questions come to mind: funding, safety, travel companions?

It's a start- and I'm excited!