In March of 2017, I got bit by the travel bug. It had been lurking and stalking me for some time, inching closer with each small vacation I planned. My mom had been traveling around the world for a number of years and was in the midst of planning her own round the world journey. However, it was getting to plan the honeymoon for me and my soon-to-be wife that took my interest to the next level. I loved planning out our hikes, daytrips, and drives through the mountains surrounding Brevard and Asheville, NC. Finding cool breweries, restaurants and other little gems was such a joy. My plans coming to fruition without much of a hitch gave me not only an abundant amount of happiness but a real sense of satisfaction in my budding hobby.
The itch caused by that small bite never went away and by summer I was already planning another trip. It had to be a place neither my wife nor I had ever been. Luckily for us there was one relatively nearby. Though I was born in South Florida, I had never once been to Key West. I found it was time to rectify that and set to planning a trip for late September. I had Hotels booked, excursions planned, and vegan-friendly restaurants discovered. Mother nature had other plans for us. Hurricane Irma tore through the state just before we set out and put a kibosh on Key West. We rerouted our plans to our favorite destination of all (Disney!), but it left a strong desire in me to plan something even greater than that Key West trip.
Immediately upon returning home, I set my sights on finding that next destination. The idea of doing one of America’s ultimate road trips really appealed to me. “What better road trip to begin with than one along the Pacific Coast Highway,” I asked myself. My sister had lived in Los Angeles for years, which provided my start. It was high time I visited her out there instead of her always coming “home”. Using that as the foundation, my initial plan was a short trip from LA to San Francisco along the coast.
However, as I ground through the busiest retail months of the year at work my travel ideas grew even grander. My wife desperately wanted to see redwoods, so I planned to go even further north along the coast. Then I figured we might as well keep on going into Oregon instead of returning to SF or LA to fly home. And so a grand Pacific Coast Highway adventure was born, from Los Angeles to Portland and all that lay between.
Ultimately it was the planning for this great American road trip that prompted me to start this blog. I now had a desire to travel and see all I could. There was still time to make up for the appalling lack of travel in my twenties. There was also a great deal of joy in my new hobby and a need to put down in words all I experienced along the way. In the coming days all of the hard work that went into planning this trip will finally bear fruit. Florida will be put behind me and I’ll be running full speed ahead for the Pacific Coast Highway.
The first blog to cover this trip will be coming in a few days, detailing much of the planning I put into it and tips I found to (hopefully) make this a success. Check back soon to find it and maybe gain a little inspiration and insight for planning your own road trip.
To catch more of my adventures in real time be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter! If you want to see more of my trip beyond mere images and words, check out my YouTube channel too!
Leave a Reply