Bucket List: Cross-Country Road Trip

In 2011, I traveled a lot more than I had before, seeing parts of the U.S. I hadn’t yet seen, and falling in love with travel more and more (minus the part where I got stranded at airports for hours at end).

In 2012, I intend to continue this tradition of travel since I’m now fully location-independent, both work and school wise since UMUC stopped requiring proctored exams (YAY!).

I’m kicking off this year with a trip to Ann Arbor, MI at the end of this month for a birthday weekend of one of my dearest friends. I’ve never been to Michigan so I’m super excited, though I’m not sure if I’ll do a lot of exploring this time around.

At the end of May, I’m going back to NY for a weekend trip (or possibly a week) because I can never get enough of New York. (And then back to NY in August for BlogHer ’12. I’m still looking for a roomie!)

But the biggest trip of this year?

That’ll happen in June/July.  I was planning on taking a cross-country road trip this summer, ending in Seattle for a camping trip with my best friend and her family.  Nicole, who has become one of my best friends in DC (we get a little lost if we don’t see each other once a week), jumped in and said she’d join me.

“Really?”  I asked, because these things get thrown out, plans get made in the middle of mimosa-filled brunches and they never actually happen.

“Really,” she said, whipping out her phone so we could take a look at the calendar and plan when she can take time off from work.

So, I’m 90% sure this is happening. We’re planning on taking the southern route, making a couple of stops in Texas, Cali and everything in between, ending up in Seattle.

So, 2012 will be the year I go on my first cross-country road trip.  It will also likely be the year I drive back to DC by myself since Nicole will have to fly back for work.

This is huge and it couldn’t have happened at a better time in my life. It’s that kind of year when I need to take a step back, get away and really take the time to figure out the direction of my path.

Who knows? Maybe 2013 will be the year I start traveling around the world more.

PS: Don’t forget there’s a giveaway happening on my blog right now! Details are here.