When I graduated college, I decided that before I started my career, I wanted an opportunity to see the United States. There were places I wanted to visit, see and explore before settling down behind a desk for the next 40 years. I had a job lined up, however, I had about six weeks before I started. So at the beginning of July 1988, a friend and I set out with no set plan. We had $2000, my new car (that was stick… my friend didn’t drive stick!), a cooler and a tent.
We left Massachusetts and headed west either camping or staying with friends along the way. Every day after traveling, we’d take out a map of the U.S. and use a black marker to show where we had traveled for the day. By the end of the trip, we had a nice map documenting our trip.
 | Some of the highlights that I recall include Niagara Falls, the Gateway Arch in St Louis, one of the strongest thunder storms I’ve ever experienced in Kansas (we saw it coming in the distance for hours), seeing the Rocky Mountains and driving up Pike’s Peak, seeing the Grand Canyon, winning money in Vegas, walking through the San Diego Zoo, driving up near the Hollywood sign, camping under Red Wood trees, eating crab in Seattle, looking out at night from our camp site and seeing the glow of forest fires of Yellowstone National Park across the lake, catching a Second City show in Chicago, playing Ultimate for a Canadian team that was short a player in the Canadian National Ultimate Championship in Toronto (we lost) and walking around Montreal. I’m hoping to write more about some of these experiences at a later time. |
This turned out to be a life changing trip. Not only because I ended up marrying my friend and having two amazing daughters, but also because it opened my eyes to what an amazing place North America is. We didn’t stay in any one place for very long and in six weeks, we saw such a small fraction of what is out there. It became a dream of mine to try and see more and as often as possible…. to stay longer in some places and to see some I’ve yet to see. I truly love going to places, both near and far, and experiencing them. I like to talk to locals that live there, eat the local cuisine, see the natural wonders, investigate the history, hear the music and just try to see and feel as much as possible.
I have managed to take some additional, smaller road trips over the years, but I’m hoping dreams do come true and I’ll be able to go out for a longer period of time.