I took a solo roadtrip
Lessons from my Solo Roadtrip
- I should’ve invested the time into a grocery store run before setting out on a solo roadtrip. Roadtrip snacks are a necessity and in the wilderness of British Columbia and the desert of Washington State, food options are few and far between. (Lesson: When a Safeway advertises “deli” in small town America, do not interpret that to mean “fresh lunch food options.”)
- I know I am approximately seven years behind the learning curve (that’s kind of the story of my life – fashion included), but I love podcasts. Through Google Play Music, I pre-downloaded podcasts from the popular recommendations and listened through several (many?) episodes of #GirlBoss, Storybrand, Cultivating the Lovely, and Stuff You Missed in History Class (and a few duds, but I won’t bore you with those details).Since I’m so far behind the times, what other podcasts should I be enjoying?? And does this mean I’ll next be ‘scoping and ‘snapping and embracing all the other modern technology I’ve been avoiding like the plague?
- Dallying at beautiful locations is good. Dallying at beautiful locations “to avoid the traffic jam” is pointless. On my way home, Google Maps warned of an hour delay a bit east of Everett. In my self-described brilliance, I decided to stop at Deception Falls and explore Leavenworth and meander my way home in a subtle attempt to avoid the traffic jam.Pointless attempts, since I then had squandered an hour before sitting in traffic for yet another hour. My six hour drive turned into almost nine and on a solo roadtrip that’s basically an eternity.
- Roam like Home is the answer to my Canadian-American life. Thanks, Rogers. You’re the bomb.
- Small town charm. The end.Walking into the one and only coffee house in Republic, WA I was obviously and immediately pegged as the outsider when I gaped at the shelves of DVDs. Video rental stores still exist?!? But. Said smalltown coffee shop and video rental store made me a Cranberry White Mocha! My quest to bring Starbucks’ seasonal drink from Shanghai to North America is complete!
- Meeting my website coder for the first time is a testament to the power of technology: in the four (five?) years since we’ve been working together we’ve used Voxer, Google Docs, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Hangouts, and Instagram to tackle the world one website design problem at a time. Gretchen delights my soul, inspires me to greatness, enables me to dream bigger, and has become a friend in these years of working together on websites and blogs. Meeting her, photographing headshots for her new website, and standing in the same room showcase the beauty of the social media that brought us together.
- When I met Anna in Nairobi (fun fact: my family lived there while I was in college!), she was six years old and her Senior Portraits were the last thing on anyone’s mind. Like, seriously. Fast-forward eleven years and we wandered downtown Spokane celebrating her senior year in high school!Once again: the power of technology and the beauty of social media. Anna is a beautiful, graceful, talented, sarcastic girl who made me laugh almost as much as she laughed at me.