September 10th, 2016. That's the day everything changed. I left my California life behind and began my new adventure - a life that would take me 5,000 miles across the country to my new home in Mount Vernon, New York.
"Wait..." you may say, "it's only 3,000 miles from CA to NY..."
Well, it is 3,000 miles...if you go straight there.
However I'm not about that simple, direct route type of life. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to do things the fun way. My reasoning was - I'm driving across the country! Who knows when I'll do that again? So I might as well take advantage and visit all the places I've been wanting to see, even if it's a little off the main road. And that's exactly what I did.
Let me first back up a bit and tell you a little about this move I was making. This whole move/trip had been in the works concretely since January. I was 25 and ready for a major life change. A lot of my friends were doing amazing things in their lives - getting married, learning new languages, spending months at a time volunteering in foreign countries, having babies, moving away... It just felt like everything was changing (as life tends to do) and I was ready for a change too. I had lived in California my whole life, literally in 3 different cities all within a 20 mile radius, and I was ready to experience something new, to do something scary...
I have always wanted to live in New York, I had traveled there at least 6 or 7 times on vacation and by the last time I vacationed there, I was done. I was just ready to be living there already. I had been wanting to move there for years, and this year was finally going to be the year. I was ready.
I spent months planning out my route, exploring the different stops along the way, and figuring out the places I wanted to explore. At the very tippy top of my list was Jasper National Park. For those of you who don't know what or where Jasper is... it's the most beautiful park in all of North America (in my opinion so far) and it's in Canada. It has beautiful landscapes, natural lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, and the Canadian Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway are just breathtaking. I had been following @tourismjasper on Instagram for quite some time and I was determined to make it a significant part of my trip. Also, I planned on visiting Portland, Seattle, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and Chicago.
So when the time came to finally say goodbye to my family, it was probably one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life. After the tears, well wishes, prayer, and hugs, I finally got in my car... and I left.
The entire drive up to Oregon I had a feeling deep in my chest that is difficult to put into words. Anyone who's done something incredibly scary, life-altering, and slightly unknown by themselves... probably knows the feeling I'm talking about... Fear. Uncertainty. Sadness... Coupled with Hope. Optimism. Excitement. Not really sure if you're going to survive, but knowing that even if you don't, it'll make a great story.
So off I went on this thrilling new adventure. The following photos are just highlights of the amazing things I witnessed and experienced on this 5,000 mile journey. A camera could never do justice to seeing something with your own eyes, but hopefully these photos can inspire others to go out there and experience the world in the same fashion - by doing something that scares you, excites you, and challenges you!
Also, I just want to give a quick special shout out to everyone who supported me in this move, especially my Mom. She flew out to meet me in Seattle and did a good chunk of the trip with me. She took care of me when I got sick (of course) and we laughed, feared for our lives, shivered, gawked at nature, took so many photos, and just had a wonderful time together.
Anyway, without further delay, I present to you my first stop - Oregon!