Three whole glorious months on the road. I can hardly hold my head up as I write this, but despite how exhausted I am, I cannot calm the excitement I feel. Excited for all of the things I have experienced, excited to get back home, excited that I actually WANT to come back home. Excited for how awesome this wedding season is going to be. Life is so good. 

We crammed three awesome cities into this very short week. Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. I am definitely less inspired when visiting cities, looking back I have very few pictures from Portland and most of Seattle consisted of zoo animals, but none the less it was awesome to explore these places. I feel like once you spend time in a few large cities (NYC being one of my favorite places on the planet) that there isn’t much else that can surprise or impress you. 

My dad is recently engaged and while visiting Vancouver we stayed with my soon to be step-mom’s parents Jenny + Leo. It is never ideal or easy when families separate. Even as an adult I struggle with these circumstances but I can say that I have been incredibly blessed in how my family tree has grown over the past several years. Not to mention how comforting it is to see both of your parents incredibly happy. 

As of last year all of my grandparents have passed. Staying with Jenny + Leo was really special and I soaked in every moment. Sleeping on the pull-out couch in the very small but cozy retirement apartment, having Jenny feed Vlad’s bottomless appetite, walking at senior citizen pace through the busy city, visiting every single park in a twelve mile radius, having someone buy me chocolate and fix a rip in my coat. It was further encouragement to welcome this new addition to my family. I was sad to leave them, but grateful for the one-on-one time and am already looking forward to having them back in Michigan for the wedding later this year. 

We really were not ready to leave the forest when we did. The entire time driving further north up the coast, we were debating on how we were going to close out the trip. We considered heading back down to the Grand Canyon, staying north through the mountains in Montana, meeting friends and snowboarding in Colorado. Even when you have months to travel and explore it still doesn’t feel like enough. Ultimately, we had to head back to northern California and spend more time in the Redwoods.

Week Thirteen starts with our backpacking trip back through the magical forest. This post is so late because I just crawled out of the wilderness. I haven't showered in four days, and I just inhaled more Burger King in the last five minutes than I have in the last ten years. Every part of my body hurts. Except for my heart, my heart is really, REALLY happy.

This was a beautiful week. There are so many parts of the country that I feel like I was so naive to. I knew it existed, I had seen pictures and read articles about all of the best spots to visit, but the feeling is so entirely different when you are standing on top of a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean, waves crashing onto the rocks. Green hills that look like they roll on for eternity. The combination of the wind rushing through your hair, the taste of salty air, mild car sickness, and pure awe. That is how this week feels to look back on. 

I still cannot get over how thankful I feel to be here. With most situations, too much of anything can not always be the best thing. Living in a van, is crazy amazing, but it also wears on you. I actually let out a very loud manly groan/cry earlier this week when I became frustrated with closet space. I had to take a deep breath and swallow the urge to throw something. Because even though living in sixty square feet with another human has its not so perfect moments, this is absolutely a perfect adventure. And I refuse to take it for granted and not enjoy every single second. 

Vlad and I spend a lot of time together when he is here. Like literally ALL the time. We were out to dinner a few nights ago in Santa Monica and it was really quiet. I felt myself panicking, “Why aren’t we talking?” “Are we a boring couple without anything in common anymore?” “Why can’t I think of a topic to break this silence.” “Good God, this sushi is delicious, I need more spicy mayo.” “But really, why do we have nothing to talk about?” 

Maybe, just maybe, it’s because we are together 24 hours a day while on the road. I confided in a friend who assured me that the fact that we do not have our hands around each other’s throats, or that I haven’t left him on the side of the road as of yet is more than a good sign. When I am home I am working, A LOT, so I don’t get to spend a lot of time with friends or family, so when I am with these special people I do my best to be present and completely engaged. It is an adjustment to “just be” as Vlad explained it to me. To just be in each other’s space and feel comfortable and content. 

I crossed several sights off of the bucket list this week and these views are by far some of the most breathtaking the journey has provided. It was truly surreal to stand in places I wasn’t sure I would ever experience first hand. The shock value has almost wore off a bit, I do not appreciate any of these days less than the others, but when I am surrounded by greatness over and over again, I have almost become accustomed to it. Like wow, this is insanely gorgeous, but so was yesterday and tomorrow will be too. 

There are around three weeks left before I need to get back home to business and the rush is setting in. We are planning to hit up several more cities and jam pack all of the adventure in while we can. I miss my bed and I miss my cat, but I am going to be soaking in as much as I can, while I can. Portland, Seattle and Vancouver up next, I will sleep next month. Hopefully. 

Longest blog post EVER. But it was a crazy amazing week. When I look back through the images I cannot for the life of me understand how we squeezed everything into seven short days. And on top of that, despite my proud bragging of how I never get sick, a cabin full of sniffling/coughing roommates at Field Trip kicked my immune systems ass and I definitely got very, very sick. It clearly didn’t slow us down, but you can see how exhausted I am. 

Vlad flew in last Friday and in that time we managed to hang out in Vegas, camp in the Grand Canyon, backcountry through Joshua Tree, and visit friends in San Diego. The trip is starting to wind down (at least it feels that way even though there is a full month left), but there is still so much to accomplish. We are just starting to make our way up the coast with stops in San Fransisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. 

Backpacking in Joshua Tree was definitely one of my more favorite experiences of the journey so far. Talk about the ultimate agoraphobic challenge. Here, fit everything you think you could possibly need and go frolic through the dessert miles away from any water sources, your vehicle, cell phone service, or any other humans. Hope all goes well. All I could think about tripping and breaking an ankle, or Vlad having a seizure (even though he is in perfect health and has never had a seizure prior) and me being stuck out in these rocks trying to navigate my way to help. Instead we actually had a beautiful hike, found an amazing campsite, and woke up to an insanely gorgeous and silent sunrise the next morning. My hips are still bruised from lugging around my new hiking pack, but I will not ever forget that feeling of serenity after waking up to overcoming even more fears.

I am thankful that empowerment seems to be a reoccurring theme as I go. Every time I conquer something I feel that much stronger and more assured that I can truly do anything I want. That I do not need to be tied to any one place or path. Changing courses has been the best decision of my life and I want to encourage others to take the leap. Even if its a small leap, just make it happen. Every morning that I roll out of my van I say a quick prayer for all of the people stuck in rush hour on their way to jobs that don’t fulfill them. I pray that they take charge of their happiness. I pray that I will continue to do the same. 

Even with Vlad being here, I am still fighting a bit of homesickness. The more places I visit the more I recognize that Detroit is not such a bad place to be and I feel excited to be excited to get back home. I am not at all sad about missing winter in Michigan, or that I will have tan lines for 18 strait months, but I can’t deny that I can’t wait for how ridiculous this wedding season is going to be, or how much I want to hug all of my friends. It feels good to long for a place I’ve wanted to run away from for so long. What is the saying? If you love someone let them go? I believe this is true for locations too. 

Okay, the Starbucks employees are definitely sick of me today (the barista has asked if I am hungry every hour on the hour, and I’m starving) so it’s time to get back out exploring. Until next week…