Iowa

Solo Road Tripping

Solo Road Tripping

Samantha Gratton

Here’s the deal: I’m out of town right now. Yesterday I posted a video about our trip to Argentina, because well, it was way past due. The thing is, I’m currently road tripping and have been gone for the past two weeks. What!? Crazy, right?

Turns out that going out of the country and coming back to normal life can make you go a little crazy, which is exactly what happened to me. It was a (mostly) good crazy that caused me to hope and dream for big things. Before I knew it, I was planning a solo road trip with 45+ hours of driving over the course of three weeks. I visited towns I’ve never been to, stayed with couchsurfers along the way (aka former strangers), saw dear friends and surprised my mom upon my arrival. Believe it or not, this trip isn’t even over yet.

Here’s the route: Raleigh, NC>Charlotte, NC>Greenville, SC>Atlanta, GA>Birmingham, AL>Memphis, TN>Little Rock, AR>Bentonville, AR>Kansas City, MO>Mason City, IA>Des Moines, IA>St. Louis, MO>Nashville, TN>HOME

Road Trip Route | Moving Peaces

I kept most of the details pretty hushed online up until now because I thought it would be fun to surprise my mom and she, being my mom, reads my blog. The shocked expression on her face was totally worth it. But now, I can’t wait to share some of my experiences along the way with you!

So far, the route has gone through a few changes since I first dreamt it up, but since I started the trip it has followed the final plans fairly well. The first few days were quite possibly my most adventurous. Not only was I couchsurfing, but I was also visiting a bunch of cities I’d never been to before and had no idea what to expect. On top of that, I’m also working remotely during the week days, so my time and experiences may be limited in all of these places but I still get a glimpse of things along the way.

In case you’re wondering…my husband is not on the trip, primarily because his work is not remote, but also because this trip made sense for me and not for him this time. He got to stay home and work on some of his big dreams and goals. We knew this was a matter of pursuing opportunities as they come–for both of us.

I have taken photos, made memories, thought through life, shared meals, visited dear friends, and become friends with (otherwise) perfect strangers. I definitely hope to give you more of a destination by destination summary later on, but for now, just want to share a few basic things I’ve found along the way… 

  • Context carries a lot of weight. When I had an introduction or someone mentioned my trip, suddenly I was an interesting person with a story to tell but other times I was just another girl in the crowd whose story appeared boring and ordinary.
  • Creativity can strike in the most bizarre places…and it won’t run out if we use it.
  • Everyone has a messy house. Maybe you’re that one weirdo who doesn’t have laundry or dishes or a pile of random things on the counter, but you’re in the small minority. Seeing a lot of other (normal) homes has me convinced that it’s okay to have a house that looks well, rather lived in.
  • There are a lot of (dead) armadillos by the side of the road in Arkansas.
  • The culture changes in different parts of the country. Different pasts, different stories, different thoughts.
  • A lot of people think they know how you should live your life. The ones that admit they don’t know the answers but are striving to do their best with what they’ve got are the ones I trust the most.
  • Some parts of the country just simply aren’t great places to visit.
  • No matter how nice you are, you might say the wrong thing one day. It feels like the worst moment ever as soon as you realize you hurt someone but had no idea at the time.
  • Some local coffee shops are amazing, others leave a lot to be desired.
  • There’s a ton of gospel music on the radio in the South.
  • Late nights paired with early mornings will catch up to you.
  • Solo road trips are more rare than I realized. I’ve been told a few times that I’m brave for going at this alone, especially as a woman. Maybe that’s true and in some ways this trip feels meaningful but in a lot of other ways, it feels pretty average. I am only driving between two to six hours at a time and for a big part of the trip I’m with people I know. The fact that I had the opportunity to do it makes a huge difference, but what I’m actually doing is not epic in itself.
  • Travel isn’t for the purpose of merely “seeing all the things and going all the places.” It’s to gain perspective and understanding, all the while challenging yourself.
  • I love to travel, but there’s more to life than traveling. If I had to give up everything to travel, I don’t think it would actually be worth it. My relationships, friendships, home, skills and goals hold huge value to me. I think sometimes travel seems glamorous, but it can come at a cost to other aspects of our life.

Thursday Three

Samantha Gratton

And we’re back! Back from a cold and snowy state we love, back from all the holidays and back from a month of very little blogging. I can’t say I have listed out my resolutions for 2014 yet (partly because I am still searching for last year’s list to see how I fared), but I will say that I hope to blog more. It’s a wonderful part of my life and sometimes people even tell me it inspires them. What’s not to love about that?

So we continue with the Thursday Three. Something about it is just a little charming to me. Clearly it’s been a while so let’s just make this three a wrap-up from where we left off instead of only about the past week, shall we?

1. Christmas is a wonderful thing. Some people get all crazy about it and I’m not to that level. There’s not months of Christmas music or much talk of Santa here. It usually is a busy time of work for the hubby and even a little bit of stress as we squeeze too many things in a packed month. But it’s still good. It’s a celebration of a Savior, a time to gather with family and share time and food with others. Maybe I’m all sentimental because it’s already over and our tree is lying cold and lonely on the curb. But let me say it anyway—it’s good. We got our first ever real tree and decorated it in simplicity. We went caroling, sang songs and smiled for the Christmas card. We talked to some kids about what Christmas means for a video we worked on together. We hosted each of our sisters and their families which included several dogs and small children. We exchanged gifts, watched Netflix and found ourselves in a Nerf war.

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2. Snow and cold are not our friends. We moved away from that stuff but managed to visit right in the middle of winter. To Iowa we went to visit friends and family and celebrate a wedding of dear friends. We hit some of the town’s finest establishments, rang in the new year (and the hubby jammed along for a song on stage), visited my grandparents and watched two people say “I do.” It was fun and freezing, but we’re glad we got to go to all of it. And bonus—our trip got extended due to days of cancelled flights. Yay cold.

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3. Being a grown-up is a funny thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m running around trying to chase down my life. Trying to check off all the lists, go after my dreams and be good at whatever role I fill. Some days I think maybe I’ve made it and I wish I could just walk away with a trophy. But it doesn’t work that way. It’s a constant process of learning and growing. So tonight I’ll sort through weeks of mail while eating cereal for supper at 11 p.m. and just be okay with it. Here’s to another year of who knows what!

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This is the only photo we have from last weekend’s wedding, and I’m wearing a baby fur hood from the photo booth. The hubby was super excited about it and insisted we take this photo but somehow managed to avoid donning any sort of accessory.

Thursday Three

Samantha Gratton

This has been an incredibly full week, it might even bring me to tears. So many people and thoughts and memories and moments—I couldn’t possibly fit it into a Thursday Three. I’m afraid though if I don’t say something, I’ll never manage to figure out what to say at all. After almost a week in our former home state, here’s the three.

1. Living in the moment sometimes means no photos. We’ve seen so many people that I’m tempted to just name everyone off. It has been wonderful to see people, to eat with them, do life with them. I want to breathe in every moment we have together and store up all the memories for a rainy day. And of all of those sweet memories, I might have two photos from the week because I didn’t want to break the moment for a photo. Call me crazy, but it was almost as if I have been holding my breath the whole time, not wanting it all to end, even if for a quick snapshot.

2. Hello, it’s been a year, goodbye. Most of our visits have basically consisted of these three phrases during our minutes or hours we have with friends, and it hardly seems to be enough. How do you explain everything that’s happened over the past year since we started this crazy adventure? How do you even begin to understand what the year has been like for them? Do you go straight for the direct questions or small talk your way there? Our time with friends has felt so fleeting, making it hard to have time to get to everything, much less process it.

3. We aren’t moving back any time soon. We’ve gotten this question a lot, whether or not we’d consider moving back to Iowa. I can’t say it’s altogether off the table, but we just don’t feel led to do that right now. We’ve loved our time here to visit. It hasn’t always been relaxing, but it has been rejuvenating as we were able to tap into friendships and hobbies that were almost forgotten. But Des Moines doesn’t have any holes with our name on it. It’s moved on, as it should. While bittersweet, it’s true. Our home is somewhere else now. 

Thursday Three

Samantha Gratton

It’s that time of the week. The time when you look around and say, “hey! I’ve almost made it to the end!” This week feels especially that way because in a matter of 20-some odd hours we will be IN IOWA. After work tomorrow we will head straight to the airport. I am super excited and also a bit overwhelmed by it all. Am I packed? No. Am I blogging? Why yes, it appears I am. This whole trip managed to sneak up on me. Lately it seems like we’ve had to take one day at a time and it might be that way through September or October. Here we go!

1. We went apartment hunting—for my sister. That’s right, folks. One of my little sisters is heading to the East Coast in a matter of weeks so we went to check out a few places for her. Official details are still being sorted out, but it’s really happening! She’ll be living about 85 miles east of us and even closer to the beach (lucky girl).

And the winner is…

2. We had a few visitors throughout the week.The hubby’s parents came for a day and half to check out where we live and we had some couch surfers who stayed a night after playing a gig as a folk duo. It was fun to host a bit and show off the place that we live in and love. I think we’ll try to host more couch surfers in the future. It’s fun to hear stories from others as they travel around and also to hear what they want in a place when it’s time to put down new roots.

3. We tackled a closet. Quite the accomplishment if you ask me. It was beyond time to go through some boxes that were never unpacked so we spent Saturday night going down memory lane and found a few good photos and some items we didn’t even know we had in the first place. I can’t wait to donate some of these things we no longer need and clear some space. It’s amazing how much a person can acquire in life yet go on thinking you still need more stuff. Here’s a look at the mess we created.

Alright. Time to pack! IOWA TIME!

The List

Samantha Gratton

Ever since we started talking seriously about moving, I’ve been considering “the list” – which of course consists of everything we need to do before we go. In order to do that, one must first define what it means to be from around here. What do I need to do here before going there? Which of these things declare my obvious residency and lack of tourist naivete? And then, do you do things you’ve done 100 times just one last time? Or do you do things you’ve never done but have heard you should do?

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Over a month ago when I first drafted the above paragraph, I had high hopes of achieving the impossible. I wanted to live and breathe Des Moines, the state of Iowa and the entire Midwest as much as I could. While in theory it may be a good idea, it just can’t happen. Sure, I’ll try to see a few people in the next few weeks and use all of our Groupons, but we’ve got to start thinking about what’s ahead. There’s preparations to make, jobs to find and a house to pack. Not to mention, current jobs still to work and everyday life to live.

I think sometimes I try too hard to pack it all in. I’m constantly thinking that I’ve gotten better about overcoming my tendency to over-schedule. But I still find myself running around trying to do it all and pretending that in the end it will be worth it and we’ll be happier and better because of it. It’s the same trap every time. Instead, we wind up exhausted and annoyed about our commitments regardless how fun they may actually end up being. So, I think we will have to remember Iowa for the memories it’s already provided instead of the ones I was going to try and cram in during our final days. I can’t deny that our last week here is already packed full, but I will vow to try to reign in on the incidentals. These days aren’t about discovering Des Moines – they’re for spending time with established friends, packing and prepping to move and most importantly, being together through it all.