Things That Are/Are Not My Jam: Road Trip Edition

It’s a hotel night! Yay for wifi!

I’ve been traveling for just over 3 weeks now and we are having a blast. There are numerous things that are my jam. However, even though my instagram feed might look like everything is perfect, there have definitely been some things that are not my jam. So that we can end on a good note, we’ll start with the latter:

Things That Are Not My Jam:

* My car being SO f***ing dirty. Between the dog hair, the sand, the dirt, the damn cashews that are everywhere because I dropped the open bag a couple weeks ago, it’s a MESS.

*Setting my tent up in the wind. #Imeeeeeean

*My sleeping bag’s shape. I sleep starfish-shaped. You can’t do that in a bag that’s tapered…

*Tangled hair. Between the crazy wind and the apparent dance party I’m doing in my sleeping bag each night, it’s a battle getting a comb through my hair in the morning. It’s a Katniss braid from here on out.

*Data use: My cell phone data use has skyrocketed since we’ve been on the road because I’m NEVER connected to wifi. I’m trying to only use my maps, weather and camping apps and I’ve turned off data to all other apps (so don’t be upset if I don’t respond to your facebook comment). I try to hit up a coffee shop once a day so I can post my instagram photo and check the weather forecast and email. It’s actually been good though. I need to be less reliant on my phone.

*Non-pet-friendly places. Living out of the car means Tango goes with me everywhere. This has been super fun, and also a bit challenging. My good friend, Jenn works for the National Parks and warned me that most national parks don’t allow dogs on the hiking trails. So the bummer is we were limited to just driving, and not hiking, through Arches yesterday.

*Full Campgrounds. We’ve had great luck camping so far. I made resos for the popular sites for the first leg of our trip, but since I changed plans for this week, we got hosed when we got to Moab. EVERY campground was full, as well as the hotels in town. After a couple hours of driving around, we snagged the last spot at a KOA several miles out of town. Lesson learned.

*The several times every day I wish I had a certain person with me. I needed this trip whether it was alone or not. Whether it’s a sunset I wish my mom could see, a climbing route I want to do with my man-friend, or a diner I want to sit in with my BFFs, I would love to be able to share this trip with those I love.

Things That Are My Jam:

*The scenery. Holy cow, the scenery. No matter where you go out west, the view is amazing.

*Because of ^ that one, the photo opps. My instagram feed has gotten way better since this trip start. Call me Ansel Adams, bitches! (My stock will most likely plummet when the trip is over…)

*My sleeping bag. I know I complained about it above, but my zero degree bag has kept me nice and toasty this whole trip. I can’t sleep if I’m cold, so it’s been superb in that fashion.

*Waking up with the sun. After a decade of waking up BEFORE the sun is up, I’m reveling in this. The first couple nights of the trip I slept 10-12 hours. I thought that would subside, but I’m still sleeping between 9 and 10 hours per night. I’m ok with it.

*Having no schedule. I have a sorta-plan for this trip, but have already changed things several times. And it’s all good because there’s NO schedule!

*Not wearing make up.

*Watching Tango run amok in the middle of the desert with nobody around. He was a little anxious the first few days of the trip but I think he’s mellowing out a little bit and rolling with it all. He’s certainly enjoying chasing the bunnies, lizards, and field mice that are everywhere.

*Reconnecting. Most of the trip has been solo, but it was great seeing a few old friends in San Diego while we were there. Now I’m headed to Denver and get to reconnect with some great friends for the next couple weeks.

*Letting go. The first couple days I kept feeling the need to get there. Whether it was my destination or a pit stop, I kept feeling rushed. I realized I’ve been way too amped up for way too long. It’s been nice to just let go and let things be. We don’t have to be anywhere now.