Picture me asking anybody and everybody if they want to go on a road trip with me, even for just a couple of days. I had no takers...work, no days to take off, no money, or maybe lack of desire led me to take to the road alone. I do want to clarify that I do have friends...I swear. I have found that being on the road even for 4 days alone is somewhat enjoyable. There are definitely pros and cons, which I will do a post on later, but right now I have experienced a lot of pros!
I am on day 4 of my solo road trip and it has been really great! I left from Houston on April 1st, and made my way east. I will give a quick outline of my first four days on the road below:
April 1st
Leave houston at 8am
Stop in Baton Rouge
Run at LSU lakes (901 Stanford Ave Baton Rouge, LA 70808 United States)
Head to Pensacola
Casino beach in Pensacola to watch sunset
Drove to Destin and slept in the Walmart parking lot. Made makeshift curtains out of sheet, hammock and little paper clamps (found article on the internet to give me this idea)
April 2
Woke up at 6:30 in parking lot! Everything went well.
Headed to Seaside, Florida
Coffee @ Amavida and walked down to beach
Ran on main road (lots of people walking, running, and biking
Beach! (left because absurd amount of teenagers blasting music and being total horn dogs)
Moved to rosemary beach (basically the same as Seaside)
Headed to Tampa
Arrived in Tampa at Airbnb and went to bed!
April 3
Slept in until 10:30!!! WOAH
Headed to downtown Tampa
Went to Shoreline Blvd (parked in ball park). Walked around the shoreline. Stinky!
Drove to St Petersburg
Went to The Dali Musuem (recommendation via Allie Brockman and good one at that!)
Went to a Whole Foods (classic)
Drove to Miami
Arrived at Marco’s in Key Biscayne and went to bed
April 4 (rest and self care day)
7 am cycling (using ClassPass- Redbike Studio Miami, FL, 1399 SW 1st Ave, 33130)
Study and blog
Nap
Study and blog
Downtown miami
Yoga @ 6 (Hot Buti Yoga 60-5084 Biscayne Blvd, Suite 101 A, Miami, FL, 33137)
Study and blog
I am sitting in Marco's Key Biscayne home right now as it is raining outside (when it should be sunny). I have had a lot of time to think over the past four days. I have been okay with silence and observing my surroundings. Everyday is a new learning experience and everyday has offered something completely new. New landscapes, new activities, new thoughts and ideas, and expanding myself by getting out of my comfort zone and going and doing.
Madeline sent me this a couple of days ago and I thought I would share:
For the open road
Why do we love the open road,
yet simultaneously fear the unknown?
Perhaps it is because
the journey not yet taken
makes the heart a little worried,
but at the same exact time,
we know we need it.
We know there is only
so far we can go
unless we are willing
to faithfully face
what we do not yet know.
- Morgan Harper Nichols