It’s a good thing that I decided not to write every day. This week I spent a lot of time on the road and went through several areas without internet. It surprises me that there are still quite a few places in America that have no cellphone coverage these days. On Monday morning I pick up my rental car at Hertz. It’s a nice white Chrysler Pacifica. Back at Brittany’s house I pack all my camping gear in the minivan and say goodbye. I drive about two hours north to the house of my friend Matt, who is going to join me for the first two weeks of the road trip.
Travel
Relaxed Sunday in San Diego
Sunday is a relaxed day, as I like Sundays to be. I start the day with reading a book on the couch and then go for a swim in the pool. My friend is busy in the morning, so I go back to the Copa Vida coffee place to do some writing.
Enjoying life, one sip at a time
On Saturday I wake up around 4AM, nice effect of the jet lag. I had already planned to workout at a gym this morning since I’m still in the city. Just like I usually do at home I’m at the gym around 5AM to do strength training. Nice bonus is that there is a swimming pool here as well so I finish the morning workout with a few lapses in the pool. I love to start the day like this.
Relaxed day in San Diego
Sometimes when you’re traveling, you don’t immediately know where you are when you wake up. That’s not the case today. When I wake up around 7am, I look outside and know that I’m in San Diego. It’s already light outside and I see part of the skyline of the city. I’m feeling happy and excited: I’m in San Diego!
Back to America
The morning of my departure is quite peaceful. It’s raining outside when I wake up from my alarm at 4am. I’ve already packed all my bags yesterday, so that’s done. One of the first things I do is check the Delta app to see the status of my flight and everything looks fine.
Going home
The alarm clock goes at 3am. I had set three alarms, but the first one is enough to get me out of bed. My bags are packed and I’m ready to go home. I take a shower, eat something and then walk to the hotel lobby where Brittany is picking me up. I think that a friend who wakes up before 4am to get you to the airport is a good friend.
Back to San Diego
I hear the ocean when I wake up. I put the alarm extra early, so I have time enough the pack my bags and can start driving on time. It’s about six and half hours to San Diego. I listen to an audiobook again, but sometimes turn it off to enjoy the last moments of the road trip.
Ending the adventure at the pacific ocean
This morning I’m not feeling so well. I think it’s a combination of the Japanese take-out food I had last night and the realisation that the adventure is over now. I don’t feel like getting up this morning and stay in bed for a while. I’m only an hour away from San Diego and my plan was to get a test there and stay in the city the last two days. But I don’t feel like ending this adventure yet.
Driving back to California
After the really exciting day yesterday, I feel a bit more okay about going home. Of course I’m still not too excited about it, but I’m realising that I had a wonderful vacation with awesome adventures.
Checking off a major bucket list item
It’s the first of the month and that means I have to work a few hours to do the administration. I’m thankful that I can be traveling and still do my work and make money while I’m here. Since the day of going home is getting closer, I also do some research about all the current rules. It’s quite depressing. Life here in America is so much better than in The Netherlands at the moment.