What Now Wanderers

Leaving Nashville

2009-02-05T12:33:00.006-05:00

After a night in Nashville, we felt like we had a taste of what Tennessee was all about, but we still wanted more. When planning the trip, one of my "must see" destinations was Tennessee...well, a specific amusement-type attraction in Tennessee...Dollywood. Lauren and Sarah laughed at the idea, but I knew that they secretly wondered what surprises a park dedicated to Dolly Parton would hold. I was happy when they agreed to stop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the home of Dollywood. They both wrote off the stop as being about seeing the Smokey Mountains (Tennessee just has so many great things!) and not about Dollywood, but I believe otherwise.

We took the three and a half hour drive from Nashville to Tennessee and arrived in Pigeon Forge in the late afternoon. Rather than settling in at a hotel, we decided to explore. We made three observations about the people of Pigeon Forge within our first thirty minutes there - people in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee love Christmas, pancakes, and touristy/amusement type attractions. As we drove up and down the main road of Pigeon Forge we were pleasantly surprised to see tinsel-laden homes and signs, Christmas lights, and (our favorite) a Christmas themed hotel! Seeing as it was the middle of October, we surmised that the people of Pigeon Forge must really love Christmas and celebrate it all year round or have decided that taking putting and taking down Christmas decorations once a year is just too much trouble.

Tinsel-laden decoration:

We also noticed an overwhelming number of pancake houses. We all decided that we would have pancakes for dinner that night, seeing as it seemed like the right thing to do and having pancakes for dinner is just awesome. There were also amusement/tourist attractions EVERYWHERE. Pigeon Forge is like the love child of Disney World and a strip mall - wonderfully amusing yet slightly tacky.

Back from extinction, it's the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride!

Doesn't this guy sort of look eerily like Jack Nicholson? Upside-down theater! After taking in the unnatural sites of Pigeon Forge, we decided to take in the natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains. It was too late to for to catch the sunrise, but we were just in time for sunset.

Lauren's beautiful photo of the Smokys:

We left the mountain and promised ourselves that we would return the following morning for sunrise. It was time to settle in for the night and, of course, the Christmas themed hotel was our first choice of lodging. Unfortunately they were booked. We decided that we would spend the following night there and that we would dream of sugarplums until then. We were also saddened to learn that pancakes in Pigeon Forge are not as special as we had imagined and were only served during the day. Another low blow, but we vowed to remedy it - we would have pancakes for breakfast the next day! We got an Arbor Day themed hotel (not really) and settled in for a short while before heading out to find Dollywood.

We followed signs up a windy, poorly lit road towards Dollywood as Lauren told us stories about mountain people. Lauren pointed out a light up high in the Smokys and said that it must be the home of a mountain person. This scared us enough (for whatever reason) to nearly turn the car around. Fortunately, we were greeted with the Dollywood sign - a welcoming beacon that kept us driving. To my disappointment and just as Lauren and Sarah's had most likely planned, Dolllywood was closed. Oh, the injustice of it all! I forced Sarah to drive into the park despite it's obvious lack of activity and we infiltrated the parking lot and front gate - video camera in hand. Lauren told me that the cameras in the park had noticed us and that they were following us, which I of course believed, and we ran away from the park Blair Witch style ("I'm so scared! I'm so scared!) When we got back to our room, we were relieved and excited about the day ahead. There was so much left to explore! (Dollywood...ahem..ahem)

It's All Happening In Nashville

2008-12-13T17:17:00.004-05:00

After bidding adeiu to the man in yellow tights in Metropolis, we drove east towards Nashville, Tennessee. We arrived early enough in the night to take a driving tour of the city, get a hotel, and go out on the town for a few hours before calling it a night. We decided to walk around the main area of downtown Nashville, camera in hand. We weren't sure what or who we'd encounter, but we were prepared nonetheless. We were happy to have been prepared when we came across two street performers. We asked them about their stories, their passions, and life as a street performer. They were happy to oblige and we walked away with a spontaneous and insightful interview. We were satisfied with our one interview, but the road had other plans for us. Just a few feet up the road from the two street performers we interviewed was a man named Darby, another street performer who was busy strumming away at his guitar. As we walked by, he started to tell us about his ambitions to be a street performer and his passion for music. We all exchanged glances as he spoke - what he was saying was perfect interview material. Sarah jumped at the opportunity and asked Darby's permission to film him. He agreed and what followed was a valuable addition to our collection of interviews. He told us about how he had started playing in the clubs of downtown Nashville and how we was working his way towards stardom. His drive was evident and all three of us heard his passion as he shared one of his songs with us.

Darby (on left) and his friend, also a street performer

We left Darby to his music after we finished up his interview and continued to wander around the downtown area until we found ourselves inside B.B. Kings Blues Club.

A live band played inside and, at the end of their set, the musicians came out into the audience!

Sarah getting serenaded by one of the musicians:

It never hurts to be reminded of this:

What's more Nashville/country music than Dolly Parton?!

We returned to our hotel that night (after stopping for McFlurries, of course) feeling satisfied. We had met people who were doing what they loved - playing music. Even if it wasn't paying an incredible amount, all of the street performers we interviewed had a crucial ingredient of success: hope. Maybe we aren't all doing exactly what we are passionate about as a career at the moment, but our visit to Nashville served as a reminder that remaining hopeful and working hard at whatever it is that we love can lead to the fulfillment of dreams.

Superman and Metropolis

2008-11-23T18:01:00.004-05:00

by Lauren

As Nicole mentioned in our last blog entry, we found our way to Metropolis, Illinois - home of Superman! We didn't have any interviews there, but rather than moving on to the next town right away, we stuck around for the day to check out Metropolis. So much of the town looked like it popped right out of the 1950s and we found that everyone was amazingly nice and friendly. I guess when Superman lives in your town, you have to be good.

After doing a little sightseeing, we had some less exciting stuff to get done - laundry. We found a local laundromat and while we were there, we met Mr. and Mrs. Stouffer who, by coincidence, were originally from Rhode Island. Practically neighbors! They were really friendly and wanted to invite us over to dinner, but we had to be in Tennessee that night, so we couldn't. Here they are with their adorable dog, Pepe:

Before leaving Metropolis, we had one last thing to take care of - feeding our dumpster cats! When we got back to the place where we had been the night before, we discovered that someone else was already feeding the dumpster kitties, so we just left the bag of food we bought for whoever was already taking care of them.

While we wandered around looking for the cats, we found this cute little baby frog! Here's Sarah holding it:

And a giant bug:

We finally found our dumpster kitties too!

That concludes our time spent in Metropolis. Next stop - Smoky Mountains!

It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's a Metropolis???

2008-11-13T23:21:00.006-05:00

by Nicole

After leaving behind the beauty of St. Louis, the Wanderers discussed the possibility of staying in a bed and breakfast for the night. We decided that it would probably be the most affordable to stay an hour or so outside of St. Louis so we locked in our next destination - Nashville, Tennessee - into Sarah's GPS and started to drive. Along the way Lauren got busy scanning nearby bed and breakfasts on her iPhone.

We both started calling whatever places were in the area while Sarah drove. Every single place we called was full! Lauren called one place that was a revamped one-room school house only to have the person who answered the phone say, "Our room is full". Our room. Just one! The luck on my end was not any better, so we all decided to drive a little further and stop at the next promising exit (at this point we were in Illinois...again, cut NOT Effingham... and promising exits were coming at a rate of every twenty-five to sixty miles). Sarah's trusty GPS told us that the nearest cluster of life was in a town called Metropolis. We decided to pull off when we saw the exit. Little did we know at the time that Metropolis, Illinois would be one of the most memorable stops we would make on our journey.

As we exited the highway we were pleasantly greeted by a sign with the words "GIANT SUPERMAN STATUE STRAIGHT AHEAD". It may have been late, but time could not stop us from seeing Superman.

We followed the sign and found ourselves passing what I have always pictured small town America to look like. Humble residences sat next to local shops. Shortly after arriving in town we saw a large statue. Could this be Superman?! A closer look revealed that Superman was not the only man in Metropolis to have a giant statue made in his honor. It was Big John or Big John's groceries complete with produce in hand. We drove on with high expectations for Superman's giganticness. Of COURSE he would be larger than Big John! This was his town after all. We drove on only to have the small town feel end abruptly when we came across a Harrah's Casino whose bright lights compared to Las Vegas. As quickly as small town was disturbed by Harrah's, it reemerged as we continued to follow the signs towards Superman. Then we saw it. "Is this it?!" It's size had been dwarfed by Big John, but in reference to the average statue, Superman's was pretty giant.

We left Superman and promised to return to him in the daylight to get a closer look at his pecks and overall physique. Though it was in the middle of NO WHERE, the three of us decided to venture into Harrah's hotel to take in the local scene. The parking lot was packed. Mostly with out-of-towners from Tennessee and Kentucky. Lauren surmised that this was probably the closest casino for all surrounding states. I pictured caravans of cars leaving every hour on the hour for the destination of Metropolis, Illinois - metropolis? Not so much.

Sarah and Lauren entering Harrah's:

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the casino, but just imagine what it would be like to live inside a pinball machine and you should get a good idea of what it was like. After leaving (and spending $3.75 on watered down cranberry vodkas), we headed to the car to find a hotel to stay in. As we approached the car Sarah made the mistake of saying, "Hey! There's a cat" - a mistake that she would spend the next 24 hours regretting because Lauren and I are avid cat fans and Sarah happens to be allergic to them. Lauren and I did our best to call the cat over only to notice that another was coming out to greet us and then a third. Within minutes we were surrounded by a dozen or so dumpster cats and found ourselves wandering (it's what we do so well) near an abandoned maintenance shack.

The clan of dumpster cats:

Abandoned maintenance shack:

Lauren and I eventually heeded to Sarah's pleads to leave our new friends, but we promised to return in the morning with food for them to enjoy. More on the rest of our stay in Metropolis to come...

St. Louis, Missouri

2008-11-06T12:02:00.004-05:00

by Lauren

After our amazing interviews at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, the three of us headed across the state to St. Louis where we hoped to have our picture taken with the St. Louis Arch. But first, we took important Roadtrip Nation hat photos.

Sarah:

Nicole:

Me:

We drove across the state on a lot of those endless roads that Nicole talked about in her las post, and finally made it to St. Louis, Missouri to see the Arch:

We arrived in the city, found a parking spot, and started wandering (because that's what the What Now Wanderers do best). We first walked down to the Mississippi River, which I have never seen before! It was really big and very... dirty-looking. It did have a lot of cool ships on it though, including this one which looks like it came straight out of a Mark Twain novel:

Next stop was the St. Louis Arch, where we asked someone to take our picture standing under it. Apparently the idea of having the arch with us in the picture was way too confusing, so this is what we ended up with (just use your imagination and picture an arch above us):

Sarah and Nicole making their own arches:

As we wandered around the city looking for a good place to stop for dinner, we found ourselves in the middle of Rocktoberfest, which on that particular day was featuring an 80s hair band:

We head-banged a little at the concert (no really, we did) and then headed over to Jake's Steaks, an awesome restaurant in Old St. Louis:

After an enormous meal (there was enough food for at least 8 people) we piled back into the car and headed in the general direction of Tennessee.

Goodbye St. Louis!

Little did we know that we'd find ourselves that night in a town called Metropolis, Illinois - home of Superman! But that's a story for another day....

...AND You Can Nap While You Work! (Road Trip Day 3)

2008-11-02T21:45:00.018-05:00

by Nicole

Day 3 of our adventure marked that (very happy) departure from Motel 6 and our journey from Effingham, Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri - home of Hallmark Cards! We traveled along what seemed like endless highway before arriving to the headquarters.

Examples of endless highway:

Once we arrived, we were greeted by a young, bubbly creative recruiter named Bess. She was kind enough to give us an in-depth tour of Hallmark and to tell us about the company's mission and history. We were very impressed by everything, but I think that we have all come to the conclusion that among Hallmark's most notable aspects was it's designated "Nap Room" where employees were allowed to venture during the course of the day to recharge. We all have an affinity for napping (in college we all napped more than we did in pre-school...), so the fact that Hallmark had a room designated to the sport of napping was thrilling.

Here are some picture from our tour of Hallmark:

A space devoted to illustration inspiration for employees!

Crown lighting!

After touring the building, we were able to sit down with two writers for Hallmark, Andre and Molly. We loved hearing their stories and advice!

Andre used to be a circus clown!

Molly was a freelance writer and during our interview I learned that she wrote a book on writing greeting cards that I own! It was actually the first book I had ever gotten on the subject. Coincidence?! I think not!

We left Hallmark inspired, ready to face the rest of our trip and hungry. Bess recommended a local spot over the Kansas border called Oklahoma Joe's. Though our stomachs were growling, we all decided that before crossing the state line into Kansas we had to visit the world's largest shuttlecock first. Can you blame us?!

View from inside the shuttlecock:

We satiated our need for a world's largest thing (for the time being) and headed over the state line to Oklahoma Joe's. The restaurant resided directly next to a gas station, but it's line of customers proved that it was definitely NOT a place that Guy Fieri would classify as a dive. We struggled through the unfamiliar lingo of the menu and tried out best to order like the locals. We considered ordering in our finest Kansas City drawl, but thought it in our best interest to refrain after the Motel 6 incident.

The crowd in Oklahoma Joe's:

Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) left us feeling very full and very creative. It opened our eyes to a type of work environment that we would all would be happy to be a part of. Andre and Molly proved to us that passionate work can also be (and often is) meaningful work. It was obvious that both them and Bess feel fulfilled by the work that they do and that they are living out the company's mission of "creating a more emotionally connected world by making a genuine difference in every life, every day". They certainly made a difference in our lives by taking the time to share their stories with us.

2008-11-01T08:22:00.004-04:00

by Sarah
Sorry it seems that we skipped a few days along the way. Those of you who were following our blog hopefully didn't think we were stuck in the Motel 666 all this time. We escaped/ ran out of there as quickly as possible the next day and then went on the road again.
Those who know me know that the way I tell stories is in a way that sometimes lacks chronological order. Many times I may also leave out or forget the "punch line" of the story. (I know this is enticing you to read my blog post more and more as I keep writing). Its one of my quirks aka personality flaws... So, instead of boring and confusing you with my storytelling disabilities, I'll write a series of lists that will hopefully convey the trip in a compelling way.

I feel that whenever I travel, there seem to be many common themes that are present. These themes occur while traveling abroad as well as domestically. Here are some observations and themes that I experienced along the way.

1. Irony. Any time I have traveled, irony seems to be a common theme i.e a middle of nowhere town in Illinois called Metropolis with a population about the size of my high school. Another example was talking about a international city or country like Paris, Mexico, or Italy and then seeing signs for it less than a minute later (in Middle America). In the middle of nowhere we saw signs for "New Florence," Mexico, Paris, Tuscany Condominiums, and Vienna. There were actually any points when Lauren was talking about Brent, who was in London at the time, and then we would see these "England" trucks every half-mile or so. Crazy coincidences like these happened all along the trip. I wonder what God was trying to tell us... maybe that I need to travel soon (or maybe that's just how I interpreted it). Another extremely ironic event was during our stay at The Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge, TN. Since the hotel was all Christmas themed, Lauren thought of the great idea to do secret Santa. We each drew each others names from a hat (that Nicole made during the trip). I picked Lauren, Lauren picked Nicole, and Nicole picked me. We went to a store where you could buy leather, tshirts, fudge, and bathing suits. Can you imagine a store like this that is not called Wal-Mart?! Well, we dispersed in the store and picked out quirky gifts for each other. The next morning we opened our gifts. The craziest thing happened- I had actually picked out the same gift for Lauren that she had picked for Nicole. A key chain with a pocket knife on it with the name "Bubba" etched on it. Of all the names to pick, we picked the same exact name! Alanis Morissette would have thought that was surely ironic. Another example of this was seeing a wooden bear walking down a pathway and thinking it was real. Later on that day, we did in fact see a real bear in the smoky mountains! I wouldn't be surprised if "Ironic" came on in the deep forests during our bear sighting.

2. Going full circle. Not only was our route around parts of the country routed in a way which made a circular path, but it was evident that our conversations, locations, people we met, etc. all went full circle after a certain amount of time. What I mean by this is many times a conversation we had earlier in the trip was brought up later on in the trip by a complete stranger, such as a person we interviewed. We'd be talking about our life goals, or direction in life, and then our interviews would give us just the guidance we needed. I heard common themes during the interviews over time and now that we're home, I'm starting to forget who said what, but I still remember the themes of persistence, determination, and courage coming through in the interviews. While playing "Psychic Radio" (a game Lauren introduced to us later in the trip), we found that many of our questions were answered by asking the radio a question and then strategically holding down the "seek" button for a designated number of seconds then releasing and seeing what song is playing. I don't really believe this is going to give us huge life advice, but its fun to play on a long road trip. Along the trip we saw signs for "Emma." Some middle of nowhere town. The coincidence being that we had just visited with my cousin Jean's new baby Emma in Indiana. I also saw signs for "Norwalk" (the city I just moved to in Connecticut). While in DC, we passed the Peace Corps building, the building in which I had corresponded with handfuls of people over the last and sent numerous documents as I waited in anticipation for my placement. It was interesting that the last day of our trip, we passed by this building. It was hard to see, because it was just a reminder that I wasn't there ("there" being in my placement, the Dominican Republic). It was also a reminder, and sign, to me that I still need to pursue my dreams of going into the Peace Corps and reapply next year when they may reevaluate me. To me, it was a sign and reminder that God was saying, "Don't give up. Continue to work towards this." The irony was that the Peace Corps building was actually right around the corner from the National Geographic building where we met with Chris Johns, the editor in chief of the magazine.

3. Quirks. Just as we found quirks in the strange towns we went to, we also couldn't help but notice each of our own quirks. We established my story telling tendencies to often include the phrase "OH MY GOSH" (spoken with the perfect voice inflection sounding surprised and excited). We found Nicole's quirk to be in her conversation skills. Many times, Nicole will ask questions along the lines of: If you could be any (fill in the blank), which would you be... and why!? She has a way of asking such unique questions it gets you stumped and really makes you think. Many times these questions will come out of no where (but are surely connected in Nicole's train of thought). Lauren tends to be a dream crusher and cannot suspend disbelief. This happened a couple times during the trip.

Thats all I got for now, and I should probably get ready for work. I'll write more observations as soon as I can!

Motel 6: Quite the Adventure

2008-10-27T10:54:00.008-04:00

by Nicole

At the end of day three of our trip, our wandering caravan found itself tired of driving, tired of corn, and tired enough to want nothing more than to find a comfortable place to sleep. In an effort to save money, we decided to leave behind the extravagant lifestyle we had lead on our first night of the trip when we blew a whopping $130.00 on a hotel room and instead found ourselves checking into a Motel 6 (Motel 666 in my mind...) in Effingham, Ohio ("I don't want effing-ham! I want effin-turkey!"). We checked in and were pleasantly surprised upon entering our room to find tropical/metropolitan comforter awaiting us.

Tropical/Metropolitan Comforter

The comforter was welcoming and friendly. So welcoming, in fact, that when we lifted it we wished that the people who had visited the room before us hadn't been so inclined to visit it. I'm not sure which had more presence on the sheets below the comforter: foot resideue or green puss. Shortly after surveying the infectious bed situation, Sarah visited the bathroom and was greeted by a porcelin bowl complete with old urine. The tub held another goody, a rim of dirt from a pervious bathmat.

Dirty, Dirty Tub

To add to the fun of the the situation inside the room, we had a room full of inebriated men a floor below us outside the room. On our way up to our temporary abode, we could hear one of the men yelling, "Git out hur!!! Thur ir three of em!" Once we got into our room and took note of the situation, Lauren and I decided that we should try to find clean sheets to make our night less disgusting.

The concierge was new and didn't know where to find fresh sheets, so instead we used a plethora of towels to create a barrier between us and the residue of the people who had slept in the beds before us. On the way back into the room after getting towels, one of the fellas (fell-uhs in Effingham) yelled up to Lauren, "How old err ewe??" Lauren asked why and he asked if we were older than seventeen to which Lauren replied with, "Yes, definitely older than seventeen." His response to Lauren was equal parts frightening and illegal: "Then come on down!" We politely declined by running towards the door. Lauren yelled, "We're fourteen and a half! Sorry!" as I cried out repeatedly, "Mom! Mom!", while banging on the door of our room. We escaped without any bodily injury, but the wounds of that night's events will take years to fully heal.

Day 2: Reconnecting with old friends (and new ones)!

2008-10-25T10:17:00.005-04:00

by Sarah

The first night, we slept in Streetsboro, Ohio at a beautiful hotel called the Fairfield Inn & Suites. I was glad to have free continental breakfast, clean shower, and clean rooms. However, this was a huge mistake to go to such a beautiful place for our first stop since it set the bar for all the other stops we'd be making. The only reason we stayed here was because it was so late into the evening and we just wanted to find a place to stay. Well, we got up, ate breakfast and got on our way. We were going to visit my friend Liz who I met while studying abroad in Lithuania two years ago. I hadn't seen her since we said goodbye on the bus early that December morning. We met her at Michigan State University where we met up with Nicole's friends Sarah and Carl from Quinnipiac Univeristy. Carl, Sarah, Nicole, and Lauren walked around campus (causing Lauren some blisters on her feet) and I went to coffee with Liz. We caught up over coffee and it was just like old times. It was so wonderful to see her and just to be together for a couple hours. So, all of us met up a couple hours later and went on our way to Indianapolis. We drove through beautiful corn fields, more corn fields, oh, and some more corn fields. We arrived in Indianapolis to visit my cousin and her new baby girl Emma Jean Wittmann Crane. She came into the world earlier that morning and I was privileged to see her on her zero year birthday! She is beautiful. I was in awe when I saw her. She was so tiny and her skin was so soft. I got to hold her and cuddle with her. I brought her a little pink dress and some little onesy outfits, as well as a pale green blanket that I knitted for her. We dressed her up in the dress and she looked like a little princess. So beautiful! I'll put up pictures as soon as I can. After visiting with Jean, her husband John, and Emma, we went on to drive a few hours so that we would cut down the driving time for the next day. I'll allow either Lauren or Nicole to post about the hotel we stayed at that night to be fair to them (you'll see why later...). Thats all for now!

Lancaster County, PA (Road Trip Day 1)

2008-10-24T23:01:00.004-04:00

by Lauren

The time is finally here - we're on our road trip! We left on Wednesday morning and headed for our first stop in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We had hoped to interview an Amish person, but discovered that being filmed is against their beliefs, so instead we interviewed the owner of Good 'n Plenty, a fantastic restaurant in Lancaster.

First, though, we headed over to Intercourse, PA (what a name, right?) where we took in some of the local culture. The land out there was so different from what we're used to at home. There were farms everywhere and Amish people riding in horse-drawn buggies.

We stopped at one little village where we got our picture taken with a couple of big horses:

This one even smiled for the camera:

After roaming around for a little bit, we went to Good 'n Plenty, which is owned by Sarah's friend Jenn's grandparents. Good 'n Plenty is such a fantastic restaurant and Jenn's grandparents are so sweet. Right when we arrived, Jenn's grandmother served us a huge meal of mashed potatoes, fried chicken, pork & sauerkraut, homemade vanilla ice cream, and shoo fly pie:

After filling ourselves with as much food as we could handle, we interviewed Jenn's grandfather about his restaurant. He had lots of great advice for young people, but I don't want to spoil the interview so I won't say anything more.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Lancaster County, where we saw lots of adorable farm animals and beautiful landscapes:

As we were driving around trying to figure out what to do next, we stumbled upon an abandoned corn maze with little tricycles and of course we had to get out to play. I love this picture of Sarah rounding a corner on her tricycle in front of a field that says "FIELD":

Some other random shots I really liked:

Finally, we put the corn fields of Lancaster behind us and headed on towards Ohio:

If you want to see all of my photos from Day 1, check out my slideshow here:

Sarah and Nicole took a lot of fantastic pictures too that they'll hopefully be uploading soon!

Anyway, right now we're in Odessa, Missouri and we have lots more to blog about but it's getting late, so that will have to wait for tomorrow. Keep checking back for more!

Words for the Wanderers

2008-10-21T23:48:00.003-04:00

by Nicole

Here are some words of wisdom from those who have wandered before us as we prepare to depart on our journey...

"Travel is a creative act - not simply loafing and inviting your soul, but feeding on the imagination, accounting for each fresh wonder, memorizing, and moving on...And the best landscapes, apparently dense or featureless, hold surprises if they are studied patiently, in the kind of discomfort one can savor afterwards."
-Pul Theroux

"Allons! Whoever you are, come travel with me!"
-Walt Whitman (Sarah's twice removed Grandfather perhaps??)

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
-John Steinbeck

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”."
-Henry Miller

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Almost There...

2008-10-20T19:56:00.000-04:00

by Lauren

So we leave for our trip in 34 hours! My only problem is that I'm really sick.... Worst timing ever, right? I'm doing my best to get 100% better by Wednesday morning, though, and if not you can all make fun of my scratchy voice and bright red nose on the show.

Anyway, Nicole, Sarah and I have spent the last week planning the specifics of our trip. We have all the dates for our interviews set up, and we even have a pretty good idea of where we're spending the night each night. Most of the work was done at Arcadia Coffee, where we had an important What Now Wanderers meeting.

Here's our table where we did all the brainstorming:

And here's the basic route we came up with:

I wish I weren't so sick so that I could write a better blog entry, but this is all I really have the energy for right now. I hope you'll keep following our trip!

Our First Interview: Kevin Van Aelst

2008-10-19T18:22:00.005-04:00

by Nicole

On our trip we will be conducting interviews all over the country in all sorts of formats. Since What Now Wanderers are fairly tech-savvy (not to mention a tad bit blog crazy), it seems appropriate that our first "official" interview would be conducted via the internet.

During college, I was introduced to the world of photography by a friendly and fun professor by the name of Kevin Van Aelst. I enjoyed his introduction to photography class so much that the following year I enrolled in his digital photography class. I have spoken to a handful of other students who have had Professor Van Aelst and we all agree that his classes are great. I think that one of the things that make his classes so great his passion for what he is teaching - an asset that not every professor at my college has. It was this passion that inspired me to ask Professor Van Aelst to tell his story.

Check out what he had to say!
1.) Have you always wanted to be a photographer?

Not at all. In High School, I had nothing to do with art and was most interested in math and science, and I always thought this was what I would do with my life. I went into college as a Biology major, and graduated with a degree in Social Psychology. It wasn't until the very final stretch of college that I'd even begun to consider taking art seriously as a career path.

2.) How did you get into photography?

I bought my first SLR camera on a whim. It was the summer after my freshman year at college, and I thought taking pictures would be a fun hobby to take up. The next school year, I signed up for a membership in the community darkroom in the basement of the student union. I spent the next couple years as one of those kids who always had a camera around their neck, and spending what free time I could find in that darkroom. I studied more and more about art and took some contemporary art history classes and I learned that art could be simple. Art could be smart, rather than emotional; art could be clever rather than sensitive; and art could be fun, rather than serious. This made me want to learn as much as I could, and try new and different things through photography (not just constant hunting for interesting scenes to shoot--something I love doing, but was never very good at). After I graduated from Cornell, I moved home for a year and tried to figure out what the heck to do with my life. One of my thesis advisors told me that I shouldn't go to grad school for anything unless I couldn't possibly imagine my life without it. So I decided to take a serious shot at it and to get my Masters of Fine Art.

3.) Were there any challenges along the road to pursuing a career in photography?

Millions. Art itself is easy, like speaking, or thinking; it's simply a way of communicating. Good Art is a different matter all together. Translating a concept, notion, vision, sensation, or idea in a clear, non-verbal way is a terrifying task. What is it you want to communicate? And how to go about that? And does it even matter? and how does it fit in with the on-going dialogue of the human experience that basically is what Contemporary Art is all about. To even put oneself out there as an "artist" is, again, terrifying.

There are many many ways to make a living with photography. There are portrait/event/wedding photographers (something I've never had any interest in), there is commercial and product photography--which pays great, but isn't very fulfilling, and even within the realm of Fine Art there are countless genres of photography. The luckiest job for any artist to have is one that keeps them involved in their field, and affords them the time and energy to devote to their craft. Teaching has been that great turn of luck for myself, and along with the magazine work I've done in the last year or so, I'm lucky enough to have the time and money to keep producing, exhibiting, and selling work.

4.) What advice do you have for someone who is unsure of what they want to do?

Don't let anyone tell you that you need to have it all figured out by the time you finish college. Of all the people I know who love what they are doing with their lives, very few are on a trajectory that could have predicted when they graduated. Take any opportunity you have to learn more about yourself, and never be afraid to fail. One of my favorite pieces of advice is: It's better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than to be half way up one that you don't.

Kevin Van Aelst has an awesome website. Check it out here!

Celebrity

2008-10-17T10:39:00.003-04:00

by Nicole
It's nice to be recognized. To have someone say, "Hey! You're so-and-so" or, "Why, didn't you do that?!". Recently, recognition happened to me. Okay, okay... You're probably thinking that it was some stranger on the street screaming out, "Oh my word! Aren't you Nicole?!". As cool as that would be, that wasn't the case. Actually, the person who recognized me was my mailman. This would be totally normal since he has been my mailman my entire life and often recognizes me and say hello, but it was the fact that he recognized me and referred to the What Now Wanderers article in the Greenwich Time that got me excited. He knows a lot of things about a lot of people via mail, but I still was surprised at his degree of knowledge about our trip. He commented on the grant, the route, and inquired about the car. He asked if we were planning to take my '91 Dodge Shadow. I said no and that if we did do that, we might not make it past Lancaster. All in all it was a nice experience to have our trip recognized! It's a good feeling to know that people are learning about what we are going to be doing and that they are excited enough about it to bring it up in conversation!

Service- My Passion

2008-10-11T17:46:00.008-04:00

by Sarah

For the last few days I have been losing sleep trying to figure out what to post on our team blog as my passion. I think I'm a pretty passionate person- not in the sense of ... intimate or in bed kind passion... but meaning that I am just enthusiastic, or passionate, about so many things. I would make a great salesperson for any product that I love, such as coffee or a country I've traveled to. If you know me, you are well aware of my obsession with kids- this could mean kids I know or kids I just pass by on the street and fawn over. Another passion of mine is traveling. Ever since I stepped foot off the ground here in the USA , I became in love with adventure & travel. Since I left the country initially, my passion with traveling has extended to long term living abroad. During the Fall of my Sophomore year, I questioned whether the major I entered college with was right for me. I began my education at Messiah College seeking a degree in Elementary Education. It was during the first semester of being a Resident Assistant to Freshmen girls in my floor I discovered that, though I love children, my passion is more in helping people (or little people) on a deeper, more counseling like, level. Ever since I was little, my parents instilled in me the value caring for others. My personal values in my faith as well as the ones I had grown up with all equated with the field of social work. This whole long story is getting somewhere- don't stop reading... so given the strengths that God has given me (encouragement, mercy, compassion) along with my passions: children, traveling, relationships, and social work, I could say that God has given me a passion of service. In every one of my interests, I have incorporated service into it- traveling on missions trips and studying abroad working at the orphanage, working at Kids in Crisis ( a therapeutic crisis shelter for kids), or whatever it may be, it always seems to be wrapped around the idea of serving others. At Messiah, we learned about being servant leaders- a very interesting concept and one which I hope to someday accurately emulate.

Looking back, it is evident how God has had a hand in my life through the roads he has guided me on- helping on Meals-on-Wheels with my dad as a young child, the activities I took interest in in high school, working at KIC starting in high school, the college I chose, missions trips, studying abroad in Lithuania and working at the orphanage, choosing social work as my major. It all seems so obvious how they are all connected when I look back at the span of my life. I have been called to serve- whether it be my friends, neighbors (next door or across the world), or family. Seeing that my passion is in serving others, I know that I will find the right opportunities (and the right opportunities will find me) to live out this passion on the road trip. It will be fascinating to see how it all plays out over time (as it always does...)

Creativity - My Passion

2008-10-08T18:35:00.003-04:00

by Nicole

Lauren had the great idea to have each of us road-trippers highlight our passions in a personal blog post. I was at first very intrigued by the idea and commended Lauren right away on her commitment to the blog and our quest for self discovery. Then, it hit me. I don't know what my passion is! I have actually started a blog detailing my journey towards finding my life's passion in which I say "Yes" to everything that I have an interest in. After a work days worth of consideration, I have decided on a passion to talk about: Creativity. It may not be a specific field, hobby or career path, but I can say boldly that I am passionate about being creative. In fact, I swoon over the idea of being creative and bask in any chance that I have to express myself in this way.

As far back as I can remember, I have been attracted to anything that makes me think "out of the box" (the theme song to Playhouse Disney's "Out of the Box" is playing in my head as I write this). My earliest memory of being creative (actually a story that my mom tells me that I only vaguely remember) was when I was between three and four years old. My mom woke up one morning and came to see if I was awake yet. When she looked in my room I wasn't there. She, of course, panicked and began to search for me around the house. When she couldn't find me there she opened the front door and there I was, digging a hole in the front yard (the outline of the hole actually still remains in the yard, though we've tried to fill it in numerous times). When my mom asked me what I was doing I just said, "a hole!". I can't tell you now why I decided that it would be a good idea to go outside alone early in the morning to dig a hole, but I do know that I must have had a reason to do so at the time.

Even today I find myself doing things that seem somewhat strange or crazy because I feel like "I have to" in order to better understand myself. A recent example would be my decision to cover my bicycle with Peanuts comic strips. I had been wanting to decorate my bike for a long time and finally gave into doing so the week after I graduated from college (weird thing for a recent grad to do, I know...). I just felt like I "had" to decorate my bike or else I felt like I'd be denying myself creatively or something.

I may not know what it is that I want to do with my passion for creativity, but I do know that I feel more like myself when I am given the freedom to be creative than I do at any other time. I'm not even limited my use of the term "creativity" to the world of art. Given any situation where there is freedom to brainstorm and consider the possibilities in a creative way, I flourish and truly enjoy myself!

Today I overheard some of my co-workers at my internship talking about seeing something creatively. One co-worker asked the other about what she thought about something (sorry that's so vague, but I was overhearing the conversation and don't know what it was that they were talking about) and the other co-worker said, "I don't know... I don't have that creative eye." It was then that I had one of those realizations that hit home that are based on things that are heard time and time again: that we are all gifted differently. We're all gifted differently. Something that I can remember thinking as far back as elementary school when I envied Lauren for getting 100% on her Word Masters test (we all know that she has a gift with words... just read her blog!) or middle school when I first learned that Sarah could play the cello... something that I can definitely not do! For whatever reason, hearing my co-worker say this made me feel empowered. I have a gift and a passion: creativity. How could I not use it? Choosing to not use it would only deny myself and the world. It would be like Spiderman choosing not to use his Spidey Senses or Cher choosing not to use her hair-flipping abilities!

Heres to following your passion!

Photography - My Passion

2008-10-08T10:33:00.007-04:00

by Lauren

Before I begin I just wanted to show off Nicole's new banner for our blog! Isn't she a fantastic artist?

Anyway, last night the three of us had a conference call with Kristin, our RTN mentor, and we learned all about how to use our video camera. It's much bigger and more professional-looking than any video camera I have ever touched, so I'm a little scared of it, but also so excited to be a videographer. Photography has been a passion of mine for many years now, and while I tend to work with still images, not video, I think this will be an excellent opportunity to use what I know, learn something new, and broaden my horizons on visual imagery (ok, I admit I reworded that sentence 2 or 3 times to make it sound smart).

Basically, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can't wait to make this documentary. Last night, I could hardly fall asleep because I was lying in bed thinking of all the cool shots we could get on our trip. The last time I video-taped a trip was when I went tornado chasing, but then I wasn't paying much attention to style and composition, mostly just to running around in the wind trying not to get blown over.

Speaking of photography, one of our interviews is with Chris Johns, the editor-in-chief of National Geographic! The magazine sent us his photo book, Wild at Heart, as well as a few magazines that he has contributed to. My dream job would be to do exactly what he has done. I spend almost every day walking around with a huge camera around my neck (so yes, I look like a tourist everywhere I go) because I'm always afraid that I'm going to miss something... and I would! I think I take anywhere between 30 and 500 pictures in a day (more if I'm on vacation) because everywhere I turn there's something new I want to capture forever.

One recent example of my inability to put my camera away was on a vacation I took to Mexico with my (very indulgent) boyfriend and some friends. While our friends were lounging at the beach sipping margaritas, I insisted that we (my boyfriend and I) venture deep into the jungle surrounding the Cobá ruins because I wanted to photograph some of the archaeology sites (places where new ruins are still being excavated). We ended up getting stalked three miles into the jungle by a crazy Mayan man with a whip who I think wanted to kill us.... Instead of killing us, though, he got his picture taken as we made our narrow escape. If that's not dedication to my passion for photography, I don't know what is!

Anyway, one thing that has always been important to me in all the travel photography I've done is that I like my pictures to tell a story. I think that's a lot of what we're going to be doing on this trip. Not only are we interviewing people about their stories, but we're telling our own story along the way.

I hope that for those of you following our blog before we leave, you're getting an idea of who we are and what we're hoping to accomplish on our upcoming trip. And on that note... only two weeks left to wait!

My Excitement Level Has Reached an All-Time High

2008-10-06T07:27:00.004-04:00

by Sarah

So I have this habit as of recent which involves tearing out pages of magazines that I find of interest to me while waiting in waiting rooms. Just the other day, I was waiting outside the doctors' office and found an awesome activity to do with the kids I work with at KIC. It's for a scrapbook made of paper bags. You punch holes in the paper bags an tie them together with string going horizontally, decorate the outsides with designs & pictures, and put artifacts in the inside of the bags. Another article I ripped out of a magazine was one that talked about beautiful fall cities to visit in the US. Lucky for us 3 out of the 4 were on the route that we were already planning. If you know me at all, I am in love with the fall so this is very exciting for me! This weekend Nicole & I went apple picking. This fun day included frolicking in fields, taking ridiculous pictures, and baking (too many) apple pies. We wished Lauren could have joined us (she was busy going to an awesome concert), but don't worry, we'll have plenty of bonding time before and during the trip.

One thing that's semi stressing me out about the trip is mapping out the route of our trip. It seems that we might not have enough time to fit in everything, see everyone we want to see, interview everyone we want to interview, and so on (the albino squirrel park may have to be nixed)- sorry guys... I feel fully responsible for this given that I have to be back to work on the 31st of October. I wish I had a more lax schedule and was able to take off as much time as I want, but unfortunately this is not the case. Hopefully this week we'll be meeting to discuss the route.

On another note, I'm starting to read "The Alchemist" now. It has been paid forward from Lauren to Nicole to me. I think it'll be great that we all have read a common book before we go. Especially since it's so relevant to our road trip. Previously, I was reading "Three Cups of Tea." I loved this book in the beginning, but I can't seem to stay intrigued come the end of the book. I'll try and finish it- I don't like to start something and not finish it. So we'll see. That's all for now. More to come soon!

It's the Final Countdown....

2008-10-04T02:38:00.003-04:00

by Lauren

I just added a Road Trip Countdown to the sidebar of our blog, now that we have an official start-date of October 22nd.

I'm sure I'm going to get made fun of for posting this, but how can I resist?

Fearless Phenoms

2008-09-29T22:33:00.012-04:00

by Nicole

I am fortunate enough to have an internship with perks. I have never had to fetch coffee, my thoughts and ideas are actually heard and considered, I get to use a freakin' sweet Macintosh computer every day, and to top it all off, I get my pick of free magazines every month. One of the most highly coveted publications up for grabs at work is Cosmopolitan. Call me weird or a feminist (which I don't think that I am), but for whatever reason I don't really like this magazine. It always seems to center around one subject and reminds me more of a magazine that Freud might have had in his office waiting room than what I prefer to read in my spare time. Anyway, despite all my whining about how I'm not a Cosmo girl, I do sometimes find myself leafing through the magazine's pages if I'm sitting around and it happens to be sitting around within arm's reach. One such occasion was today. This past Thursday the receptionist at my internship asked me to "babysit" a few of the magazines that she had on her desk while she was away on vacation in order to prevent any unpredicted tempt borrowing. She gave me a few magazines, of which was Cosmopolitan.

During lunch I happened to be at my desk and Cosmo caught my eye (you should have seen the shade of pink used on the cover... something right off a flamingo!) I picked it up and began to shuffle through it's pages, passing over pouty-lipped perfume advertisements and "What your guy really thinks" articles until my eyes rested on a picture of Tyra Banks. Yes, I am a blossoming America's Next Top Model Fan, but more than that, I wanted to stop to see what Cosmo had to say about her because I am going to a taping of her show this week with Sarah! I figured that I should read up on her before seeing her in person, so I opened that magazine and started to scan the article. "Fun Fearless Phenoms 2008", read the article's title in that unforgettable flamingo pink. As I read on, I couldn't help but be intrigued. The article was all about women who have achieved their dreams! Here's what the article description said:

When you're stressing about how to pull off your big dreams, it helps to seek out chicks who've found fame and success. Well, look no further. The eight winners of our second-annual awards pack impressive talent and ingenuity.

Eight stories all about women who have chased after their dreams, succeeded, and are now willing to share the secrets to how they got to where they are! Phenomenal! No wonder they are called "Fun Fearless Phenoms"! Here's who was on the list:

1.) Tyra Banks, 34
You know about her...

2.) Rita Hazan, 34
Hair stylist for the stars

3.) Katie Lee Joel, 27
Cook book author

4.) Kelli O'Hara, 32
Broadway star

5.) Laura Dave 31
Non-fiction author

6.) Eugenia Kim, 34
Hat designer

7.) Liz Flahive, 29
Playwright

8.) Alexandra Cousteau, 32
Environmental activist

Here's link to the site where you can check photos from their event: Check it out!

Get Back Honky Cat!

2008-09-25T22:03:00.005-04:00

by Nicole

"But how can you stay when your heart says no?
How can you stop when your feet say go"
-Sir Elton John Honky Cat

While driving home from work today, I scanned the radio for the perfect "work is over" song. I was pleased to come across that perfect song just as I got off of the exit for my house. It was Elton John's "Honky Cat". I have enjoyed the song for quite some time now, but never really took the time to look past it's catchy beat and Elton's impressive piano skills. After listening to the lyrics more closely, I really still have no idea what the song is about. A sassy cat? A redneck leaving his way of life? I'm not sure. The meaning of the song may not have stuck out in my mind, but one thing that did stick out was one of the final verses of the song (as quoted above). I found myself nodding in agreement to what Elton was so melodiously saying. "But how can you stay when your heart says no? How can you stop when your feet say go". My goodness, Elton has put into words the exact frustrations that I have felt since leaving school! This is my biggest fear - that I will end up doing something that my heart says "no" to and that I will decide to stay when my feet say "go"!

I seriously have to wonder how many people are living lives that their hearts refuse to or staying one place when they would rather run in the opposite direction. As a new member of the "real world", I feel like observing and taking notes of the things that I don't want to do are just as important as taking note of the things that I do! Lauren spoke about choices and the vast opportunities we have in front of us. I believe that this trip will be eye opening in this way. By meeting people in different professions with different stories, I know that we will each pick up little pieces of our own personal puzzles.

Just this trip alone is an example, to me, of heeding to Elton's inquiry and saying "yes" to the desires of my heart. Right now there are so many things that I want to do, one of the strongest being to explore and learn. This trip is the PERFECT way to do just that. I am so excited for every part of this experience - from the initial idea to the moment that we return home with this experience in our back pockets, ready to be pulled out whenever we need to think back on, bask in, or refer to it. Look out world, we're saying "yes" to our hearts and letting our feet take us wherever they please.

Decisions and the 7th Heaven Phenomenon

2008-09-25T12:08:00.007-04:00

by Lauren

We've all been talking so much about choices and decisions lately that I think I've started to see it in everything I do. I like to call it the "7th Heaven Phenomenon." Remember that show on the WB, 7th Heaven? If you don't, where have you been this past decade?

For those of you who did watch, I'm sure you remember that every episode had a "theme" and that you could tell exactly what was going to happen to each individual character after the first five minutes. It would become immediately clear that this was going to be a "don't discriminate" episode, or a "teen pregnancy" episode, or an episode about any number of lessons to be learned.

That's how I've been feeling lately about choices and decisions. Now that I've opened up about the stresses of making decisions, I feel like I'm bombarded with them everywhere I go. It's only noon and I've already had to decide on breakfast, coffee, what to do today, what movie theater to go to tonight with my family... insanity! Sometimes I feel incapable of making even the smallest decisions and now I notice them oh so much more.

But I've found the solution.

A couple days ago, I was telling Nicole that I thought she should read a book by Paulo Coelho called The Alchemist. I recommended it to her because she was looking for a road trip book to read before our trip, and even though The Alchemist isn't exactly about a road trip, it is about traveling and a journey of discovery.

Last night, I pulled The Alchemist out of my bookcase and put it aside to lend to Nicole the next time I see her. It's definitely a "pay it forward" kind of book. Someone gives it to you, then you have to share it with someone else. Brent bought me a copy, so I'm giving it to Nicole to read next, and if she loves it the way I did, I hope she'll recommend it to someone else, and so on, and so on....

Now, here's where I think fate stepped in. I opened the book to a completely random page and read the first paragraph my eyes rested on, and here is what it said:

He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

I have to say, this definitely made me relax a little about the whole decision-making process, because I can't see the future, I can't say what my choices will lead to - good or bad - so why should I be so stressed about making them?

I think one of those choices, for the three of us, was to participate in this road trip. We can map out our itinerary, schedule interviews, pick places to stop at along the way, but really - do we know where the road is going to take us? A few lines down from the paragraph I quoted above, the main character thinks:

And joining this caravan may have been my decision, but where it goes is going to be a mystery to me.

And I think that's exactly what we, too, are doing. We're joining each other in this journey with no idea where it will take us.

Career Test

2008-09-22T11:46:00.004-04:00

by Nicole

This morning I decided to take a quick career test on Monster.com. I have known for a while now that I have no definite plans for after our road trip comes to an end. I am very much hoping that I have an epiphany of sorts while on the trip and that I return home knowing exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life. Because the odds of this happening are 99.9% positive in my mind, but realistically much less, I have decided to explore my future career options through online career quizzes. I am not going to consider the accuracy of these online, anybody-could-make-'em career tests, but instead consider the insight that they can provide. I am thinking that if I take enough of them, eventually I can come to some median answers about what my future career aspirations should be. Here are my results from the Monster.com quiz I took:

Life as an ENFP

(Extravert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver)

People of this type tend to be enthusiastic, talkative and outgoing; clever, curious and playful; deeply caring, sensitive and gentle; highly innovative, creative, optimistic and unique; adaptable and resourceful but sometimes disorganized.

The most important thing to ENFPs is the freedom to see possibilities, make connections and be with a variety of people.

Great careers for ENFPs

Here are just a few popular and often satisfying careers for people whose Personality Type is ENFP:

Advertising account executive
Career / outplacement counselor
Management consultant
Developer of educational software
Journalist / magazine reporter
Graphic designer
Art director
Copywriter
Corporate team trainer
Psychologist
Inventor
Human resources professional

Take your own career test and let us know what your results are!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

2008-09-20T23:44:00.005-04:00

by Lauren

Now that we're well into September and the first day of fall is rapidly approaching (in a matter of minutes, actually) it's becoming more and more obvious to me that I am not in college anymore. I knew I graduated, I have a diploma and the 3,000 family photos to prove it, but it definitely took a while for it to really sink in that I'm not going back to school this fall.

I find myself still categorizing time in terms of "semesters" and the "school year" even though both those things are completely irrelevant to me now. I think lots of people underestimate the enormity of the change from college to post-college life. In fact, it's not really even a matter of being in college or not, it's all school. I've been in school since I was three years old which means I haven't missed a "first day" in September in nineteen years! I don't remember a whole lot from before I was three, so I can honestly say that I know nothing of a life that doesn't revolve around school.

The purpose of school is to prepare us for the workforce (you can argue against that, but on a basic level it's true). Are we really prepared, though?

Let's start with high school. One of the basic purposes of high school is to prepare us for college (hence the term "prep" school for many private institutions). We take classes and tests that will develop and gauge our knowledge so that we can move on to the next step.

College is the "go-between" between high school and the Real World (yes I need it to be bold and capitalized to make it look scary) and, as such, it should get us ready for the next, next step. Does it, though? For me, college was an all-inclusive resort. Yes, I had to do work and I absolutely learned a lot from the courses I took, but everything I could possibly need was provided for me right at my fingertips.

I had a room to live in and someone came by every morning to clean the bathroom in my hall and vacuum the floors. To start the day, I'd stumble out of bed to walk across the street where I could swipe a card and eat "free" breakfast that had been cooked for me. I would then make my way through the rest of the day taking advantage of all sorts of "free" stuff that was provided for me at my every turn. My school had a dining hall, two "restaurants," a movie theater, a gigantic library, a shuttle service, a general store, an enormous yard (the "quad") -- what more could I really need?

Is this really how we get prepared for the real world?

The philosopher José Ortega y Gasset once said,

He who wants to teach a truth should place us in the position to discover it ourselves.

I suppose that's how we all have to learn what life is and what it really entails, by discovering it ourselves. One question I'd like to ask people on our upcoming road trip is how they discovered their paths and made this enormous transition.

Until then, I guess I'll have to continue learning the hard way, just like everyone else.

Distracted

2008-09-20T09:49:00.005-04:00

by Sarah
Sorry for being MIA the last week or so. There's really no excuse for not blogging during the most exciting time of my life (alright, a bit of an exaggeration...). But seriously, I am so excited for our road trip. I've got my computer all suited up for the event too- complete with a RTN bumper sticker and all. Reading Nicole & Lauren's posts are getting me psyched for the event. Maybe part of the reason I haven't been too sure of it all is because I'm still waiting to hear back from my boss as to whether I can get the time off from work or not. I know it will all work out in the end, it's just a matter of time until it all goes through. Honestly, during the past week, its just been hard for me to focus on the road trip when there is so much going on with my family, job, and friends. One of my major distractions is that my very close friend Maria is leaving for Ghana with the Peace Corps in exactly one week. Well, I guess technically she's going to Philly first, but still, I mean, Ghana's the next stop! I got to spend some quality time with her before she left. She came to my house and we went bike riding, got coffee, & went to the beach. The weather was that crisp-air fall weather that is absolutely perfect. Still, I have to get used to the fact that one of my closest friends will be leaving for two years to a far away country. Still, I do feel a sense of peace that this is so right for her- it will be an incredible experience. We're not sure what type of communication she'll have when she's there, so after she leaves, who knows the next time we'll talk. As you can probably understand, I'm a little distracted with this on my mind. Honestly, I know her going to the Peace Corps will be the "hardest job she'll ever love" as their slogan goes. I wish her the very best and cannot wait to hear all about it! So, once I'm not so distracted with life, I'll try and actually write about the road trip.

"Can we talk?!"

2008-09-19T13:52:00.008-04:00

by Nicole

Joan Rivers in, what I picture to be, her "Can we talk?!" stance:

Our trip may still have it's fair share of kinks to be worked out, but overall things have been going incredibly smoothly as we prepare to embark come October. Our biggest and, in my opinion, most rewarding challenge thus far has been the booking of interviews. We have all been compiling mental and written lists of the people that we would like to interview and taking our mentor, Kristin's, advice about booking them to heart. So far, e-mail has been our top form of contact with these individuals with a few calls here and there.

The thing that has amazed me the most about the whole interview booking experience is how easy it can be to get in touch with people who I thought were so impossible to reach. We've been able to get in contact with some of our idols, which is exciting enough in and of itself, but even more exciting is the fact that many of them have agreed to meet with us for an interview! I believe that the entire RTN experience, from start to finish, will be filled with challenges, excitement, and a feeling of satisfaction. I am so thrilled to be a part of it.

Here's a list of our definite interviewees so far:

1.) Chris Johns
Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Magazine

2.) Robert Ehrich
Founder of Robert's American Gourmet, the creators of Pirate's Booty (one of my favorite snacks)

3.) Brian Herzlinger
Creator of My Date With Drew, the story of an underdog who lands a date with Drew Barrymore through hard work and dedication

4.) Rhett & Link

Internet celebrities

5.) Deb Perelman
Food blogger, www.SmittenKitchen.com. Deb started her own cooking blog and made it into her career, with over 1,000,000 viewers per month

More to come!

Our Tentative Route

2008-09-19T07:41:00.002-04:00

A rough idea of our journey:

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The Paradox of Choice

2008-09-17T00:13:00.009-04:00

by Lauren

As Sarah, Nicole, and I have been planning out our upcoming road trip, we've talked a lot about choices. As 22 year olds who have just graduated college, we have so many choices, so many different paths to go down. We're lucky to live in a society that provides us with these endless opportunities, or are we?

Psychologist Barry Schwartz argues in his book The Paradox of Choice that "more is less" and that the more choices we are given or give ourselves, the less satisfaction and fulfillment we will receive.

Schwartz may be on to something here. While I have not read the book (yet), I do understand his basic argument. We have so many choices to make every day, whether it be a career choice, which college to go to, or something as simple as what brand of toothpaste to use, we have options, and oh so many of them. At a certain point, he argues, rather than feeling the freedom of making one's own choices, we become bogged down by decisions to the point that the questioning traps and confines us in our own self-doubt.

I think anyone who has recently graduated can relate to that. I have so many different career paths I could choose. I went to a Liberal Arts college and majored in Political Science. With little interest in pursuing politics, I am equally prepared and unprepared for just about any career out there. You'd think this would be an exciting time in one's life, and sometimes it is! Other times? Not so much.

How can I choose one thing, when another might be better? How can I weigh the benefits of doing something against the time lost on it that could have been spent on something else? I've never felt the weight of choice so much as I do now.

I was recently eating dinner with my boyfriend Brent (who told me about this book, actually) and we were talking about this very problem. We have so many options, we just can't choose anything anymore - be it a career, a place to live, or even what to eat for dinner. And I know we're not alone....

To demonstrate this predicament, I'd like to share something that happened to me recently at a nearby Starbucks. The man ahead of me in line was carefully analyzing the Starbucks drink menu, looking through each and every section, squinting at the small print showing what country those particular coffee beans are from, until finally he sighed, exasperated, and asked the girl behind the counter, "Do you have coffee here?"

After a brief, confused pause the girl politely answered, listing off the various coffees that could be purchased, different "multi-regional blends," cappuccinos, lattes, etc. etc. (Anyone having ever stepped foot in a Starbucks knows how long this list can go on....)

"No, no... just coffee please," the man replied. The sales girl or "barista" as they call them at Starbucks was completely baffled. What was this man trying to pull here? Eventually, however, she gave in and poured whatever was nearest in reach.

I laughed and gave the man a look of complete understanding. I was tempted to tell the barista, "I'll have what he's having," but I figured her world had already been turned upside down once that day and ordered a Pumpkin Spice Lattee just to make things easy for her.

image lifted from www.justcoffee.coop

As we prepare questions to ask during our interviews for RTN, I think two of the most important ones to me are going to be, "How did you choose this?" and "Did you ever look back?"

Until then, I'll be doing my best to avoid as many everyday decisions as possible so that I can one day channel all my efforts into something more important.

Movie Mahem

2008-09-16T21:30:00.010-04:00

by Nicole

Since first learning that Sarah, Lauren and I would be embarking on our road trip come October, I have been compiling a mental list of movies that we should (need is the word I really want to use, but won't because it sounds too pressing for the likes of our relaxed journey) watch to prepare. The list is somewhat long and eclectic, but all of the movies on it, I feel, are valuable and will only make our trip all the better. Here is the list so far:

Working Girl

This movie may reek of 80's fashion faux pas and teased hair, but at it's core Working Girl holds a message that perserverence and diligence pay off. It also reinforces the idea that dreams can and do come true in the mind of anyone who watches it. This is a great movie for it's message and all the 80's throw-backs are the icing on the cake.

Reality Bites

I had never heard of, yet alone seen, Reality Bites until (appropriately) after graduation. It caught my eye as I perused the dvd's at my local library and after reading it's description, I knew that it was a "must see". The characters face life after college graduation and deal with many of the feelings and emotions that I am having now that I am in the "real world". It's good to know that I'm not the only one feeling the way that I am and even better to realize that a movie has been made about those very feelings!

A Goofy Movie

Laugh if you must. Say that I'm too old for cartoons. Snicker as you recall the last time you watched a Disney movie, but I know that deep down everyone who has ever seen A Goofy Movie and been of sound mind loved it. Though I would make an excuse to put this movie on really any list of movies I might create, I do have to say that it has more relevance to this particular list than say, a list of movies about electricity (though I could argue that Powerline's character could be relevant...). I chose to put this movie on my list because it's central plot revolves around a road trip. On a deeper level, the struggle that Goofy and his son Max face as they travel across the continental United States is a journey towards reconciliation, much like the journey that Sarah, Lauren and I are facing against societal expectations of the recent graduate. On a much lighter note, this movie has some of the best music of any Disney movie out there (my iPod can vouch for it).

Muriel's Wedding

I only recently heard about and watched Muriel's Wedding. Muriel is twenty-two and is on a quest to discover herself. She is shy and unsure about many things except that she absolutely, completely, deeply loves Abba. I have to admit, this film and then the release of Mamma Mia this past summer has spurred an appreciation similar to Muriel's for Abba in my own life. I think that this movie is important for the three of us to watch as we prepare for our trip because it serves as a reminder that the best gift that we can give to this world is our true selves.

Little Miss Sunshine

This movie screams "ROAD TRIP!" from the beat up VW on it's cover to the film itself. Family trips are always interesting in one way or another, and the one in Little Miss Sunshine is definitely just that. I like this movie for it's road trip quality as well as as it's message, which is similar to that of Muriel's Wedding - that being who you are is okay. I know that it sounds cliche, but I find that ingraining this message in my mind by repeating a mantra, reading a Post-It Note on your mirror, or even watching a movie helps me give more of myself to the world.

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion

Our high school reunion may not be for a while, but that doesn't mean that we can't reflect on life since twelfth grade. I think that Lauren, Sarah and I would all agree that we are not exactly the same person we were four years ago. I really like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion because it has a strong message of (again) being true to one's self and not being afraid to be the person you are. The movie also has these two friends making a road trip to Tuscon, Arizona for their reunion, so there is that fabulous road trip aspect to it.

This list is definitely open to suggestions/comments. Feel free to leave some here!

Itinerary, Interviews and Albino Squirrels

2008-09-15T22:18:00.005-04:00

by Nicole

Last week Sarah, Lauren and I met up at Lauren's house to go over our tentative road trip plans. We have around three interviews booked with a few still up in the air. In order to broaden our interview horizons the three of us came up with a list of people we'd love to interview. The list ranged the spectrum from someone we'd meet on the street to Bono, with the goal for each interview being to hear the person's story and to absorb any advice that they might have for us. We also began to map our our route for the trip on a giant map (Lauren inspired). We'll be starting out in Connecticut and heading as far west at Missouri before looping back around to the east coast. We have a lot of exciting stops in the works, including a few of those highway attractions that can be so incredibly tacky and impossible to resist. Here's a little Microsoft Paint rendition of how the evening went for you.

Note: Censorship provided by The Public Blog-casting Service... aka me... mostly for the sake of comedy.

Lauren brought it to my attention that while en route to Missouri we will be passing right through the town where an Albino Squirrel farm exists. Is there really any way that we can not stop there? I think not. It's going to be a memorable, if not frightening, experience.

Wanderers in the Greenwich Time

2008-09-15T01:03:00.007-04:00

by Lauren

Our local newspaper, the Greenwich Time, just printed a story in the Sunday paper about Nicole, Sarah, and me and our RTN trip we're going in. Unfortunately, there were a few errors in the story itself (that we hear are going to be fixed tomorrow) but you can click on the picture below to read the full article online:

What Now Wanderers close-up:

The main misprints are:
-Nicole went to Quinnipiac, I went to Trinity
-The show is definitely not about losing the Freshman Fifteen
-The documentary is not six minutes long

This, however, is not to say that our reporter didn't do a fantastic job. In fact, I think he conducted such a long, thorough interview with us, getting every last detail of everything leading up to our trip, that we probably just overloaded him with miscellaneous information completely not related to RTN at all (like the Freshman Fifteen...).

Anyway, if there is a correction printed in Monday's paper, I'll be sure to post that on here as well. Thanks again to everyone for all their support! We can't wait to leave on our trip and we're so happy to be sharing this experience with all of you along the way.

where i fit in

2008-09-15T00:31:00.008-04:00

by Sarah:

So, since my two other "partners in crime" have said their part of the story, I figured it was about time I put my two cents in. Before I start though, just thought I should mention you can read a relatively accurate story of us and the prospective road trip online at greenwichtime.com. Alright, so here I go. Most of you who know me know that going on this road trip was not part of my future just about 2 months ago. Starting just about a year ago, I began applying to the Peace Corps to get (what I thought to be) a head start into my post-graduation plans. Ever since my feet touched the soil in a different country, I fell in love with traveling. First came Italy, then Ecuador, then Nepal, and finally Lithuania. I was convinced I would move to any or all of these places. I developed a heart for learning about other cultures and going on adventures abroad. So... I decided to apply to the Peace Corps. The application process was grueling- it wasn't until the next August that I was finally placed- in the Dominican Republic. So, while all my friends were applying and interviewing for jobs, I was waiting anxiously to hear which country I would be spending the next two years of my life in. So, I graduated, with no clue where I would be going, but with the assurance that I had some sort of plan for my life. All that changed when I began to have mysterious pain in my neck shooting down my right arm. For a couple nights, I was crying because the pain was so intense I could hardly stand it. I almost called the ER a couple times. My primary doctor ordered an MRI and they found that I had a bulging herniated disc in my neck. When I finally got an appointment to see the neurosurgeon, he told me that the disc was a 9 out of 10 (10 being the worst case scenario).

I thought that was enough of a shocker, but then he told me that I would need surgery that next week. I wasn't even disappointed, but instead relieved when he told me this. I couldn't wait to not be in excruciating pain any longer. So, the surgery was successful. The only bad news was that I would need to now put the Peace Corps on hold. The only question was, for how long? I was devastated, no, that's not even a strong enough word for how I felt. I was sick at my stomach when I learned that I would have to wait 1-3 years before even being considered for the Peace Corps again. You can read my blog post here if you're interested. I had some great friends who stuck by me during this tough time after surgery. In addition, the week after surgery, I found that my grandfather had died. Though I was unable to go to his funeral, I feel like I was there in spirit and mourned the loss of him from long distance.

Three friends from college came to visit in the next two weeks. I'm very fortunate to have these great friends in my life. Speaking of friends My best friend Nicole had been planning this road trip for a while (read her post for more info). I decided to start work full time at a residential childrens' crisis shelter in CT, but I will be getting time off to go on the road trip. Nicole always has these "crazy" ideas, but this time, it actually was going to work! I was thrilled and can't wait to be a part of such an incredible adventure. Though I won't be acclimating to life in the Dominican Republic, I'll be experiencing life while exploring the United States.

This road trip will hopefully be a time of healing, renewal, adventure, and clarity. I'm hoping to have that "aha moment" during the trip- you know, that moment you realize why things worked out the way they did? Well, I'm just grateful I have this time to enjoy life with two great friends!

What Now?

2008-09-11T23:54:00.007-04:00

by Lauren

Today, Nicole, Sarah, and I got interviewed by the Greenwich Time (our local newspaper) about our upcoming road trip. Colin, the reporter covering our story, asked us all sorts of questions about our involvement with Road Trip Nation like where the idea came from, what we're going to be doing, and what we expect to get out of it. As the three of us got talking about it, we realized just how serendipitous it was that this amazing opportunity should arise for us right now, as it has. All three of us are currently in unusual circumstances even beyond the position of facing the ever-looming Real World. I'll let Sarah and Nicole tell their own stories, but here's mine.

About a year ago, as a senior at Trinity College (the one in Hartford, CT... apparently there are 4 of them) I started receiving Career Services e-mails on a weekly basis. Feeling very "on top of things," I decided to go to the first career meeting of the year in early September. I walked into the meeting room to find myself surrounded by... Juniors? Sophomores? Freshmen?! Apparently I didn't get the memo that career-building starts before you're actually looking for a job. I spent the next hour listening to people younger than I talk about their internships and the classes they were taking to help them land jobs in their specialized fields and I had to ask myself, What's my field? What am I qualified for?

I immediately set up a meeting with our campus Career Counselor for the next day. Her first question was, of course, "What do you want to do when you graduate?" I was completely embarrassed to say "I have no idea. Oh, and I'm a Senior." She assured me that even though I had gone through three years of college with no career path in mind, that I would be just fine. I spent the next few months setting up interviews with companies that hire in the fall and attending job fairs in Boston and New York City. Fall semester of last year, I devoted many hours to cover letters, thank you letters, editing my resume, and researching jobs I'm make-believe qualified for. I discovered that a Liberal Arts major (Political Science) didn't get me as far as I had thought. Many companies required business, finance, and economics backgrounds that I simply didn't have. I felt unqualified for everything, and decided to take absolutely any interview I could get.

Most of my job interviews led to nothing, especially the one I went on for a financial firm in Boston that lasted all of three minutes. The interviewer asked, and I quote, "So what makes you think you're qualified for this?" and when I responded with my well-rehearsed list of accomplishments, she said "Well thank you. We'll be getting back to the people we want to see again within the next week" - AKA, not you.

As the time went on, I felt less and less qualified to enter the workforce. I decided to take a job with any company that wanted me, regardless of how painfully boring the job description sounded. I spent the next few months in the interviewing process for a company that, ultimately, would have been a horrible match for me. I went to four interviews there (all of which went quite well, actually) only to be informed in July that they were no longer looking to fill the position I had so diligently chased after. I had so long ago given up the idea of doing anything I like or am interested in, that I started, once again, to scan job websites for life-stifling positions that I might, somehow, be capable of fulfilling.

I quickly ran out of steam, though, lacking any motivation to start spending the rest of my life doing something I hate (crazy, right?). I felt directionless as I watched the weeks slipping by and adding to the mountain of "wasted time" I was building. That's when Nicole, Sarah, and I went out to Cosi for a five hour lunch that we will never forget.

As it turns out, we were all facing the same dilemma. Plans had fallen through, post-graduate expectations not met, dreams way out of reach.... We all have our own stories, but we had one thing in common - an undeniable feeling of What Now? We all talked about the things we care about and what we'd like to be doing, but how on Earth do you go about that? Doing something I like? Impossible. For a long time I've wanted to be a photojournalist, a travel writer, or both, but had no idea that such a thing was attainable. Then again, being a part of Road Trip Nation seemed fairly out-of-reach, as well. In fact, seeing Nicole apply for the RTN grant and get it really made me ask myself how many things I didn't get just because I never even tried.

I am so looking forward to traveling around the good ol' US of A talking to people who followed their own dreams and achieved them, because hey - if they can do it, so can we, right?

Photo-Shoot

2008-09-11T23:12:00.002-04:00

by Lauren

We had our very first Road Trip Nation photo-shoot yesterday at the beach! Check out our slideshow below....

If you're confused what's going on in any of these pictures, just hover your mouse over "Notes" on the bottom right-hand corner:

How It All Began...

2008-09-11T15:29:00.003-04:00

by Nicole

The Roadtrip Nation dream began months ago when the weather was chilly and snow covered the ground. It was February and an idea was beginning to take shape. I didn't know about Roadtrip Nation back then, but I did know one thing - that I was graduating in four months and had no idea what I would be doing after graduation. In an effort to calm my fears, I began to share them with my fellow-seniors in a weekly column that I wrote for my school's newspaper. My writing for the paper was part of an intricate plan that I was developing in my mind. It involved questions, a road trip, and interviews with experts in specific fields that my questions related to. I came up with an idea of creating a documentary of sorts over Chinese food with my dad one night. I created a list of questions that I was dealing with as a soon-to-be graduate and that I felt other soon-to-be graduates might also have. I then put these questions into categories like "Career", "Social", and "Health". Each category was then assigned a list of "experts" who I felt had the answers to the questions that I was so desperately seeking answers to.

That initial napkin brainstorming session gave me the kick-start that I needed to e-mail the experts that I had thought of with my dad, present to them my idea, and then ask them if they might be free for an interview. Out of the many e-mails that I mailed out, a few came back - all negative responses. I was discouraged and that discouragement combined with the approaching dark cloud that my college likes to call "finals" jolted my focus away from my idea and onto the reality that graduation was closer than ever. I created a blog about my idea complete with a small list of people that I hoped to interview. Although I had somewhat given up on the idea of a documentary-style road trip, I would soon learn that the idea had not given up on me.

In the coming weeks finals came and went. I marched to "The Pomp and Circumstance" and moved out of college for the last time. I was set to accept my dream turned fantasy as another example of self-fulfilled prophecy - that I was this flighty girl with big dreams and great ambitions, but with no execution to make of it a reality. Then things started to change.

I can remember sitting in front of my computer, browsing and carousing (not really) on Facebook like I had so many times before. Then, in Facebook's sometime creepy fashion, a very appropriate, very direct ad showed up with the statement, "22 Year Old Female? Have a Documentary Made About Your Life!" I had never clicked an advertisement link on Facebook before seeing that ad, but did I ever jump on the click wagon with that one! The site explained that I would have to make a short video describing my video idea and submit it to the site. Old habits die hard, and as a practiced procrastinator I, of course, waiting until the night before the entry was due to make my video. I didn't like how it turned out and decided against submitting it in order to save myself the embarrassment of certain failure. I again filed away my dream, this time giving up on it even more than before.

For whatever reason, I had a change of heart a few weeks following my decision to not go on with my dream. It suddenly dawned on me that I was the one who was making my self-fulfilled prophecy a self-fulfilled reality. I prayed about the idea and let go of it, but decided that giving up on it was not the answer. I began researching road trips and came across a group of people who had done something similar to what I was looking to do. A group of college students set out on a journey to hit the road and to explore different career options by interviewing people people about their career paths. They called their group Pursue the Passion and were able to get corporate sponsorship to support their entire trip. I really liked their idea and was inspired by the interviews that they conducted, but didn't just want to experience my dream vicariously through other people. I decided to do more research on the idea of receiving corporate funding for my trip. I began e-mailing companies that I felt targeted people my age. I had a bit of deja vu when hearing back about my corporate inquiries, because like my original interview inquiries, they all came back negative!

Now that I had the knowledge that other people my age were able to do something similar to what I hoped to do, I was more on fire than ever. I continued to do research on corporate documentary sponsorship and even started a Facebook group for the cause titled "What Now?" In it I discussed the road trip documentary idea, corporate sponsorship, and my general feelings of unease about my recent transition into "the real world". The people in the group agreed that they also were feeling uneasy and lost. Hearing from them was a great reminder that I wasn't alone in how I was feeling. Shortly after creating this group I came across something during one of my feverish and frenzied google searches called "Roadtrip Nation". I had simply typed in something along the lines of "road trip interview" and BAM! The first result was Roadtrip Nation. How had I not heard about this sooner?! Roadtrip Nation was a manifestation of everything that my dream was. Visiting the Roadtrip Nation was something like I imagine meeting the man of my dreams might be like. I had all these ideas in my mind about what I wanted my trip to be like - everything from it being documentary-style to being able to find funding for it - and here it was, a real and tangible thing. I let out a number of screams as I browsed through the site's pages. Then I learned about Roadtrip Nation's (RTN for short) indie road trips and how I could apply to go on one ANY time of the year. Perfect! I started my online application that night.

It took me a few weeks to finish the application. In the mean time I started asking friends if they might like to come along. People ran hot and cold on interest level, but eventually things panned out and what was left were my friends Lauren and Sarah and myself. We got an e-mail from our amazing and insightful mentor, Kristin, about two weeks ago saying that we had been accepted to partake in our very own indie road trip. Amazing! We're all so excited and we will be documenting our trip and everything leading up to it here on this blog.

Enjoy!