...And so the adventure Begins!
About Me
Let's Get Acquainted
My name is Phil. I'm plenty-something years old, and for about ten years I dreamed about taking a trip across America when I retired. My original plan was a one-year trip with a travel trailer - one week in each state. A number of years ago I started seeing lists on the internet. You've seen them - Best/Worst Roadside Attraction in each state... Prettiest Town in Each State... I started keeping a spreadsheet of those lists (because I have a terminal illness called "Accountant") and this became my "Bucket List." I quickly realized one week in each state would not be enough so I began thinking in terms of two years. I eventually put all those locations on a map and started mapping out a trip. There were things I wanted to include - National Parks, Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, Jazz Festival in New Orleans, New England in the Fall. I then added campsites to the map. I looked for "clusters" - areas where I could park the trailer for 2 days to 2 weeks and spend the days doing day-trips from my campsite. As currently planned, the trip is almost four years long but there are lots of open dates to give myself flexibility.
The “theme” of the trip is “and so the adventure begins…” The first book I read on Zen Buddhism was “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.” In the prologue, Shunryū Suzuki, says “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” He encourages us to “… always be a beginner.” So I want every moment of this trip to be the first moment of the trip. Some people say they want to live their life like it’s the last day of their life. I want to live mine like every day is the first day of my life.
I left Phoenix May 11, 2021, and went back to north Texas, where I'm from, for two weeks. I spent a little over a month at Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle and am now on the schedule as planned. As I traveled, I realized that this is not a twelve-month-a-year activity as many places close for winter and don't re-open until Memorial Day in many cases. In November, 2023, I purchased a home in San Antonio, TX, that serves as my home base and I'm now back on the road through late-October. Check out my map which shows where I am and where I'll be at any point in time. I would love to meet local people and hear about the "can't miss" things to do/see in your area.
I'm Checking Off The Bucket List
I developed a map of the campgrounds I'm currently planning. Clicking on a campsite will give the dates I'm currently planning. If it's blue, that's a planned site. If it's green, that's a site I've booked. If it's yellow - currently there; come say hello! Tell me the "must see/do" things in your area. If it's orange - been there, done that.