Hey, an update!

So it's been almost four months since I last updated my blog, even though I've been meaning to for ages--I have four or five entries I've wanted to write but, uh, haven't gotten around to writing...

Anyway, that being said, I now have a good reason to blog again! For those of you who don't know, I'm taking a month-long drive around the United States (quite literally) in August. Starting August 10th, I will drive from Richmond, Virginia to Los Angeles via the southern route, spend a weekend in LA, then drive up the left coast to Seattle, take a left turn, and cut back across the northern part of the country. I plan to arrive back in Boston on September 4th or 5th.

Why am I undertaking this epic journey? And why alone? Well, there are a lot of reasons I could list here, but really it came down to two things:

1. To see if I can actually do it. My life is filled with shit I've started but never completed...plans made but never carried out. I came up with the idea for this trip pretty randomly and spontaneously, but I've dedicated myself to making it happen--and it will. Everything is in motion.

2. And this was the big one for me: Lately I've felt myself falling into this mentality where I rely too much on outside sources in how I make major (and minor) decisions for myself. What I mean by this is that I'm developing too much of a dependence on the presence of people close to me in my life. There is nothing overtly wrong with this, but for me I feel my dependence is reaching an unhealthy point, where major decisions I make are becoming irrationally tilted by my needing to be close the people I'm closest with. I want to simply regain some of my independent mindset and set right my personal balance. Thus, where I drive, I drive alone.

BUT I won't be alone. The plan is to divide half of my nights between camping and staying with friends, relatives, friends of friends, or couch surf (which I've never done before but heard good things about).

This is where you come in. Right now, I need places to stay in certain cities/states. At the moment I've only mapped out my Southern route (the first half of the trip, essentially), but I know generally what cities and states I'll pass through. Here are the following places where I need lodging:

-Two nights in New Orleans
-One night in Austin
-One night in El Paso
-One night in Santa Fe
-Three nights in Los Angeles

As far as the Northern route goes, I'll be passing through the following states/cities, so if you know if anyone I might be able to stay with along that route, let me know: San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Toronto, and New York (not the city though).

Just hit me up on Facebook or email me if you do in fact know someone in these places who might be able to put me up for a night.

On a final night, over the course of the trip I will be keeping a blog which I will update whenever I pass through a major hub and have a few minutes to sit down in a cafe with wi-fi. I'll provide the link on my Facebook page and here so you can follow my progress if you wish.

Thanks all, I'm incredibly psyched for this--keep an eye out for the trip blog!

-Nate