Now that being said, I need to address this adventure because.... well because it's kind of over. Me hitching up to Seattle was a little mini-adventure right before I went to Alaska. And that little mini-adventure is done for. I basically did it, I hitched up to Washington and could of easily made it to Seattle. But then this delay/detour hit me and landed me back here in San Antonio where I bought a cheap plane ticket ($190, which is a great price for a weeks notice) up to Seattle. So that's it! I'm set to make it to Seattle! And I know the way I got there was a wee bit roundabout. But sometimes you can't just stay on the straight and narrow. I'll throw out some final numbers for you. At the end of this I had hitched over 10,000 miles. That's 10k miles, like a lot of freakin' miles. That's nearly halfway around the equator. I got 78 rides during this journey and I ended up giving three. That means the average ride was around 138 miles per ride. But, this does include the 8 day and 2800 mile ride I was given by Chip, which completely shatters my previous record and may be incredibly difficult to beat. I went to 33 states in all, and for those of you that are bad at math that's more than half of America ;). I camped out only four times, slept in a car once, a McDonald's once, and Chip got us a hotel once (because he wanted to). I was out for around 33 days, so that means that 26 of those days I was staying with friends or people that I had only just met. If anyone wants some different numbers let me know and maybe I can do some counting for ya'!
But now that I am back at a real computer I can actually type some stuff without getting instantly bored (typing on my phone does that to me). And I'll talk a little less about what I did in this adventure and a little more about how this all made me feel. Because the range of emotions and craziness that came up during this adventure was ridiculous. An extremely wide presentation of emotions went down because a wide range of events took place. I'll try and put this in chronological order for y'all. When I first left for this adventure it was liberating. Dear God it was liberating. I didn't have to go to a school and I didn't want to go to and waste my time doing things I didn't want to do. All of a sudden it was all me. I felt so free! Like anything was possible. And it really was. It always hits you a little harder in the beginning, but I was immediately struck by the kindness and generosity that is still out there in the world. Doing this kind of work boosts your faith in humanity infinitely. It really does. You meet the coolest people in the world and they come from all walks of life. You meet men, women, and their children. You meet people who make millions and people who make pennies. People who've never picked up a hitchhiker and people who will go hundreds of miles out of their way to help you out. Rednecks, waitresses, and businessmen. People suited up and suited down. People who grow weed, people who work construction, musicians, and pastors. And everything in between. You meet them all. And you become friends with them all. And it always works out and I wasn't even scared once. I never worried and I never was fearful because everyone was incredible. And you may tell me that it's nonsense. That I'm silly and that I'll be tortured or murdered. But all I am going to tell you is that you have too little faith in people. Because no matter where you go, and I mean no matter anywhere, you will always find kind people. Always always always. Because they're out there whether I'm on the East coast, West coast, or somewhere in the Midwest. Whether I'm in America, or Europe, or New Zealand. There are always kind people and they will always find you. Because I've been doing this a while and I'm still here. And feeling all those realizations coming to you while you're out there doing this sort of thing is irreplaceable. It's crazy and unreal. Unexplained. No matter how I try to convey it through this you'll never realize until you've experienced it. Then, in the midst of it all, to have the bomb dropped on you that you have a sister you never had. Wow. Just wow. It still hasn't even hit me. It's not settled into my soul yet. But that's just crazy, and, on a side note, meeting her for the first time the other day was incredible. It was just so surreal and she's so awesome. Love you Megan! And then to be so close to getting to Seattle, having come what I had pictured in my head as really far (which was nothing compared to what I ended up covering in the end), then to have it all turned upside down for a second and making the decision to hitch from Oregon over to Virginia. Clear across the united states. A little bit of me thought myself crazy, but the rest of me screamed its approval. And off I was hitching in a direction I didn't expect to go through places I didn't expect to be to see people I didn't expect to see. To see people that I have bonded so deeply with that I would hitchhike across a nation to see them. And so I did. Over and over again the pure joy of seeing a friend I love dearly. Over and over again the wretched goodbye hug that would have to hold me until who even knows when I'll see them again. Alas, 'tis the life I lead for now. Hearing the incredible stories of strangers the whole way through. Then to take another random turn South and making it to the Florida Keys. Being physically as far away as I could possibly be from Seattle in the continental states and the strangest feeling that America is actually so small. The way my heart eased when I could pick up hitchhikers after I picked up the car for my mother. How good that felt to give back a little bit. And then the struggle to force myself back to Texas and how hard that ended up being for me. I hadn't realized how little I wanted to come back here and the only reason I really was here was so that I could meet my new sister. Having to deal with the realization that this could very possibly be the last time I come back to use my family as a home base. Realizing how supportive my mom has been through all my adventures. Maybe not ever to come back here. Which is an emotional struggle because no one wants to throw their home away. But sometimes you have to cut your losses. And this may be one of those losses for me. Only time will tell and we'll see what happens.
And those were just some of the emotions I felt about this trip in a nutshell. Obviously there were many many others and so many situations that I could just delve into and talk about forever. And I feel bad for not mentioning them, but some experiences I want to keep just for me. Especially when I know I can't get the feeling I would like to across through text. Now, I must say, I will not be blogging as often as I was. You all have an idea of what my hitching life is like now. And when I get to the boat I won't be able to blog much, but I'll update it every once in a while and that way y'all can follow me in Alaska too. Hopefully I don't get too lazy and forget about this blog altogether. But thanks to everyone out there who reads it and thanks to all of y'all out there who tell me to keep writing it. Because otherwise I would of quit it by now. But seriously, thank you all. And thanks to everyone out there who gave me rides, all of you who let me stay at yours, and to the ones who fed me. I had some incredible meals on this trip! So thank y'all and thanks again because I would never ever be able to say thank you enough.
Until next time (who knows when that'll be)
Be happy
Beacon
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