THE Trip - Day 34 (Reflecting)

Tomorrow I will be home…and tonight I am reflecting on the experience of the journey.  Not any one individual day; but considering how I feel about the trip as a whole.  To start, let me say yes – I would do it again; in fact, make that a big YES.  That said, some overall thoughts to remember in case we ever have the opportunity to do a long trip again:

Length – 30 to 35 days is just about right.  About now, hotels and restaurants are getting tiring.

Locations – Pick a route that offers a wide variety of options to see and do.  The mix of small towns/cities; national parks/art museums; ocean coasts/mountains was critical to keeping it interesting.

Schedule – Definitely keep it open.  It was much better to start the day with “where are we going” and take it from there…minimize specific deadlines for cities and times.

Walking – Outdoor exercise is vital.  Hotel fitness rooms or pools do not offer the scenery that being outside does – even if it is strolling while window shopping.  After car air conditioning, breathing fresh air really helped get rid of the closed in feeling.

Clothes – Streamline how to move items from car to hotel room.   We packed the right amount of clothes (one airline carry-on bag each with jackets and hats loose in the back seat).  But, there were times when we were on the second floor without elevators.  When we were tired, this meant heavy bags to carry up/down; pulling a few items out for the night with multiple trips up and down to get what we needed.

Food – Take less.  The snack food items started out either in the cooler behind the driver’s seat or the dry food bin behind the passenger’s seat.  Yet, all of it seemed to end up in the front seat at some point.  Definitely remember chocolate and red licorice vines for Dennis next time!!!!

Electronics – Re-think what to take.  All the chargers and cords became a nuisance.  Since both of us wanted to connect to the internet in the evening, we had two devices.  The laptop was heavy, but so much easier to use.  The netbook was lighter and the right size, but not as easy for some things.  Because we had such good weather and were outside a lot (plus tired at the end of the day), we never had much time to read with our Kindles.  IPod = no; car CD books = yes; music CD’s = no.  As the trip progressed, I became much better on my smartphone…just wish I had been better at using it in the beginning.

Wow…I see that I learned a lot…

     …so maybe I should start planning another trip to test the improvement ideas out…

          ....but not right away!