In July of this year I took off and hit the road for a California road trip! From Fort Worth, TX to San Diego, CA, up the coast to Napa, then back down, and over to Vegas. I took three weeks to travel solo by car to see what some time on the road could gift me.

2020 gave us all a run for our money. COVID turned everyone’s lives upside down, forced us to re-look at life, and for some, really start to think outside of the box. I was probably the happiest I’ve ever been, before COVID hit. I had completed six months living in a new city with three strangers I had really grown to like, finished a four month dance program, had a new group a friends, met a wonderful man I thought I would certainly end up dating, and was just starting to figure out my next step in this big city, when the rug was pulled out from under me. I returned home in Texas before I was ready to do so, only to be forced to move three more times while “home” before it felt right to move back to New York, all the while feeling more and more heartbroken, confused, stressed and alone. While I was surrounded by so many people I love, who I know were also struggling in their own ways, they were also all starting their own families with engagements or pregnancies, or starting new jobs, and life careers they were excited about. And I continued to feel tossed, tumbled and scattered, even though I was in the middle of a community of people who I knew loved me and had my back.

That being said, when I returned from a trip to the Virgin Islands in February 2021, feeling maybe only 50% more rejuvenated than I felt before I left (which, if you know me, you know this is rare, considering I had just spent six days breathing in fresh salt air, listening to the ocean – my ultimate happy place!) I knew I’d have a long journey ahead, navigating my life as it now was, waiting on answers to some things that only time can tell, and figuring out what I wanted my life to look like moving forward. It wasn’t long after my return that I decided I was going to take one trip a month until my move back to the city, ending with a three week road trip during the month of July. I’ve always loved traveling, but haven’t always had the means to do so (at least not as often as I would prefer). So I figured now was as good a time as any. I had been wanting to visit the Muir Woods in San Francisco, so a road trip up the west coast sounded perfect!