Has It Really Been A Year?

Thursday, July 10, 2008

People often say, "I can't believe a whole year has gone by already!" Usually they say this in January at the turn of the New Year, or on a birthday or some similar anniversary. I'm saying it today. It was exactly one year ago that I set out on a solo cross-country road trip to explore the country as I had never done before, and to spend two month visiting family and friends, searching for where I was supposed to end up next. I had never driven more than a few hundred miles by myself before, the longest trip I could recall being from L.A. to Vegas and back. This trip took me through many states I'd never been to, and along the way I:

... visited friends and family I hadn't seen in years
... met with a few radio station program directors
... toured three seminaries
... saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex chase some flamingos (no really!)
... met a Kansas State Trooper who (ahem) asked for my autograph
... played with weasels
... hiked 29 miles in three days (on my feet!)
... dubbed a natural hot springs landmark "Grandpa Bubble"
... picked up a few hitchhikers (to my father's dismay)
... experienced a ride-along with a Sheriff's Deputy
... listened to countless hours of great podcast sermons by world class bible teachers
... became very good friends with Google Maps
... read a few great books on the Christian faith that I would quickly recommend
... visited friends I'd only previously known online
... met plenty of other fascinating people along the way
... saw God evidenced all over creation.

...and that's the short list.

And now, it's hard to believe it's been 366 days since I packed up my 2000 Dodge Stratus and set out from Los Angeles. (Yes, a year is only 365 days, but 2008 was a leap year, so from July 10, 2007 to July 10, 2008 with that extra February day is 366 days.)

Anyway, when I set out, I intended to blog about nearly every day of my trip. That went well for a while, until, what with all the driving, my adventures took over and I lost a lot of time to blog--preferring to visit with my peeps instead of staying behind my laptop for hours at a time--and stopped about 18 or so days in. I kept taking notes, intending to catch up and finish...I even wrote a few blogs but because some were out of order, never posted them.

Then, as my trip was about a week and a half from ending with my plans nearly exhausted and my savings running out, in evidence of God's good providence, I got a job offer to move to Seattle, and took it. Getting settled here with work, relocation, a new church and fellowship, and just wrapping my head around this new season in my life, I didn't spend much time getting caught up ..ing the trip blog.

Now, I will. It is my intention and goal to finish writing all the blogs from my trip by the one year anniversary of the end of my trip, which I consider to officially be Labor Day. So, by summer's end, I publicly pledge to have finished writing all those blogs, and revamped my personal website to host them. I'm not certain if I will post them on MySpace as I go, or if I will offer them as one big completed piece of work once summer is over. That's a decision I'm not sure about yet. But it's coming. In a couple weeks, I'll have some new software which will help me (re)design and (re)organize my website's format and function to my liking, and while I'll have to spend a bit of time learning how to use that, I'm sure it will help speed the process of writing and reposting the completed tale of my trip.

To those of you who read my exploits as I originally recounted them, and have encouraged me to continue writing about them, I thank you and promise that you'll have more to read about what happened to me out on the road, during what turned out to be (collectively) one of the best experiences of my life.

It was a great time. I look forward to picking back up and reliving it this summer.