#roamerica

{ PHOTOSET: ROAMERICA circa 2012, part 1 }

"Better late, than never." Once again, to make me feel better about my procrastination, it's better late than never to share these photos and experiences. Besides, who really likes to look at other people's travel photos? (Me, I do!)

This road trip was the epitome of LAST MINUTE (which seems to be a common theme in the lives of the Roamers). We were inspired by our uber rad friend Kaimana (@kaimanimal, owner of HE>i) who left on a x-country drive. As we dropped him off at the airport, we said "Meet you in America" and that was it.

"Okay, WHO'S IN?" Mel was currently driving through Mexico on a surf adventure, while Marissa, Cassandra, and I plotted our next adventure with only 6 days to spare. Upon Mel's return, we informed her of the plans. Despite her obvious fatigue, she said "Well I can't NOT."

+ the rest is HISTORY. Several emotional breakdowns, excruciating heat, minor to severe prejudice, GREAT food, mediocre food, tons of phone photos, memorizing every song on the radio, Trader Joes road snacks for dayz, + memories that I will carry throughout my lifetime.

Everyone WANTS to drive across the United States, but not everyone DOES. I suggest you prolong the dream no more and GO!!

This is an outcast from my travel journal from day ... 13 on my coast to coast road roam. 

Blessed that I am doing this, so many places, especially in the midwest and south that don't get the recognition they deserve. Kansas City, MO what a progressive avant-garde city with such rich history and well preserved architecture. The people of Oklahoma, of course you don't hear about Oklahomians unless you live there: Oklahoma is a great place with great people, why leave? I wouldn't either. My theory is that places like the above mentioned don't get the recognition they deserve because they are, simply logically put, very well kept Secrets. If you live there you might travel but you would never move somewhere else, no other place could offer the same community. The Secret is well kept by nature therefore - people don't leave the place and the word of it will not travel. The average person has a very slim chance to ever be exposed to the atmosphere and culture from these well kept secret places unless they happen to go there, but if they have never heard about the place how do they even know it exists? I didn't! Since the people who are from The Secrets live there and would only spend a very small amount of time in other places (for vacation etc), chances are really small that the average random person, like you and me, would ever even have a conversation about the place.

But cities and places that have a huge turnover in inhabitants, like LA and NYC, they get free expose through discussions between people who has lived there and then realized it's not that great of a place and moved away. But all publicity is good, right? The word travel between the average person about the large "no-one-is-staying-for-ever-in-this-place" Cities, by default: People move away! 

MOMENTS FROM CADILLAC RANCH: AMARILLO, TX