east coast wrap-up

Well, that’s all folks! I have officially finished my two months of travel, and am now looking at the end of summer wondering where did all that time go?! I hope that you have enjoyed traveling along with me as much as I enjoyed actually being the one in it all.

I just have to send out some major thank yous:

In Nebraska: Thank you to Marcy and her family for letting me take over at the very beginning of all of this. Thank you for buying special yogurt and listening me talk about veggies. I am so glad that as of this moment I live so much closer to you all!

marcy and me (and penelope)

In Charlottesville: A big thanks to Savoy for hosting me for an unknown period of time. Thank you for letting me just tag on to your daily life. Thank you to Anastasia for letting me use your room, and thanks to the Savoy family for letting me tag along to Rehoboth Beach (shout out to Steph for meeting me and then hanging out and sharing your old friend with me!). This was such an unknown part of the trip: what would come out of it, how long I’d be there, what I would need—all just a guess at the beginning, but Savoy, you just went with it and never rushed a decision or focused in on what couldn’t be helped. In the end it was as wonderful as ever.

savoy in the stripes 

savoy, dale, and her rehoboth relatives

high school besties--savoy and steph

In New York City: Thanks again to Savoy for being my travel buddy. Thanks so SO very much to Stephanie for letting me crash on her floor—talk about invading someone’s personal space! Special thanks to Chris for rearranging her whole schedule to come see me with like 48 hours notice. You m’dear put up with so much crap, I don’t know what I did to deserve a loyalty like yours!

savoy and steph in the lower west side, manhattan

me and chris on the brooklyn bridge

In Charlotte: I don’t even know where to begin in thanking Alyssa and Ann. I hadn’t seen those two in over two years and they totally rolled out the red carpet—Alyssa even remembered my favorite peanut butter and had it there without even having to ask! She’s a keeper! I had such a great time, I totally and completely promise to come again! (Ok, I know, enough with the exclamation points!) And thanks also to Linnea for allowing me to tag along and share wine and stories that was probably one of my favorite nights of my whole trip! (Seriously, done with the exclamation points.)

ann and alyssa and a waterfall, charlotte

In Phoenix: Huge thanks to my brother Bobby for opening his house and life to me. Thanks so much for just letting me hang out and chill with you during some of the hottest days, like ever. You were so flexible and so relaxed with me being there it made me feel like your house was my house. I made myself totally at hope and that was great.  Thanks to Erin for being our taxi sometimes, and our friend always. It was such a pleasure to see your life Bobby, thanks a thousand times.

bobby overlooking the valley that is phoenix

Traveling to Indy: Thanks you LC for being my travel buddy! Doing all of this traveling has been great, but having a partner in crime this time was wonderful. Thanks for not laughing when I ordered a large soda at 10am and when I had to go to the bathroom twice afterward. Thanks for not judging how heavy my luggage was and agreeing that some people lose all common sense when they walk into an airport.

laura and daisy

Also, a giant and HUGE thank you to my parents who supported all of my crazy ideas, who pushed me to start this adventure in the first place and listened as I complained and jumped with joy about a million things all in one phone conversation. The best thing about traveling is having a home to come back to and you have certainly provided that and more.

the carter 5: mamma c, LC and archie; bobby, me, and Dad

This trip has been a symbol of how great the people who surround me are. Not everyone has friends that drop everything to have you over within 48 hours (whoops, my bad). I couldn’t have had this experience without all of you and I am just so incredibly grateful.

A thousand times, thank you.