Yes I gave up but only with blogging....for now.

I discovered, while blogging about trips I was taking, that the thing I love most was being impeded by the blogging.  I love to travel alone, chat with strangers and have an adventure...on my own.  So taking the blog into account was like taking a second traveler's needs into account.  Which as I've mentioned before is the last thing I want to do.

So for now my enjoyment of traveling and not thinking about what anyone else might want, outweighs my desire to blog.

Perhaps if I have an extraordinary experience or discover some place no one knows about I'll blog again but for now I'm off on another road trip and won't be taking anyone with me :)

San Diego...yeah I know, not very exciting and everyone's been there...

..but it is a gas tank trip and there is a ton of stuff to do.

The beach at the Coronado Hotel is lovely and it's always fun to grab an ice cream at the hotel.  Shelter Island is a fun place to stay.  The Best Western Plus is surprisingly nice for the price, mainly because the entire back side of the hotel over looks the marina.  I've stayed a couple of time for work and its so nice to wake up to the boats and seagulls.

Oh one word of warning, don't put your finished room service back outside like you would in an enclosed hotel or you'll wake up to huge seagulls dragging the tray and contents all over the place making a hell of a racket.

I'm not a zoo and sea world person but Balboa Park is free and a great place for a picnic and games.  The are some great coffee places close by as well as restaurants and the newly famous Deli Lama.   You have to try this place out for a sandwich.  It's eclectic decor and friendly staff make it a great snack stop and even better a place to pick up sandwiches for said picnic.

I didn't trawl all over SD as there are too many places to go and things to see but I bummed around the shops and shoreline and found it a relaxing day away.

The down side to SD, now that I'm no longer driving at 60mph is that everyone in SD drives at a snails pace compare to LA.  Now that might be nice for those who are trying to fully escape the LA vibe but for me I found myself banging on my steering wheel one too many times.

I've found that writing about my single travels is often like traveling with someone, because you're relaying information as appose to just experiencing it almost secretively.  This leads me to my dilemma which is the main thing I love about traveling solo is the solo part and this blogging lark is changing that experience.  I guess I'll just blog until I no longer feel my solo freedom and then quit it.

Weird.  not what I expected but I guess its not really that surprising.  If I'm taking the blog's needs into account its really no difference and taking a noter damn persons needs into account.

The Central Coast

So seeing as after twelve years I'm sporting a new car and it was my BD weekend the skiing in Big Bear was followed by a drive up the California coast to Moonstone Bay in Cambria.

It was another gas tank of gas, trip...well just about.  Out of anxiety my husband filled up before I could eak out the last drips of gas to prove my "theme"so I'm not 1005 sure but just about.

The coast is beautiful and well worth the escape.  The air fills your lungs as the city shrinks in your rearview mirror.  There are many hotel/motel type places that aren't expense up in the area and its popular with Hearst Castle visitors, which we became.

The area is pretty and there are a number of good restaurants in the area.  The trout and the caramel ganache thingy for dessert at The Black Cat Bistro were ten out of ten, as was the waiter.   The atmosphere was very nice except for the overweight gentleman with the sinus issues snorting and clearing phlegm from his throat every forty-five seconds (I kid you not!)  If he and his date, who was clearly deaf or immune to his gurglings, had not arrived towards the end of our dessert I'm would have been in peril of stepping out of my British reserve and screamed, "Take your disgusting snottiness outside to make those gag inducing noises!" Before stabbing him in the throat with my ganache covered fork.

Hearst Castle is....well...interesting I guess.  He was clearly a very interesting man and I think I would have got on very well with him.  The "Castle" however, and I'm not just saying this because I'm British...well not entirely, is NOT a castle.  It's a concrete building that has been designed and decorated to be a faux castle.  Each room is decorated with art, ceilings, wall pieces and fixtures clearly pillaged from Europe after the war and shipped to New York before being bought up by Hearst.

I say its interesting because the man inherited more money than god and spent it as and when he pleased.  If he liked it he bought it.  If he thought two pieces looked good together regardless of whether they went together he had them created into one piece.  Like I said I think I'd have liked the guy.  That being said it felt a little like a movie set, almost authentic but not quite.

My main issue and I get that it probably costs a lot in up keep, but the three tours they run all cost twenty-five dollars each.  So although there is a discount if you book all three tours, you're still looking at about sixty-five dollars (ish) to see the entire place.  For what you get it's a little steep.  After doing the upstairs tour and the grounds, my thought is that one tour gives you enough of an idea of the place that you really don't need the other two.  However if you never plan to go anywhere in the world where there are real castles you might as well spend the extra.

We thought about stopping in Solvang to step back into a weird dutch time but passed in lie of getting home in time for the "Good Wife."

As far as gas tank trips go I think the California coast is worth it every time.

(And FYI I'm not prove reading all of my posts so forgive the typos.)

Back up the mountain.

So the 60 mph thing lasted two weeks.  I can't do it!  I'm a London driver through and through and being the slowest on the road is like being a fish flapping around out of water trying not to breathe in air.

So back at my normal speed I headed back up to Summit Mountain in Big Bear for my birthday.  And sure enough it's free to ski for the day on your birthday if you present your ID.
Didn't travel alone for this trip, it's my birthday after all I'm not a total sad sack.  So My husband and I went skiing for the day and it was great.  Yes its March and the snow was partially man made but who the hell cares, its FREE!

The upside to skiing on a week day in March is that there are no lines, NONE!   We skied straight onto the lifts, skied down the mountain and then straight back onto the lifts again the entire time we were there.  I'm inpatient and a passionate hater of lines (queues as we call them.)  I'd rather take the long way somewhere than be in a line, in traffic, just waiting of any kind goes against my nature.

I know I mentioned if you're a hardened expert skier it probably isn't your kind of ski resort but for a 90 minute trip up the road for most of us its perfect.  Its also snowing like crazy up there as I type so it'll be even better this week.

Went back to Teddy Bear's diner as it was a Friday....and yes...the Fish and Chips were on.  Sad to say they were bloodily awful and take it from one who knows Fish and Chips.  I guess one can't expect seaside quality fish up a freaking mountain.

So to finish the Big Bear blogging...its worth it.  Half a tank of gas and a days free skiing.  That's my kind of cheap road trip.

Quick Update

So other than driving most of my fellow LA drivers mad by doing 60 in the slow lane, slow for even the slow lane here, I managed to get 27.2 mpg on my first tank of gas.  As my little Hyundai only got 26 I'm doing well.  I did however have to put my road trip off this week as a nasty freaking stone jumped off an over pass and went head to head with my brand new windshield.  I have one of those not through and through bullet holes but it has to be fixed before I can hit the road again.  Four days old and this is how the world treats her!

Anyway, I'm pushing Seattle back to mid March as I'm headed back up to Bill Bear for my free day of skiing (with the hub) for my BD.

Eco Driving

So I'm an aggressive London driver to my core, but having just bought a new car because my little Hyundai was crying out for retirement I'm having to rethink this.  I love zipping around and finding shortcuts through alleyways and over gardens...kiding! But my lovely shiny new car really deserves care and attention and besides I want to keep her looking flawless for as long as possible.

So my boy racer days are over for now.  First because of the afore mentioned and secondly because I've been thinking further about Project Gas Tank, and having got a "crossover" this time around, I want to not only discover what I can within a gas tank's journey but I want to extend that journey as far as possible.

So for the first time in my life and for the first time on my first tank of gas I'm going to Eco Drive.  I've done a little research and my new (and completely annoying to people like my previous self) style of driving will include:

1. Not leaving the car idling with the A/C on for 30 minutes at a time while I listen to the end of "This American Life" outside my house.
2. Not breaking hard except in emergencies.
3. Not accelerating obnoxiously fast off the light (phew that one's going to be tough.)
4. Driving no faster than 60 mph on the freeway (the toughest! I'm an 85er for sure and might fall over going that slow.)
and
5. To help me not speed over 60 mph, use the cruise control (for those people who past their test in an automatic not a manual!)

I don't have a trip planned for this week but I do have to work out in Oxnard tomorrow so if I discover any place interesting (unlikely) I'll post it.  That's if I can get there and back in a day doing only 60!!

Project Gas Tank - Trip 2 - Sierra Madre

OK, so this isn't even quarter of a tank but I have to write about.  From Santa Monica to Sierra Madre it's only 45 miles.  It's a little confusing if you don't have a GPS as there are a number of exits off the 210 fwy that suggest you are there when you are not.  The exit is Baldwin and by this time you've already passed two other exits that look promising including Sierra Madre Blvd.

After exiting the freeway you drive north through a beautiful residential area with huge old trees and quaint houses.  The village starts at a crossroads with shops going west and north along two streets and there is a little court yard where you can sit in the shade of the trees.  The village is full of boutique stores, an ample amount of coffee shops and restaurants, as well as numerous places for gifts and pampering yourself.

The Four Seasons, which really they should have stayed away from that name as when you see the "Four Seasons Tea Room" its a bit of a shock.  Is not a tea room at the "Four Seasons" but a little English tea house at the top of the village.  They offer a number of different versions of an english high tea and it really is one of the best in LA, and my opinion counts as I've had more than my fair share of teas to judge! http://www.4seasonstearoom.com

Just down from the tea room is a little store called Belle's Nest.  It's owned by two sisters, who are both funny and charming.  You'll easily spend more time than you expected in this little gem.  I think I lost about two hours here just chatting with them and browsing the store.
http://www.bellesnest.com/

They have a number of festivals throughout the year in Sierra Madre as well as a weekly Farmer's Market every Wednesday from 3pm to 7pm.  The next festival is on March 25th and is the Wistaria Vine Festival. 

And SM is home to a bloody enormous wistaria!  The festival will close off the main thoroughfare and they'll have stalls with all kinds of arts and crafts, food, jewelry and other stuff. 

Leonora Moss is by the little court yard on Kersting Crt.  It's a flower shop but also has cards, jewelry and gifts.  The owner told me they have some great things in for Halloween and the holidays.  Next to Leonora Moss is a shop that stocks kitchenware, unusual packeted mixtures and stuff for you dinner parties of all kinds, (I can't remember it's name!)  Also on the same block is Lucky Baldwin's a pub that does really good lunches.  I had my much sort after Fish and Chips after being so disappointed in Big Bear, and it was delicious.  They do a half potion which was the perfect size for me.

On a nice day it's a great little place to wander around, shop and eat.  I found the people to be very friendly and helpful as well as enthusiastic about their village.  If you have an afternoon Sierra Madre is a great trip not too far out of LA and less than a quarter off a tank.  I highly recommend it, although it might not be the most interesting place if you've got kids other than when the festivals are on.

Project Gas Tank - Trip 1 - Big Bear

So today is my first PGT road trip.  I've actually chosen a place that is only about quarter of a tank away, so this trip will only cost me half a tank.  I'm headed up to Big Bear.  I've heard it's a great place for a quick few hours of skiing.  And no it doesn't have Mammoth's snow but it's also not five hours away.  Also there are a bunch of little stores, restaurants and gift places to browse.                      

The road up to Big Bear the 18 is a nice easy drive and luckily there wasn't any new snow as I discovered half way up that you're supposed to carry chains...opps!

When you first arrive at the edge of Big Bear it seems a little run down.  Like other mountain towns I'm sure snow makes it look prettier.  It also has not escaped the recession with a lot of buildings seeming vacant or closed but that could also be that it's off season.

I do a loop around the village and settle on Teddy Bear's Restaurant on Pine Knot Ave.  It's a little diner type place and yelp mentioned that the food was great.

.

One of the reasons I have sighted I like to travel on my own is that when you sit at the counter in a diner on your own people strike up conversations with you.  Ray, a local of thirty five years notices I'm talking to my phone like a crazy person, as I complain that the much raved about fish and chips is only on available Fridays and today is Wednesday.                                                                                      .
Ray asks if I'm a food critic which is a joke if you know me and food.  Anyway when I tell him I'm blogging trips that you can do on a tank of gas this gets him talking.  Ray is an investor/entrepreneur.  He gives me a little advice on what is best at Teddy Bear's, which I choose to ignore because its still to earlier for a full lunch.                                                                    .
He tells me about how Big Bear has changed, the little pockets such as Poet's Corner and the businesses that have come and gone.  It turns out the Big Bear is doing OK.  For the same reason I'm doing this project, people are coming to Big Bear.  It's a gas tank away for a lot of people and so this is a new destination for many who can no longer take their usual vacations abroad.  Big Bear's tourism has actually done better in the past few years due to this.  I asked him if there were any places visitors might not stumble upon that were good in town and he mentioned a there is a great little place to eat beneath the bowling alley...who knew, as well as a number of little stores further into Big Bear closer to the airport.
After ignoring Ray's recommendations I chose the egg dip, eggs over easy with fries, I chose over medium because I can't stomach the runny white yuck that is over easy.
  

We chat the entire time I'm stuffing fries in my face and he's eating his burger.  Ray gives me the low down on his two kids who whether from a parental point of view of for real, are pretty smart, doing well at the local high school.  

              

I asked the waiter about renting skis at Summit Mountain an he suggests its the way to go.  Clearly he has his own skis as I passed $12, $15 and $17.50 rentals on my way up there only to find that a half day rental at the resort is $25!  It not that that is expensive but compared to $12 it is.  However the one thing that did redeem him was that it is a lot easier to rent them at the resort which right by the ski lifts saving you from lugging all your gear around.
One word of warning, Tebby Bear's is a cash only place.  There is an ATM in the entrance area to the restaurant so you can grab money last minute but they don't accept any other forms of payment.                                                                                                 .
Wandering around the village to walk off my greasy brunch I found a number of great little places to browse.  Surprisingly a lot of the stores in Big Bear Village are open even though it's off season and relatively quite.  It was misleading when I first drove through because on the main strip it seemed places were closed.  There is one place a "Christmas Mart" that is open year round and only sells Christmas things, ornaments and whole tiny villages that sprawl the entire length of the store.  

I spent a little money in a gallery that unfortunately won't allow video or photography but the staff were very friendly, a family run business owned by the daughter of one of the women working there.  It made me laugh to hear they were both originally from Los Feliz in LA and that they hadn't been there in...."oh....I don't know...TEN YEARS!" 
The coffee place next door has great drinks, wifi and amazing pasties. The girl at the counter didn't really seem to know how to acknowledge more than one person at a time.  I stood in line hyperventilating as the woman in front of me bought bag after bag, after cookie after scone.  It was touch and go whether there would be anything left.  I've honestly never seen someone clear out a cake cabinet as quickly before.

Having lost track of time drinking, writing and people watching, I headed up to Summit Mountain a little late.  By this time it was well into the afternoon and I tossed up whether it was worth skiing for an hour or not. Right as I was standing looking at the prices and trying to justify $75 for an hour of skiing I saw this sign...

...and my decision is made.  It's my birthday is in a few weeks so I'll come up for the day. Free is free after all and with gear and the $49 half day ski pass I wasn't about to waste $75.
That being said I did find a number of little antique stores and found myself loading an antique juicer to go along with a bird house I bought in the gallery into my car!

The woman running the Mill Creek Antique store, which is on your way our of Big Bear (or on the way in depending on which direction you're headed,) was incongruous in the setting of rooms filled with antique pieces and bits of rusting metal.  Originally from Oklahoma she moved to Big Bear because her mother-in-law lived here.  There was a ton of country type crap if you're into that, which I partially am.  I could have easily loaded up my car but I reframed...except for the juicer.


Driving back down the mountain gives you a better view of the National Forest.  It's amazing this is all in our back yard.

Beware of the hidden cops on the 330 and 18 as they sit slightly back from the road. I was glad I wasn't the loon overtaking another car on a one lane stretch because a split second later he had a cop up his ass.

I made it home having use just under half a tank of gas so the drive cost me about $25.  If money is super tight go up when it snows, there are lots of places off the road to sled for free and you can always pack a picnic.

PGT 1 was a success.  A great little day trip for very little money and its amazing how just spending a few hours in a different environment can revitalize you.

The Gas Tank Project

So as the economy continues to suck and the 99% continue to tighten their belts, included me.  I've been trying to figure out a way to get my travel obsession met.  I do have my free flights and I plan to fly up to Seattle in a few weeks but for the most part I need cheap travel options.

So for people like me who love and need to travel, as well as desperately trying to escape housewives and stay at home moms, I'm starting the PROJECT GAS TANK.

Most of us these days don't have the type of discretionary income to travel that we perhaps once did.  However I do think that the majority of us can afford to fill up our gas tank.

I have a little old Hyundi Elantra.  Her tank costs about $55 to fill up and she can get about 300 to 350 miles to her tank.  So this is my plan:

For the rest of this year I am going to see what places I can find and adventures I can have on a tank of gas.  Being that I live in LA that means I have to find places to visit within a 150 mile radius as I still need the other 150 miles to get back home.  The plan is to not fill up during the trip, so i can take trips that don't fully use up my tank they just can't go over.

We spend so much time...well I do...looking at exotic brochures of wonderful and very expensive vacations but with a lack of funds I'm excited to discover what hidden treasures are in my own back yard.

Navigating my way through America's culinary delights.

OK, so I do love to travel and do day trips on my lonesome but there are times when it's just better if someone is with me.

Being from England and having not grown up here, even after years of being in the states I still have the misfortune of regularly picking the wrong kinds of food in restaurants.  For example, I have been known to order scampi from Denny's and chicken teriyaki at the Strawberry Fest.  Neither experience ended well!

You'd think that a smart woman such as myself would pick up these things quickly but it seems to be my blind spot.  My excuse is I rarely ate as a teenager, I had a touch of anorexia. And so it seemed I never quite learned the concept of food.  Good food from the right places.  In England I usually knew not to order steak from the Little Chef or curry from the cafe on the corner but it was more from observing than personal experience.

After the first few times my husband said, "I told you that was a bad idea."  I shut him down saying, "I can figure this out for myself!  I've managed to keep myself alive this long with out starving to death.....well sort of."  And so he graciously kept his mouth shut while I put all kinds of ridiculous choices in mine.

Eventually I conceded and so in some places I sweetly ask him, "Is it a bad idea to have the fish here?"

I have learned that Denny's is only good for eggs and pancakes.  Steaks should only be eaten in fine restaurants and anything anywhere covered in synthetic cream should be avoided at all cost.  So from now on when traveling alone I shall let the locals guide me.  I'll either ask them whats good or check the patrons to see who's not retching when they swallow.

Sleep, Grumpy, Sneezy and a few other dwarfs running around my head.

I'm not a fan of the whole New Year thing.  It seems like a set up, resolutions, "This year will be different," etc.
I suspect that is why three weeks in and I'm having trouble getting my shit together.  My book is snoozing in my computer, two business plans last got stroked in the first week of the year and as for.....well never mind.
The cure as always for whatever reason is to hit the road.  The endless vistas and sloping mountains will soon snap me out of it and bring back my perspective...hopefully.

So today I'm escaping up to idyllwild.  I've wanted to go for a while and always plan to on my way to or back from AZ but adding two hours to that road trip always seems like a bust.  So I'm headed up there today.  Maybe I can drop the dwarfs off up there in the forest somewhere!

Up the mountain to Idyllwild to drop of the dwarfs.

As I'm driving away up the 2 Fwy north I look in my rearview mirror at the bumper to bumper traffic south bound into LA and it makes me happy for my up coming freedom.

You can take the 10 the 60 and a few other freeways but I'm a lover of the 210.  New (ish) clean, open and easy traffic I take it all the way until it drops down onto the 10.

When you first get off the freeway at the 243 you enter a strange non town.  It has some very new buildings as well as areas that seem a little shack like.  The first house I drove by had men in white suits with masks over their mouths climbing all over a house with white plastic covering on the windows and door and caution tape over the front entrance.  Hmm...not exactly what I expected but I'm not actually in Idywild yet.

As I head up the mountain I looked down to see what I can only hope was not a maximum security prison as it looks like a high school surrounded by barbed wire.  The landscape is pretty (ish.)  Definitely more suited to goats than hikers on this part of the mountain.  As it winds upwards I see the truck from Jeepers Creepers 1 coming in my direction.  It rattles and grinds in a manner that suggests at least three bodies banging around in the back.  I hit the gas a little harder and after I'm sure it hasn't done a u-turn I start looking out at the view again.  Then on my right I become distracted by an incredible vista which I pull over to see.  I guess I'm looking over Riverside to the west but I have no idea what the body of water is out there in the middle, or the smaller one off to the right.

Just as I started to muse I hear rattling and grinding.  I spin around to see the Jeepers Creepers truck lumbering it's what towards me.  My instinct is to run for my car and lock the door simultaneously revving the engine and speeding away.  But as I'm not living a movie and its unlikely a supernatural being is coming to drag me to my death, I stand my ground.  To my horror the truck seems to slow but just as I'm about to consider dropping dead like rabbit's do when they get too frightened and decided its better to just die, it lunges past and out of view.  I don't give it a chance to turn round and jump back in my car.


I pass a Zen Center, a lake to picnic at

and Nature Center, none of which lure me of my path.  As I'm driving into the village I notice a huge bolder which I discover is known as Suicide Rock.  Hmm...what exactly is that saying about the place?!
I park in the center of Idyllwild and I guess I shouldn't really be surprised that it isn't...well.. the most exciting place on the planet.  I was hoping for something half Tolkienesque and half the Wild West but its neither.  I'm sure it looks much better covered in snow with twinkly Christmas lights but then what doesn't.


I wander over to "The Village Lanes" that claims a number of little stores but on further investigation it turns out those stores are only open Friday through Sunday.  So I grab lunch hoping the rest of the town will be open.


I pick the "Red Kettle" for lunch as it looks friendly and quaint.  The staff greet everyone enthusiastically and a seemed to know every local that came in by name. The enthusiasm however ends there though if you're not a local.  The service was OK but slow since I was sitting at the counter in front of them.  However the check came shockingly quick.

I was situated next to two old guys sharing colonoscopy stories. The prep and the mess in extensive detail!?!  They seemed oblivious to the other patrons close by gaging on their food.  Then one of the waitresses share that she'd been given $50 to much change when shopping the other day but as she was already in the car she wasn't about to go all the way back and "besides it was the idiot saleswoman's own fault if she couldn't count."

The food, which claims

would only be famous for being bland and bad. The chicken sandwich was like eating a slipper and "does it have lettuce and tomato on?" "yes it does," means a slab of badly grilled green pepper will be dying on on the top and a piece of limp lettuce will be crawling off the other side of your plate.  I ate as much as I could and stared blankly when the waitress said, "It's good right?"


As soon as I started wandering around the little stores two things became clear.  First the stores that were open were mainly kitch and tacky, selling weird stuff only desperate for a souvenir tourists would buy.  

And second, every other person wandering around was at least thirty years older than me.  Maybe it's just people with time on their hands are generally older but it was bit like stepping back in time.


The Antique store reminded me of a jumble sale my great aunt took me to on Sundays back in the south of England, full of musty clothes and fake china.  I was hoping there might be a treasure to be found but alas there was not.  At that point I decided a cup of tea is in order.  The Coffee House is actually very nice and as I haven't been willing to work on the second draft of my book much this year so far, I was happily surprised that this was a great place to sit and write.  It has great drinks, free wifi, a number of tables with chairs as well as and a couple of armchairs and a sofa.  


Here everyone seemed to know each other, chatting from across the room as though we were all in one big living room, but it was nice rather than off putting.  They invited conversation even from visitor.  At one point Five for Fighting was playing and one woman lamented to me that fifteen seemed a long time ago.  There were a couple of kids working with a tutor and a toddler wandering round quietly inspecting things.  

If you an LA writer and need a little writing excursion you could do worse than this little coffee shop.  Leave early, spend five or six hours writing (no one seemed to care how long you were seated or how much you drank) and head home before dusk.  You'll really want to head home before dusk because the drop offs which aren't railed make you want to cross your legs.


As I sat back to write, the chair gave softly away to fit me, the music became aptly "coffee house" and I felt myself exhale.

So as a place to go....eehh not so much, except perhaps for the film festival and when it's snowy and the christmas lights are up.  But as far as my day goes.  I'm no longer Grumpy, Sleepy or Sneezy (well a little sneezy.)  I got three hours writing done and my feet are satisfactorily itched!

Where first

I'm torn between New York to visit a friend, the islands of Seattle which is where the book I'm writing is set or Florida to see gators because I've never been and I wanna see gators.

Also I really really really want to see fireflies.  It's on my bucket list so now I have to figure out when and where they are, if the airline goes somewhere close and where to rent a car.

I've just been told that the airline I have free flights on is the equivalent to a greyhound bus in the sky. Two friends turned their noses up and said they'd rather die.  That the difference between people who travel for a vacation and people who travel to travel. I don't care. I'll have a bag full of airplane friendly food, a laptop for movies and I'm five foot three inches and pretty tiny. All airline seats are big enough for me!

I'm also contemplating an RV road trip but that will be with my husband as those thing are too damn big to drive for days on your own. The redwoods I think.

The open road

There is something about crossing the state line that makes my body exhale.  First it exhales and then the excitement kicks in as that line gets further and further away in my rear view mirror.
It's like cutting the cord to home, city and work.  Your suddenly free.  It's psychological of course but it feels as real as the day I packed my bags for New York and left England without looking back.

I have driven up and down the pacific coast many times but each time brings a new town, a new stop in the road.  When I was driving from San Fran to Monterey I stopped in Half Moon Bay.  A small little town with a few moody locals but a crazy little place to buy weird random stuff from,

I spent more time that most might here doing a little research but if you're headed south along the coast from SF stop in and check it out.

Not by plane but by car.

So we just spent a sleepy Wednesday driving the scenic route down to Julian near San Diego.  Its a fun little place with a great bird store, an old gold mine and every restaurant has a massive pie selection.

The bird shop is for those who like myself have feeders in the yard.  This place is crazy old lady heaven.

The shops are a bit kitch but is a fun day just wandering around and eating pie.

That was the only problem with the town.  Now don't get me wrong I have nothing against old people and there were a lot.  But when they're standing in front of me in a pie line taking FOREVER to decided on their goddamn pies in-between Obama bashing and talking politics.  That's my breaking point.  I made some not so subtle comments and noises all of which were lost in the volume of the one man asking the dumbest questions ever....they're pies for god sake!! Just pick a pie!
My mood did not improve when we sat down only to have the same group sit behind us saying grace over their pies!  I know I know each to there own but move it along already.

There were some quaint little places to stay and its a good day trip.

After lunch we stumbled upon a tiny shop with stones, fossils, boulders and crystals.  I was in awe of the huge piece if rock with what looked like forty fossilized fish swimming in a shoal.  As it became clear I wasn't just another tourist wandering in and out of stores (which actual I was,) the woman who was manning the shop start to talk to us.  Before I know it she's telling us about her life growing up in Africa.  About the horrors she saw which is why she sort out the quiet little town of Julian where nothing really happens.  She was taken but my fascination of the fossil and told us about a trip she'd recently taken to Hawaii with her daughters.  They had been swimming when five dolphins had decided they want to play.  She was misted eyed as she enacted one dolphin coming up in front of her inches from her face and just being with her.  She said it was the most amazing experience if her life.  I was blown away that this one simple moment was better than any other moment if what was clearly a long fully live.

If I wasn't a junky for day trips I would never have met her and heard her story.  It one of the reasons I love to travel.

The Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumb is to die for.  Its worth the drive just for that.

My New Year's Gift.

This year (2012) I was given the supreme gift for someone like me who equates her freedom and sense of self by the amount of travel she gets to do.

I'm not kidding when I say my sanity and sense of well being are intrinsically linked to looking back in my rearview mirror or seeing the ground disappearing beneath me.  I realized one day when I decided to take a freeway home I'd never been on before, the 23 and the 118, that there is a leveling of ego when you look out over a never ending sea of mountains.  You feel so small, so insignificant and yet more alive than ever.

So my gift? I was chatting with a friend who a year ago had become a flight attendant I was telling her that I'd made the decision that no matter what, I was going to travel a lot more this year (2012.)  She mentioned her "friends and family discount" which she said I was welcome to use.  Then she started to so say how because she didn't  currentlyhave a significant other she had given that perk to her best friend but she had only used it once last year. Then she had an epiphany and said, "I should make YOU my significant other. It's a perk and I really want it to be used and you're the only person I know who will use it regularly."  I think I said, "Absolutely. When can you sign me up."  She said as her friend only travelled occasionally she could just as easily use the buddy passes she had.  She told me that the change over couldn't happen until the new year but as of January 2012 I'd be good to good.

I was beside myself.  It was hard waiting for the end of the year to come for my name to be added but now it has. I still have to learn just how this will work but it is my plan to go somewhere new in the US and have an adventure at least once a month if not more for as long as I can.

How to travel with out breaking the bank

So let's face it. No matter how great my husband is, it would be tough for anyone heading off to work, to a job that has long hours and is at times draining, while your other half swans off on "another adventure."

Even though he never said I couldn't spend our money on travel I found it hard to justify to myself.  I work as a free lance consultant so I make pretty good money and have a very flexible schedule but it isn't full-time.  However even with my income I still felt a little guilt about traveling as much as I wanted to and tapping into our savings.  Then I came up with one of my brilliant idea.  We had a house keeper for a year who came twice a month.  So in an effort to save some money as well as earn back some money from the mutual account I decided I'd do the house work and pay myself.  It may seem silly but I grew up with the knowledge that you pay your way.  For years in England I made a great salary but I haven't yet matched that here.  So even though all the money is pooled and "ours" I still feel the need to earn it back.

I have a great little travel fund growing and it should cover my plane/road/ferry trip in March.  It will be great heading out on that trip with not just a sense of travel freedom but financial freedom as well.

Right now

Having been married a while now, my husband and I are secure in our married, with each other.  There is trust and knowing and with that surprisingly comes freedom.

He's no longer suspicious when I want to take off on my own.  He knows I'm not off hunting other cities for another man or having some passionate rendezvous with a stranger.  He knows me well enough now to know it is part of who I am.  I am often my most awake when I'm traveling, on an adventure.

We travel more today together than we use to but I also travel alone.  He has no interest turning up in some strange not very exciting city with no plan to just "check it out."  He likes comfort and luxury and don't get me wrong I love those things too but I would rather stay longer somewhere in a cheap place than short in an expensive place.  So now we do the more luxurious places together and I do my cheap getaways on my own. 

The differences

So my husband and I took some road trips to Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and well as trips to Hawaii.

On a trip to Colorado I really began to realized the size of this country.  You can get in a car in the south of England at breakfast and go to bed in the northern most part of the country on the same day.

Driving through California, Utah and Colorado was a trip, literally and figuratively.  First it looks like the moon and it goes on FOREVER!  I couldn't believe we not only hadn't seen water (sea/ocean) but that we weren't going to either.  Not unless we drove for three more days.

I love traveling with my husband but I started to notice something was different from when I travelled alone but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Then I flew up to San Francisco on my own, rented a car and drove down to Monterey to visit one of my best friends who was over from the UK working.  I stopped in Carmel for lunch and to spend some time writing as I was working on a book.  It was then I realized what was missing...people.

When you travel with a companion no one talks to you.  I don't entirely know what it is.  Partly people don't want to interrupt and partly because couples often have that invisible couple forcefield around them. When you travel alone people chat to you, ask you questions, strike up a conversation on some obscure topic.  I don't know whether its because of my English accent but people will tell me the strangest things.  I've even had someone say to me, "I've never told anyone that before."  People ask if they can sit at your table and end up telling you all sorts of things.

None of this happened once I stopped traveling on my own and I missed it.  It's a very entertaining part of travel for me and something that make for a unique experience.

On the road

As I mentioned, even in the UK I loved to bum around.  The best thing I ever did was learn to drive.  Once I had my drivers license I was FREE and that for me is the most exhilarating feeling.  I feel alive in a way I don't get from most other things.

I didn't have much money but always enough for gas and so if I heard of an interesting place, or someone mentioned a great desert they'd had on vacation, I'd make a note and when I was free I'd head off there.

I was based in London but would drive out to Devon, up to Scotland, over to the Isle-of-Wight.  I just couldn't see enough of everything.

I then started back packing around Europe.  I visited France, Spain, Germany, Greece (well the islands,) Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Belgium.  I didn't make it further east because the war broke out and we were strongly advised not to go.  And when it became known of the atrocities done to women I was glad I took the warning.

Then I got the chance to visit New York and from the moment I landed in the snowy city of Manhatten I knew I would have to move countries.

And so I did.