Currently: Cedar Falls, IA

The first time I drove to Iowa with my friend Kathe, we were going from Chicago to visit Sarah. This was pre-GPS, so all we had was Mapquest directions and directions from Sarah, too. They matched up exactly, except that Mapquest had told us to take one exit, and Sarah told us to take a different one. We trusted the Iowan rather than a directions website that was notoriously bad at directions, and kept looking for the one Sarah mentioned. Well, we didn't find it, and eventually got off the highway to regroup. As it turns out, the exit had recently gone through a name change, and iirc Sarah was still using the old name, or didn't know the sign had changed, so we are the two people who actually should have trusted Mapquest.

When we pulled off, we ended up in a cornfield. An actual cornfield. There was a strip of road, and corn on either side of us as far as the eye could see. We grabbed the map from the backseat and started looking at it to figure out where we were and how to get back to where we were going, which I am just useless at. But while we're doing this, Kathe says, "Look," and points out the window.

There was was a sizeable crowd of people dressed entirely in black, walking towards us through the cornfield. I don't care, that is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. One of us, I don't remember who, noted that we've seen this X-Files episode. And no, seriously, there's an X-Files episode like this.

As they kept coming, Kathe finally said, "Go go go!" and, freaked out, I just started the car and drove off as fast as possible, where we eventually got directions at a roadside A&W. When we finally got to Sarah's and told her the story, she said, "Oh, those were just Mennonites." And we realized they probably were trying to help us. Oops.

Sooo that was my first experience with Iowa.

Taken out a window. Hello, corn.

That said, I feel like Iowa gets a bad rap as a nothing state, but I like it. It's not somewhere I think I could live all the time, personally, but it's kind of become my getaway place. Since I have been home, it really has turned into somewhere that I can just take off to when things are stressful and have my own room at my friend's house and I can attempt to cuddle her puppy who hates being picked up. It's the sort of place where we once drove 45 minutes to a craft show at a high school (did I buy Amish food that might be me trying to make up for the above story? Maybe), and on the way back stopped at garage sales because there were dogs in the yard and we wanted to pet them. I don't think I've ever had a visit where Sarah hasn't either run into or seen someone she knows while we were out. Everything is John Deere and Hawkeyes and my god, these poor people and their constant political commercials. CONSTANT. And while I know some people think everyone here is a farmer and the whole state is nothing but cows (excuse you, that's Wisconsin), Cedar Falls is just a smaller city like you'd find anywhere else, albeit one with not a ton of scenery on the drive in. It's a slice of quiet in a hectic life, and there's no bad there.

If there's one place I need to go every time I'm in town, it's World's Window. It's a shop in downtown Cedar Falls that sells Free Trade-certified goods, made in other countries by people who are working for better lives. It's pretty good stuff at good prices, too. I'm partial to their jewelry and I pick up Christmas ornaments at every opportunity, which I should stop doing because we're out of room on the tree but I will not stop doing because I'm me.

Plus, if you need a reason to go, say hello to the world's largest truck stop.

You know you want to.

Oops I did it again

I have a friend in Atlanta who I haven't seen since 2007, even though she's one of my absolute favorite people in the world. When you live a couple thousand miles away from each other and money is an issue, you don't always get to get together unless there's some big event that gives you an excuse to travel. This morning I was thinking how much I miss her and want to see her, and idly checked flight prices, only to discover that now that I'm in the middle of the country, prices are actually really good. I asked if she'd be up for a visit sometime soon, she suggested dates, and thanks to my schedule I'll be in Atlanta for the first time a month from now. And a Facebook post about that got our group of friends talking about a get-together trip later in the year, because that's how my life is going right now.

When I tell people about this, their first question seems to be "Can you afford it?"

And yeah, I can.

Don't get me wrong. I am by no means rich. I work hard to be able to get out and go places and see people, and it's always going to be that way. My last few years in LA, I was working a job that didn't pay me enough, especially given rent prices, which meant I was really damn poor. If an emergency came up, or if I did go somewhere, I actually had to start living on $10 of food a week or so in order to break even. More than once I only got by because friends or family helped me. I was lucky there. But especially in that last year, after a cancer scare and when I knew I was moving home (even when I hadn't told people yet), I had an idea of things I needed to go, places I had to go. It meant I had to get a little more creative in achieving these goals, but it was good training, and I really should write a post on that.

Flash forward to now. I've been staying with a friend since I got back, rent-free, which has allowed me to save. I'm moving into my own place soon, but that's all accounted for and I already have that set. I work a job that I love, but which requires a good amount of overtime at a decent rate. I'll be splitting the costs with travel partners or staying with friends. I have a set plan for how to afford the things I want to do. There's a good chance it'll involve some sacrifice, but I know now that I can do it, and I'm actually excited to get to it.

I know people are concerned. When you see someone who's booking (cheap) travel on a whim and clearly making it a priority, it's probably natural to raise an eyebrow. But maybe consider why they're making it a priority in their life, and if they're serious, try to support them. For the record, I do have a great group of supportive friends (and family, and coworkers) who hear about this and think it's great that I'm getting out. For instance, today I had lunch with my boss and our coworker:

Me: "I accidentally booked a trip to Atlanta."
Coworker: "Accidentally? How?"
Boss: "How do you keep doing this? ...You know what? You've earned it."

Yep, I totally have.

Flashback post: Chicago to LA

My move from Chicago to LA was my first proper road trip, but unfortunately it was too long ago to have kept a lot of information from it. Also, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I went with my brother and constant travel buddy Nick (you'll get to know him, trust me) and my friend Sarah, who did a good deal of the planning. She knew where to stop, and she knew our last stop of San Diego really well, so we depended on her for a lot of it. Our trip took us from picking her up in Iowa to a night in Oklahoma City, then through Texas and into Roswell, then straight through to San Diego, where we spent two nights. We'd drive most of the day, make stops, and then make calls to hotels on our way to wherever we were stopping for the night. We stopped mainly at fast food places, and nothing really stoood out, good or bad when it came to where we ate or where we stayed. Sadly, I didn't know back then that I'd be blogging, or what a blog was, really.

But. I have some highlights for what we did. Behold:

Roswell. I looooove Roswell. It's kitschy and a clear tourist trap and I adore it. It's a place where the lamps on the lightposts are shaped like alien heads and the Wal-Mart has a spaceship sticking out of it. It knows why it's famous and goes for it, and you know what, I respect that. There are plenty of small museums dedicated to crash conspiracy coverups, and of course we had to check one out for a small fee. I knew it was time to leave when I started thinking "You know what, this museum has a point."

Also, we accidentally went during monsoon season. Yes, there's a monsoon season in the United States. It's from July through October, and we got there at a bad time for it. When we left our hotel for dinner, it was 101 degrees and there was something like a low-level sandstorm happening. By the time we left dinner, it was pitch black and we had to run out to the parking lot, where the water was almost up to the bottom of my car door. Be prepared.

It really is white sands.
White Sands National Monument. Located in White Sands, NM, it's a state park ($5), where the military does missile testing. Check to make sure there aren't any closures for testing before going. The name is pretty apt; it's all white sand dunes, where you can sit and take pictures and enjoy the silence. And I'm not kidding, you haven't actually known silence until you've been here. It's the absence of sound, which is a little freaky and really awesome. The only thing I warn about is that because you're surrounded by white sand in a hot state, stock up on the sunblock. We weren't there that long and I still got a burn. (Though I am a pasty Polish girl so maybe that had something to do with it.)

Saguaro National Park. I had a couple goals for this trip. One was to see an armadillo, and the other was to see one of those short cacti with a flower on top of it. I did see plenty of armadillos (roadkill), and Sarah took my other request and took us to a place full of cacti. Probably not the best place for someone who has a tendency to touch things and who falls down a lot, but it was pretty great. We also braved the 90-something degree weather to go on a hike. Well, Sarah and I did. Nick had a headache and stayed at the car, which I don't recommend as it was really, really, really hot. We started walking up to Painted Rock, which I think was rock art painted by the Native Americans. I don't know as I didn't actually get to it. See, I saw a sign that said "RATTLESNAKE AREA" and prompty freaked out, because what happened if there were snakes and someone got bit and did 911 even work this far out? Sarah climbed on ahead and I stayed there, getting weirded out every time I heard a noise. And finally I realized that standing by the sign wouldn't really help me because snakes can't read to know they're not allowed by the sign. After all this worrying, Sarah came back down and hadn't seen anything but gorgeous views. It's one of my biggest regrets, that I didn't go, but let's just say when in a similar situation years later, I braved the imaginary snakes.

Torrey Pines. I loved all of San Diego, and it's someplace I've visited a lot over the years. But Torrey Pines holds a special place in my heart, because that was my very first beach. It's one of those places I can still remember vividly how it smelled of salt, and I got to wade in the Pacific and anyway just go.

Point Loma. Also in San Diego, seals! Seriously, the place is covered in seals. There are also tide pools where you'd see a bunch of kids playing, but the best part was walking out and seeing seals hanging out.

You'll get more on San Diego later. There's a looot to talk about there.

For the record, my move back was way more eventful. Coming soon.

On travel inspiration/obsession

Have you ever had that friend who you're not really jealous of, but who seems to always leave you going "Why am I not doing stuff like that? How do I do that?" Mine will go nameless, but she's someone I knew way back and still keep in touch with on social media, and she always seems to be vacationing and going all the places I've wanted to go. (To be fair, the places I want to go are "everywhere" and "no seriously, literally everywhere.") She's kind of living the life I always wanted for myself, but instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decide to do something cool myself.

She had one of those adventure-inspiring posts last week, and when I was bored I'd find myself on my travel apps on my phone, looking up airfares to someplace random that had popped into my head. I found myself encouraging my coworkers who talked about going on a safari or meeting up with their traveling son in Amsterdam. I visited my mom over the weekend and accidentally planned a family cruise to Alaska in 2017. This has been my week. And while visiting my mom, she mentioned the Chicago Adventure and Travel Show, and next thing you know, I'm twisting Nick's arm to get him to go with me.

The Adventure and Travel Show is a convention or trade show, where people go to throw travel brochures at you. There are plenty of booths set up around the convention center, where you can talk to people who want to help you plan a vacation by using them. Plus you can pick up free swag at the tables (my favorites were the spa shower essentials, or maybe the sunscreen), maybe get free wine samples (I learned I'm still not a fan of reds!), or in the case of Chicago, ride a camel (the fact that I didn't will haunt me). Really it's a good way to wander around and pick up information on places, or get inspiration for another trip. I got to check out some places nearby where I can drag my friends for a girls' day trip. I somehow hadn't expected that Disney would need to be represented there at all, but I not only picked up some information on their packages, but I got in touch with a travel agent who is trying to help with my October 2016 vacation to Disney World. Also, I swear to god all but maybe one country I'd randomly searched in the last week was represented here. India, Bali, Cuba, Belize, Jamaica, Dubai, Australia... I walked out of there with four back-breakingly heavy bags full of brochures and so many more ideas. There are things I can't afford that I can dream about now and make longterm plans for, and there are more local places I can still visit. I can do my cool stuff, even if I have to do them on my own smaller scale.

And when I treated Nick to lunch for putting up with me and the crowds when he clearly didn't want to, we accidentally planned a weekend trip to Mt. Rushmore in April. It's the third time I've unexpectedly ended up with trip plans in 2016 so far.

Some might say I have a problem. Personally I don't think it's a problem if it's awesome.

Why, hello there!

My name is Natalie, and I am a sufferer of extreme wanderlust.

 I didn't get out much when I was a kid, travelwise. We went to Disneyworld early enough that I don't remember much of it, and then there was a road trip to visit family in Arkansas, and that was it. I was a Chicago girl who didn't even venture into the wilds of Wisconsin (aka Milwaukee) until I was of legal age. Then I moved to California on my own, and discovered that there was a whole new world out there. And I discovered the joy of the road trip. And I've made it my mission to go as many places and see as many things as I possibly can. Life's short.

 I've never had a ton of money, so I like to do things on the cheap when I can. I take advantage of the things around me. I say yes to just about everything (travel-related). I feel the need to go somewhere new 100% of the time. So I decided to start this blog to share the adventures I've been on, to show my planning processes, and to give some tips and recommendations on where to go and how. Gonna hope I don't suck at it.

 Thanks for coming on my adventures with me.