The plan?

Hello!!

First of all, this is my first blog post (ever). I have never followed blogs before let alone created and updated one. I guess this is a summer for many firsts. Here is a general idea of my summer "plan." I want to drive around the country starting in Jacksonville, going to New Orleans, Austin, Vegas, Colorado, California, Washington State, Oregon, Montana, and wherever sounds fun at the time. The goal is to never stay in a hotel room, so I plan on visiting the many friends I have made who live at these places and calling fellow Princeton Alumni who live on my route for a couch to sleep on. Why do I want to do this? Well, there are many parts of the country I have not seen and really want to see, I love to explore spontaneously, and this would be the time in my life to do it. I'm not saying I won't be able to do this in the future but it would be a little strange for a 40 year-old to call unknown alumni and ask to sleep on their couches. 

The Motivation: 

I had a great time at Princeton but those four years really wore me down, especially the last two years so I really need some time to decompress. I love my family but I do not want to be at home, I also love my friends but no part of me wants to spend all summer with them. What I really need, is some alone time, something I never had at school and something I will not get at home. For instance right now... I'm trying to write this blog post, get a little introspective and my parents keep coming up to me asking random questions or sharing things that disrupt my train of thought. "Look! The house plant that never dies. Even if you don't water it!" Interesting? kind of. Pertinent to what I am trying to do here? Not really... Also, isn't that what fake plants are for?  My whole life I considered myself pretty independent but I have never been alone. Yes, I wrote a thesis and did not talk to my advisor once, so it was completely independent work, but I would leave my work area to a house full of people. Sure I have had feelings of loneliness but those times came when I was surrounded by the most people, as the President of my eating club, the Cap and Gown Club. As an officer I lived at the club with 6 other officers. "Hey Rachel, come watch me water my tomato plants." At noon, in June, in Florida, during a drought. These six people became my best friends pretty quickly and I am very grateful to have had them living and working with me but sometimes I just wanted to be completely alone.  For those of you who don't know what eating clubs are, which is probably most of you, they are the institutions at the center of the social scene at Princeton, where upperclassmen eat their meals, and where people party at night. I can't do the club system justice in this little blog so here is the link to my club's website if you are interested. http://webscript.princeton.edu/~capgown/

So what I want out of this summer is a recharging of sorts, some time during the day where I don't have to talk to anyone, which as social as I am,  will be a completely new experience for me and then time at night where I meet new people or reconnect with friends. 

The Trip 

The trip will start around June 19th with two of my friends from college, Julie and Carla, who will be flying to Jacksonville. They will make the first couple legs of the trip with me from Jacksonville, to New Orleans, and then to Austin before I take off on my own.

-Rachel

P.S. I will be traveling with resume in hand and golf clubs in the trunk...