Hitting The Road
Seven, pack your suitcase… we’re hitting the road!
Typically I am a very averse to being any sorts of productive during the winter months especially the late winter months that don’t ooz “Holiday season” and therefore who’s weather has no real purpose. This year though, this year is different to say the least. As I approach a full three years in the game time that feels like it has moved at snails pace and also at the speed of light. I have felt the persistent nagging of getting to do’s checked off in exchange for packing my bags and practicing what I preach.
This summer I am planning on of the most epic road trips I have ever embarked on. A true road trip in every sense of the word, a trip centered around the journey along the way without a singular destination but a value of every stop along the way. I shared a while back on Instagram that I felt this intense need to go out and see all of the many places I shockingly haven’t seen around the country. I didn’t particularly grow up in a family that took vacations and trips simply for the sake of the experience. While I’ve probably hit up every historic site in central Illinois, my experiences beyond my own backyard were reserved for visiting family, which left those destinations limited. My one and only international trip to Canada was for church, and my Dad had a work conference for a few years when I was in high school and our family tagged along to Florida.
My early adult years were focused on figuring out how to make ends meet with a BA in Theatre Arts circa 2009, and again, never really allowed myself to spend extra money on something as silly as a plan ticket.
Fast forward to now, a thirty something momma who understands with certainty that I have to go exploring. There is no way on earth that I can evolve as a proper artist or preservationist without putting my own two feet and those of my daughters in these spaces. I need to touch, feel, and experience the parts of this beautiful country.
While I do have a particular aim of which I’ll share later this month I am still working through the itinerary and ironing out the details. I have my short list that includes Detroit, Boston, New York, the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, New Orleans, and Mississippi but I want to hear from you. What places must make the list, where isn’t worth going if there is such a place and…
what artist, makers, homeowners, buildings, and cities are making preservation go ‘round?
Sound off below!