America, the Final Frontier

These are the voyages of the Kia Soul automobile. Its continuing mission to explore strange new cities, to seek out new cafes and new communities, to boldly go where many generations of American explorers have gone before.

That’s right, we are embarking on The Great American Road Trip, taking the iconic drive across these great United States. For the past 2 years, I’ve been living abroad in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana. I have to admit, I’m totally out of the loop with American popular culture. (That’s right, I just wrote those words out.) I was disgusted by Tinder and really wanted to start using the phrase “kids these days,” un-ironically.

But now I’m back, and the best way to get reacquainted with my homeland is do something quintessentially American, drive across the country. There’s nothing like seeing new places, and now I’m ready to see what’s new in my great big America shaped backyard. So I’m gonna hitch a ride with my best friend since middle school - Kelsey, from my beautiful hometown of Salisbury, North Carolina to her current home in Monterey, California with her grad school roommate. And it’s going to be great

The Great American Road Trip is coming to a city near you…. May 17-24

Introduction: The Why

This summer, Whitney, Flora (Tian), and myself, Kelsey, will be traveling across the United States to deliver a car to my temporary home in Monterey, CA. Currently, Flora (Tian) and I are graduate students at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. All of us are just getting used to the US. Flora (Tian) is a student from China, who arrived in the U.S. back in August. Whitney has just returned from her Ghanian Peace Corps experience in April. And I have lived in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Eurasia  for the two past years as an ESL teacher. I returned to the U.S. back in August.

Before I came to the Institute, while still living in Russia, I experienced an overwhelming sense of fear about moving to a new place that was semi-permanent, not on the East Coast, and not abroad. How would I fit in? Would I readjust to American life? Were there hobbies I could carry over? What was California like? How would I meet friends? Well, one year has gone by and I love the town in which I have chosen to live. I really do get to see otters everyday on my evening stroll along the coast. Soon, though, it may be time to pick up and move again. Therefore, we're taking the purpose of this traditional road trip across America beyond its normal "coming of age story" to discover more about  Americans and the places in which they thrive.

We'll begin traveling the third week of May for eight days. We'll begin in my and Whitney's hometown, sweet ol' Salisbury, NC (the Home of Cheerwine), and make our way across the US. Our dates have yet to be finalized but we are hoping to stop in:

Washington, DC

Pittsburgh, PA

Milwaukee, WI

Rapid City, SD

Yellowstone National Park

Seattle, WA

Portland, OR

Napa, CA 

We may add more locations along the way, but if you know anyone in these cities, we would be open to meeting them for coffee. We'll be posting introductions of ourselves so be sure to check back regularly for updates! -K