Wanderlust: the time has come for a road trip!

The idea occurred to me about a week ago:

to kick-start my 'new career/life', I must road trip asap.

I thought it might be broken into several parts because I have started an excellent non-fiction writing workshop, Madwomen in the Attic (check the story in Sampsonia Way, last article), that will run weekly through May. However, my instructor, Nancy Kirkwood, emailed yesterday informing me that class will be canceled on Feb 3 as she attends a conference. Thus...

Wooo-hooo, my road trip is on!

Road Trip (Tentative) Itinerary
Dates
Sat, 1/30 - Wed, 2/9

Tour Stops
Cleveland —> Rochester —> (maybe Boston)
Manhattan —>  DC —> Somerset —> Pgh (full circle).

Objectives for such a trek are manifold: 

1. take full advantage of & enjoy the freedom/flexibility of the freelance lifestyle;
2. finally experience my nomadic 'backpack-across-Europe' phase of my life that I missed out on before/after college;
3. appease my wanderlust for the international with a small offering (that's physically/financially doable in the immediate short-term);
4. jump-start my new career/mission by conducting many interviews (in blitz fashion) & writing the stories that will in some way fit into one of my four bodies of research; and
5. break away from everyday life to be inspired by amazing stories.

I Need Your Help
Couchsurfing
To save $$ (and embrace my nomadic spirit), I'm trying to couchsurf as much as possible. Let me know if you're along my tour route and you're willing to lend a couch to crash upon:) 

Tour Stops
I'm also interested in adding tour stops; particularly in the long stretches between Rochester & NYC and between DC & Somerset. Let me know if you're available... I'd love to visit all the friends/family of the northeast that I haven't seen in years (Karen Colberg [Boston], Sarah Crawford [Philly], Andrew Herwig [Baltimore]... hint, hint. I'm talking to you; miss you friends:).

Stories/Interviews
My research is based solely on 1st-person accounts of experiences relating to the four topics (see OTV Publications & Projects). My intent is to help give 'voice' to individual stories that (when combined with many, many others) will become the body of evidence to support my thesis.  

Interviews can be in-person (preferred), over the phone or via email. If you have a story to share or know a friend/family member with a story who you can introduce me to, please contact me. 

I'd love to be able to help tell their story -- both in an effort to create an opportunity for personal growth/healing as well as to help others find what I have discovered; using the story as a tool to help themselves or to act as motivation for change. 


Lastly 
One of my goals is to have more fun this year... that means making work as fun as possible, too. So, to be true to that resolution, I'll say it again... 

Woo HOO! ROAD TRIP?!  

Song for the road: Wonderlust King, Gogol Bordello:)