This is it. This will be the final post on our blog.

So what has this trip meant? What are we taking away from six months on the road? Six months of being voluntarily homeless? Six months of coffee and oats, am I right!? Though more importantly lies the question: what did we learn?

As I look back over all our posts the first thing that really pops out to me is how much better we got at writing the blog. I think it was inevitable though. When we were packing up the car and getting ready to hit the road, so much of our effort and attention was focused on getting the car built, the route laid out, and looking up things to do, etc. We hadn’t really put much thought into what the blog writing process would be like, nor how it would come to impact our time. We didn’t have the tools or systems in place to give our posts the kind of polish they were are deserving of. I lost track of the number of times that I said we would be posting more often with shorter posts to avoid the extra lengthy posts. We all know how that went. We eventually figured out an image gallery system that allowed us to more thoroughly interweave the pictures into the text, which only added to the length of each post.

When we started out, we had to ask each other questions while writing our respective blog posts to recount what we had done and where we had gone in the days prior. We had to flip back through pictures to refresh our memories. That is, until we wised up and started keeping track day by day in a shared editable note that we called “the week that was.” This helped us streamline the writing process by providing a rough outline of the daily activities.

All of this parallels what was happening on the road. We had ideas of how things would go, and when the realities of moving from place to place constantly started to make themselves more clear to us – well, we adjusted. As much as we wanted to throw up a short and sweet blog post every couple days, it just didn’t make sense. As much as we wanted to spend days exploring each and every destination, we had to keep moving. Same goes for setting up the tent, rather than just sleeping in the car. We developed tricks to speed up our routine and streamline the process of getting ready for bed at night, prepping our meals, and where to store things to maximize what little space we had.

The other big thing that stands out to me is just how amazing a group of people we were lucky to be able to spend time with. All across this absolutely beautiful country of ours we had people willing to open their homes to us so that we could participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Now that we’re back, I am reminded of how life has that funny way of catching back up to you so suddenly. In some ways it is like we’ve experienced a bizarre time warp. I find myself in old familiar places, seeing old familiar faces and yet the only difference to six months ago is that I now have an extra 22,000 miles on my car.

People also tend to ask the same three or four questions: What was your favorite place, least favorite place, place that surprised you most, and place that disappointed you the most?

For me, exploring Carlsbad Caverns was probably the coolest place, with Yellowstone National Park being a very, VERY, close second. There wasn’t really a least favorite for me. No place had such a negative impact that I recall it with disdain. If there was a place that really sucked, I’ve let it slip from memory. As for most surprising, it was the places that we had little to no expectation about that really shined. Salem, MA was awesome, as was Hot Springs, AR – and we had essentially zero expectations for them. As for being a disappointment? The flashy part of Nashville was a lame duck covered in lame sauce, lame duck sauce. Yet, the neighborhoods of Nashville were awesome. Truth or Consequences, New Mexico… with a name like that I had hoped for crazy, quirky, and cool. In truth it was inconsequential. (Kate agrees with all of these points and would like to throw out Salt Lake City, UT as a place that really sucked. We left 2 whole days early. What does that tell you?)

Ultimately, I feel like this trip showed me something. Beyond the indescribable beauty, it showed me what this country has to offer – and in turn it showed me what I have to offer. As we drove around looking at different places to possibly live, and work, I started to consider myself more. I started to place myself in different shoes than the ones I’ve been wearing for so long (literally and metaphorically). I’ve got a renewed sense of optimism. I guess if I had to answer the question, my favorite part was all the parts.

— Brian

“…So what do you think, Kate?” I’m glad you asked!

First, I’m relieved that we made it back in one piece. I’m glad we didn’t die falling down a rocky cliff trying to navigate a twisty mountain road. I’m glad we didn’t have any rocks tumble down onto our car or accidents in horrible rainy/snowy weather. I’m glad Brian never rolled his damn ankle!

I returned home with a better understanding of the country I live in and the people I share it with. I was nervous to go to certain areas for fear of being ostracized or judged, but overwhelmingly we experienced people to be kind, generous, and welcoming. AND very interested in talking to us. We had to steer conversations away from possible points of contention a time or two in certain places, but more often than not we kept an open mind and so did those we conversed with. I think people really are more alike than we think, for the most part. I’m more of a believer now in the general good-ness of the general population and the difference that small kindnesses can make in the life of a stranger.

Like Brian said, I’m proud of how our blog-keeping skills progressed…though timeliness is something I’ll continue to work on 😉 I’m proud of the fact that we committed to documenting this journey and that we kept a good schedule of doing it every week. I’m so excited to look back over this collection of text and photo memories in the future and relive this adventure all over again.

I’m so thankful to all of the people we stayed with, for all the places they took us to, the food we shared, the stories we exchanged and the lessons we learned from them. Brian touched on this but it’s worth repeating: you guys are amazing. I feel humbled to have been welcomed into so many people’s homes with open arms – at times people who knew me very little, if at all. I really truly don’t think we could have made it through without the helpful home sanctuaries of friends’ places. You were lights at the end of a few tunnels for sure.

On a mushy note, I think this trip is a testament to my relationship with Brian. We had a couple of spats, as were expected, but we could probably count them on one hand. We never let things linger or went to bed angry with each other. We’ve been able to do some really cool things together these past 6 months and I think we reveled in each others’ experiences and enjoyment as much as our own.

So that’s about it. We’ve had a wonderful time and it was made ever more fun by sharing it not only with each other, but with all of you. Yes, YOU, dear readers! Whoever you are, if you’ve read a post or two when you felt like it or if you’ve followed along every week from the beginning – thank you for taking the time to catch up with us and see what we’re up to. Thanks to those who remembered the stories we wrote about and talked to us about them in person! Thanks especially to those of you who checked in if you were worried about us, made recommendations of things you thought we might like, or sponsored extra special events when we couldn’t quite afford them. And, of course, the kind, gentle suggestions to get our key fixed 😉The support and encouragement you’ve given us just reinforced what an absolute joy it’s been to document and share our travels in this format. It’s been good having you all along for the ride here on itsyaboi.net – there’s no way all 6 or 7 of you would’ve fit in our luggage.

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— Kate ❤️