The past two years, I’ve had such lovely sponsors gracing me with their presence on my sidebar. I have enjoyed meeting new bloggers and discovering some of the best blogs to read. Jillian’s blog is no acceptation. I am absolutely in love with her writing style, and she makes the most boring day-to-day activities interesting and fun. I couldn’t be more excited to have her guest post for me, as I know you’ll love her as much as I do! Be sure to drop by her blog, read a few more posts, have a laugh, and give her a comment or two to let her know you stopped by!
Enjoy!
Once upon a time I moved from the deep suburbs of South Jordan, Utah to the salty paradise of Malibu, California. Let’s see if I have pictures of these two contrasting places to show you.
Yes, there we go.
I moved to pursue my dream of being a writer. I moved because I was smack dab in the middle of an intense quarter-life crisis that had me throwing away years of education and planning.
During the past two years in LA I’ve made the 10-hour drive back to Utah many a time. It’s an experience. An epic journey. A poem only Homer could accurately convey.
There is nothing on earth quite like the solo road trip, I tell you.
Nothing.
The 10 Stages of the Solo Road Trip
1. The crazy excited, pumped on life phase
Woo-hoo! Road trip! ROAD TRIP, AM I RIGHT?! This water is so cold! This soda is so bubbly! Just me and the open road.
Open road! The Goofy Movie! Jack Kerouac! Oh earth, you’re just too wonderful for anyone to recognize you!
2. The repeat phase
Why haven’t I dug deeper into the U2 archives before now? They really have some amazing stuff that no one ever talks about. Maybe I should write a novel about this.
U2 has some fantastic stuff no one has ever talked about…
Hmm…
Maybe later.
3. The philosophical phase
What is life, exactly?
Am I staring into Nietzsche’s abyss?
Do I need more Diet Coke?
4. The country music phase
I am moving from this small Southern town (SOB) and giving up whiskey (SOB SOB) and never dating bad men from now on (SOB SOB SOB PICKUP TRUCK SOB)
5. The John Mayer phase
Sob
Sob
Sob
6. The lull
It’s probably best not to dwell on the fact I’ve been listening to Alanis Morisette Uninvited for the past three hours.
Yes, must think positive.
Positive thinking.
Thinking positive.
Positive, positive, positively-darn-tooting down-home something something thinking.
7. The snacks and Starbucks will fix it phase
Hello kind sir at the Starbucks counter, I am here to buy everything you offer.
8. The long phone call phase
“Heyyyyy there, BFF! What are you up to? Don’t you think it’s time for a real state of the friendship union address? Start at the beginning of everything. Start before the beginning of everything.”
9. The push-through-to-the-end anger phase
Google Maps: 54 minutes to home
Google Maps: 54 minutes to home
Google Maps: 54 minutes to home
THIS THING IS BROKEN AND I AM SUING EVERYONE AND LIFE WILL NEVER BE GOLDEN AGAIN.
10. The home phase
“Mother, Father, I’m home. I shall now collapse in a heap of drama and candy wrappers.”
**I collapse in a heap of drama and candy wrappers**
**I vow to never go on a solo road trip again**