That’s a wrap! Nine months, 33 states, two countries, eight national parks, 14,000 miles on the Subaru, and the cats and I are back in California. (This is Chiriaco Summit, about 70 miles into California after you cross the Arizona border.)

I call it solo travel, but I had a lot of help pulling this off. Nene hosted me in her house for the first month and drove me around Washington, plus gave me travel tips (Winthrop!). Alyssa took the train up from Philadelphia to be on the steps of my Airbnb (when I arrived exhausted and maxed-out-stressed). She helped me unload the car (which was good since I was illegally parked) and then shepherded me up Broadway from Union Square to Penn Station so I’d know my way around. Jeff met me in Orlando with a Florida guidebook and a toll pass for the Subaru, and then suggested Universal (which I wouldn’t have considered on my own). And my parents met me at my condo when I got back. They’d cleaned, done laundry, and had brought a home-cooked meal with enough leftovers to last a few days. Thanks goes especially to my dad, who helped me shop for the Subaru and took care of my condo (it’s improved since I left!) and the Mustang (if I didn’t have someone to take care of the Mustang, this trip might not have happened).
My digital nomading experiment–living for a couple months in each corner of the country–was both exhausting and wonderful. I didn’t always stop to appreciate the awesomeness of my situation when I was consumed with figuring out a new place (parking, groceries, Airbnbs, packing, research), but the wonder definitely broke through from time to time: the serene magic of the American River in Sacramento, the Star Wars stuff at MoPOP in Seattle, yurt camping next to a shipwreck in Oregon with Nene, the delicious harmony of Vancouver, that Thai place in Anacortes, the national parks, being the only person at the Washington Pass lookout at 7 am, getting to be in town for Alyssa’s wedding, seeing Diagon Alley in Florida, sitting on the beach in Key West under a palm tree with actual coconuts on it, midnight fireworks over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, the Joan of Arc parade, staring at a 38-carat Harry Winston diamond necklace at M.S. Rau, and Manhattan (all of it) from the first view of the skyline and the first taste of a Tompkins Square bagel to the Harry Potter store and seeing the Met’s turquoise hippo to devastatingly good Broadway shows and walking through Central Park in the rain. These were all moments where I thought, “THIS is why I did this trip.”

Most recently it was while voting in VegNews’s annual Veggie Awards. (I vote every year for a chance to win vegan treats.) Between Sacramento, Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, and Orlando (all places I visited on this trip), I have been to forty-something of the restaurants nominated for awards. In the “Best Vegan Doughnut Shop” section I’d been to four nominees in a row, three of them gained on this trip. In the “Best Vegan Casual Restaurant” section I’d been to five of the nominees, all from different states. How cool is that?! When I voted last year I hadn’t heard of most of the places on the list.
I learned a lot about what I like in an Airbnb and that no matter how carefully you plan, you’ll still be scrambling to solve some last-minute unexpected problem. And it’ll be okay, because you’ll figure it out. You’ll always figure it out.

And for everything I saw and learned, I still have no idea if it’s better to travel with your cats (and risk traumatizing them), or leave them at home (and risk separation anxiety). So this time at least, the cats got to come with me. They are DEFINITELY happy to be home. They’ve settled back into their old routines and sleeping spots, and they seem to be more content. (This is the last photo I took of them at the New Orleans Airbnb.) So for the next couple months, both they and I look forward to doing a whole lot of nothing.
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