A Worldwide Cruise with Viking

A while back, I read someone's post on Facebook about a worldwide cruise with Viking Cruises that took 245 days (about 8 months) and visited 53 countries.  I was immediately intrigued. I read about it online and thought it would be a really awesome trip, I just didn't have the $113,000 per person, double occupancy, that it would cost to be in a cabin big enough that I'd want to live in for 8 months.

Later that afternoon, I found myself back on their site, reading more about it.  It became a bit of an obsession (in a good way) and I'd go back daily to look at the itinerary and daydream about all of the wonderful places to see and amazing things to eat and do.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/2020-world-cruise/index.html

This is a new cruise offered by Viking, who are consistently named the World's Best cruise line and I really, really want to go on it! It starts and ends in London, so I'd get the bonus of being able to visit my beloved friends in England either before or after (or both) if WHEN I get to go.

During this time, the lottery was up over a Billion dollars, yes, that's Billion with a B! So, I figured, 'someone has to win it, it might as well be me!' and I bought a ticket.  As you can see, I didn't win, so I'm back to trying to figure out how I can go.

After looking at the map of the places the cruise travels several times, I found the page that spells out the itinerary day by day.  I also found their curated list of books to read to get ready for the trip.  So, I wrote down the list of books in my journal.  I'd look over it now and again and realize I'd only ever read one of them.  Ha!  Today, I went online to our library's card catalog and noted which books are available in our county library system.  Of the 64 books listed there, only 24 of them are in the county system, with most of those at a local private college's library. Only three of them are available at my local library and they are all currently checked out. Looks like a trip to McDaniel College is in my future today.

On the 12th of this month, I started an Excel spreadsheet.  I made columns for the day of the trip, the date we'd be in that port and the day of the week it was, so I could try to keep the Sabbath a bit more holy on Sundays.  Turns out, thankfully, that many of the Sundays are either a sailing day or in a port where the ship stays for a couple of days.  I also included my top choices - up to three - of their available guided tours or excursions for each port.

Since our Church is a worldwide church, I thought it would be amazing to contact the ward or branch in each city and meet some of my Worldwide Family!  Wouldn't that be fun to meet people all over the world who have the same beliefs and who are already part of my "tribe"?  So I have columns for the ward or branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the area where we'd dock.  I haven't figured all of that out yet.

So, after I'd done all of this, I was feeling a little silly and obsessed over something that seemed unlikely that I'd ever get to do.  I got in the car to head to work to fill the kiln and a song came on the radio.  It was a very old song that's in my iTunes play list by the B-52's called "Roam"  The lyrics, in part, say:

"...Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness,
Around the world the trip begins with a kiss.

Roam if you want to,
Roam around the world.
Roam if you want to
Without wings, without wheels,
Roam if you want to,
Roam around the world..."

Well, that seemed pretty auspicious and specific!  I laughed and prayed "Heavenly Father, PLEASE let there be a way for me to do this!" and my heart just about pounded out of my chest.  Usually, that's how the Spirit witnesses to me that this is the truth or something I should do.  I've learned to listen to that kind of a prompting. So, I started thinking that maybe I really AM supposed to do this.  It's been in the forefront of my mind now for a couple of weeks, which is pretty unusual in itself.  But how can I possibly get that much money?

I got out of the car, went into work and started working on the pottery pieces that needed to go in the kiln.  I'm the only one in the studio during kiln time, since the studio is closed on Mondays, so I listen to General Conference talks on my phone.  I had been listening to April 2017 talks, so I clicked to the next talk and turned it on.  As my hands were in the glaze bucket, mixing up the clear glaze by hand, I stopped with my dripping arms in mid air, as I heard the speaker.  It was a talk by L. Whitney Clayton and it was called, "Whatsoever He Saith Unto You, Do It!"  In the silence of the studio, his voice rang loud and clear in the kiln room, telling the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who told the servants at the wedding in Cana to do whatever Christ told them to do.  Then he likened that to us, who when the Lord tells us that we should do something, we should do it - immediately.

So, how do I do this?  How can I possibly do this?

I looked on the Viking Cruise Lines page to look for jobs, searched a couple of job sites to see if there was a way I could work for them and go on the cruise in that way.  Nothing really jumped out at me.  So, the next idea I had was that I could contact Viking and see if they'd hire me as a Social Media person to write about this new cruise.  I don't know if that's a good thing to do, but I'm thinking about it.  So, in the meantime, I thought I'd read their booklist and talk about it here, along with the places the cruise will be visiting.  Maybe something will come to me.  Have any ideas?

Until next time!
Judi

Happy 2018, National Straw Day, Travels and President Thomas S Monson

I decided in the last few days of 2017 that I'd start blogging again and try to be more consistent about it.  Since I'm still not going to be able to finish up This Crazy Trip any time soon, I thought I'd write about something else.  So, what to write about?  Traveling in general?  Local places that I could travel to in a day?  Pottery and techniques for being creative within our studio?  Religion?  Things I've learned?  Bullet Journals, which I use daily?  I didn't know.

So, then I came across the National Day Calendar and after writing down some of the things for the first six months of the year, I found that every single day from January through June 30th has a "National" something or other Day attached to it.  The rest of the year probably does as well, I didn't look yet.

So, since this is January 3rd, we've already missed:

January 1st - New Year's Day, of course.  It's also National Hangover Day, National Bloody Mary Day, and National Thank God Its Monday Day.  Ummm, OK.  Not sure about that one, but the others are fairly self-explanatory for New Year's Day.

January 2nd - was National Buffet Day - I guess people are sick of holiday cooking?  It's also National Cream Puff Day; National Personal Trainer Awareness Day, of course, and National Science Fiction Day, which seemed more fun.

And today is National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day, which I would be happy to participate in if I wasn't on a diet; National Fruitcake Toss Day, which makes sense since not too many people actually EAT the fruitcakes that show up on Christmas and this seems a good day to toss them; and National Drinking Straw Day!  National Drinking Straw Day?  That's a funny day.  (Thanks to www.NationalDayCalendar.com for the use of their photo.)  #DrinkingStrawDay is paying homage to the day someone named Marvin C. Stone took out a patent on this date in 1888 for a paper drinking straw.  The website also mentions the Sumerians using straws around 3000 BCE.  I seemed to remember reading about the Egyptians using straws made of reeds around that time, too, so it seemed logical that the Sumerians had them, however, the one they had was apparently a gold tube with blue inlay!

Our grandsons like to use a straw with everything they drink, so I bought some stainless steel ones last year to use instead of continuously using plastic ones.  I'd like to think that I'm doing a little more to help save our planet's resources.

And congratulations to Marvin C. Stone who 130 years ago, took out a patent for a paper straw.  And congratulations to the Sumerians who created a gold tube straw thousands of years prior! :)

The other thing that happened this morning was that we found out that our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson passed away last night at the age of 90.  What a wonderful man he was!  I learned about cheerful service from him.  I loved his stories and how he could recite a poem from memory.  I loved that he cared so much about doing the Lord's work and how he loved the people he served.  He missed his wife terribly and I'm sure they are having a grand reunion.  Thank you, President Monson, for your life of service.  We will miss you.  

That's it for today!  See you tomorrow!

Judi

This Crazy Trip Rides Again?

Well, two posts in one day, but they're for different things, so hopefully it won't annoy too many people.  :)

I'm in the beginning stages of planning This Crazy Trip for Summer of 2016.  Today I got an email inviting me to join the American Outdoor Sweepstakes and try to win $50,000.  That would be a great way to do my around-the-states trip for free!!  

When I finished with the sweepstakes entry, I saw a link for 50 Travel Adventures with a new place to see in every state.  There are several places in there that I haven't put on my list, so I was excited to read it. 

Here's the link if you'd like to check out the places to visit in each state. 

http://www.greatamericancountry.com/places/travel/50-travel-adventures--one-for-every-state-pictures

And if you'd like to enter the sweepstakes, too, here's that link. 

http://www.greatamericancountry.com/shows/lakefront-bargain-hunt/american-outdoor-adventure

#GreatAmericanCountry

How to "Live Your Bliss"

I'd always heard people say to "Live Your Bliss" and I never quite knew what they meant.  However, this past month or so, I think I've been the closest to being that way that I've ever been.

Last week I decided that I can't do this trip right now.  There are a number of reasons - teaching Seminary, work picking up, grandkids who've asked me not to go, but mostly it's only 8 weeks after my surgery.  I don't recover well from surgery, and my doctors have all prepared me that this one might be a little tougher than normal.  Don't doctors normally tell you how you'll fly through and not to worry?  Well, I am very grateful for doctors who tell me the truth and they both have warned me that this one will take a while to recover from.  If I'm not supposed to drive for 4-6 weeks, I'm a little concerned about driving every day for four months only 8 weeks afterward.

As I prayed about what to do and thought about it, I kept saying, "But I WANT to!"  Just like any spoiled child who hates being told "No," I still wanted it my way.  But finally, when I had to make a decision about what to do about teaching Seminary next year, I just decided that I'd need to put off the trip for a while.  Then every time that I said aloud, "I'm not going on the trip right now," the Spirit just confirmed to me that it was the right decision.  My heart got warmer and started pounding harder, which is my affirmation signal that I've done the right thing.  I love being able to have that confirmation available to me!

I'm not scared about the surgery, but it has been running through my mind many times that I need to be 'ready.'  I feel very strongly that God has told me that everything will be fine, no matter what the outcome happens to be.  So, I've been going along with that and feeling comfortable about whatever happens.

As I've prayed and thought about life in this past month, I realized that there were certain things that I wanted to do and to eat(!) before surgery, just in case it was the last time.  I'm a planner, what can I say?  So, here are some of the things that I got to do that were on my list of things that I really wanted to do:

• I went to my grandson Tommy's school play and got to see him recite his portion of the play perfectly and to sing some really cute songs about bugs.
• I got to spend time on Easter with all of my family - all four sons, three daughters-in-law, and four of the five grandkids.  I'd spoken with Finn the week before, so I've been able to send love to all of them.
• I had some really good conversations with all three daughters-in-law, my mom and my siblings.
• Bob held my hand and put his arm around me at the movies and when we went to the Temple, without my initiating it! (You have no idea what a big deal this is!) 
• We've prepared good food many times, had the missionaries over for dinner and got to visit friends for other meals. 
• We went to a wedding, visited the temple, went window shopping, all fun things. 
• I helped two first time home-buyers buy their first homes which is really wonderful.  I also was able to help a seller through a really tough time when a pipe burst in their house while we were under contract.  
• I attended some awesome classes and got excited about working on my business to become even better. 
• I've been able to teach my terrific Seminary students each day and as an added extra blessing, over the past couple of weeks, I've had the privilege of hearing almost every student pray for me in opening or closing prayer.  That's an amazing gift.
• I had a complaint on my business and a friend's baby died in a choking accident, so I felt some difficult feelings, too. But I think life is about feeling all of the emotions, not just happy ones.
• I enjoyed the wonder of Spring finally coming; daffodils, tulips and crocus pushing through the ground, blossoms popping out on the trees, lambs and little calves in the fields around our home.
• I got to be a speaker in a Relief Society meeting. (That's the women's group in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
• I got to sing in the Frederick Stake Choir for the Easter program and enjoyed learning three more portions of Handel's Messiah. 
• I was able to serve others in many ways. 
• I received some wonderful compliments from friends, one that especially affirmed one of my core beliefs about the type of person I want to be.
• I got to be a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a Visiting Teacher, a Seminary Teacher, a speaker, someone who helps someone in need.  All things that I love doing. 
• I got to walk a labyrinth. 
• I ate felafel, lobster, a good steak, aebelskiver, See's candy caramels and many more things that I love.
• I got to go to the movies a couple of times - once with Bob, once with Tommy. 
• Tom and Nick and I played board games together and laughed together a lot. 
• I got to play with Maddison's hair for a little while until she went to play again.  Plus I got to see her without her two front teeth. 
• I was creative and felt really good about finishing three quilt tops and I'm nearly finished with two others. 
• I was able to watch all four sessions of General Conference for our Church and feel spiritually fed. 
• I've listened to good music, read a couple of books, done a bunch of crossword and other puzzles. 
• I got a manicure and pedicure!
• I've worked, I've played, I've loved others and felt much love from others to me.  I've read and studied, learned new things, met new people and been entertained.  I've felt happy and sad and grieved with others. I've felt proud and disappointed.  I've felt gratitude and felt blessed over and over again. 

So now, as I go to have surgery on Tuesday, I don't plan on dying (and my doctors all think everything should be fine), but I feel at peace with whatever happens.  I've done so many things that I've wanted to do.  I'm a little sad about not taking the trip starting in June, but I know it will happen eventually. Just not right now.  

I bought a book at Barnes and Noble the other day called "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" by John Izzo, Ph.D.  The secrets he includes in the chapter headings are: 

• Be True to Yourself
• Leave No Regrets
• Become Love
• Live the Moment
• Give More Than You Take

I haven't read the book yet, but I think I've done pretty well on all five of those topics.  I have no regrets and I have been blessed to feel completely overwhelmed with love - both FROM friends and family and FOR them, too.  

I do hope that I will be able to come and visit all of you soon.  God bless you.  

Much love. 

Judi

Donuts and How my brain works...

When Bob and I went to Maine last year, we stopped at a Triple D restaurant called Grover's in East Amhearst, NY for a burger.  While we were there, we saw an advertisement for a donut shop in town that made their own donuts, so we stopped by there before heading out.  They had the most delicious donuts and I've been craving a GOOD donut lately.

So today, I was showing houses in Baltimore City and was trying to find a donut shop on Yelp.  They were giving me Chinese food restaurants and all kinds of stuff that was not what I was looking for, so I quit looking.  As I was driving back to the office, I was on I-95 heading south and saw Laurel listed on the directional signs.  This is my internal monologue after that point:

Hmmm, the Laurel exit is coming up.
That's not far from LaBoulangerie! (A French bakery in Savage Mill)
Oooh, I'd like a croissant. Or some French Bread! mmm. Maybe they'll have a pastry still.
Yeah, I think I'll go over there and get something.

Then I realized that my exit was next and Laurel exit was still five miles further....

Wow. Do I REALLY want to drive five more miles to spend money I don't have, to eat calories I don't need?
No... not really.  Guess I'll skip it.  Rats.

I take my exit and decide that I'll just head over to the office instead of going home so I can take care of some paperwork...

Hey!  La Madeleine is right by the office and they have croissants!

LOL

Every time I think about taking this trip, I have these wonderful ideas about all of the places that I'll stop and see, all of the photos I'll take of the neat things/pretty scenery that are along the road. Then I remember how my brain works and I wonder if I'll even remember to take pictures?  Sometimes this ADD-addled brain makes me a little nuts.

So, how's your day going? :)

Guess my first corporate sponsor!

In all of the letters I've been sending out, I've gotten several "no, thank you" letters or - in the case of McDonalds - a recommendation to check with the local McDonalds for sponsorship.  Either he clearly didn't understand what I was requesting, or he wants me to go to each McDonald's and ask for free food when I needed it.  I'm hoping that wasn't the case! LOL

So, today, I received my first YES!

I had written to Poo-Pourri.  I'm sure you've seen their commercials with the twee English girl sitting in a public bathroom dressed for a tea party and suggesting that stinking up the place just isn't done.  Their commercials make me laugh, so I wrote to them in the same vein, suggesting that in visiting 120 different people stinking up the place would make me quite unpopular  and that I really didn't want to offend that many people.  So I asked if they would send me a couple of bottles that I could take with me.

Today I got this email:

Thank you for your interest in Poo~Pourri! After reviewing your request, I would be more than happy to get some samples in your hand.  Please let me know where I should have the package delivered to. Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon! 

With all good wishes, 

Robyn 

WooHoo!  While it's not the most important part of my trip, it might be an essential item I don't wish to do without! :)  I even asked if they wanted me to return them should the trip not end up happening and they said no, that I could keep them. Yay!

Thanks Poo-Pourri!

Time to Start Asking for Stuff.

Today is the big test.  I just sent letters to Ford and to Enterprise Rent A Car to see if they'll loan me a car.  I'm sending the letter to other companies also, but thought I'd start with those.

I sent a letter to a company that makes personal safety jewelry called Cuff.  It's a little devise that fits into a bracelet or necklace that will call 911 when pressed.  Their product is in pre-sales right now and won't be available for a few months yet, but they suggested I contact them later in the Spring, so we'll see.

After hearing the Pepsi half-time ads, I decided that it would be fun to see if Pepsi will give me some sodas for a half-time on the trip.  That should be somewhere around Glacier National Park in Montana and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  Wouldn't that be funny to just pull over and offer people a Pepsi for half-time?

I'm getting more excited about this trip all the time!  LOL

Here's the letter I sent:

It All Started With An Accidental Dare From My Husband…

Hi,  I’m Judi Stull.  I’m a Realtor (among other things) in Mount Airy, Maryland.  For a long time, I’ve harbored a dream of traveling around the U.S. but it was just cost prohibitive to stay in hotels every night and pay for gas while traveling that long.  I wanted to visit other Realtors, friends and family members who are flung all over the country.

One day, my husband said, “You can do it, if you can do it for free.” 

I just laughed at the time, but then a few weeks ago I decided to ask my 1500+ friends on Facebook if anyone would let me sleep on their couch for the night if I stopped by.  Within a few hours I had more than enough offers to get almost all the way around the U.S.  I was missing 5 states.  I even had friends in 26 other countries offering to let me stay with them!  I’m now getting offers from friends of friends in the states I was missing.

My first thought was to use an electric car so I didn’t have to pay for gas, but I soon realized that my route would not allow for that.  There just aren’t enough charging stations in the places I’m going.  However, I could use a hybrid!  I’m only scheduling about 250-300 miles a day so I will have time to visit and to see some sights, which will allow me the time needed to stop and charge up an electric hybrid.   During the times when there aren’t any charging stations, I can use gas power.

I’ve already had people offering me money to cover the costs for tolls and gasoline.

What I need now is a car.  Will you loan me a car to do this crazy social media fueled trip?  I will be gone a little more than four months and will probably drive a little more than 20,000 miles.  It’s just under 19,000 with only having cities, not exact addresses, on my route.   I am hoping to leave on this trip June 10^th and to return on October 15^th.  That’s 129 days if I stick to my schedule.  I will be staying with 120 different people and will be visiting nearly 300 people, all of whom will know that you have loaned me a car.  Plus it will be mentioned several times in my blog and on social media. 

I am very active on Facebook (Judi Bland Stull) and have been for many years.  After cleaning out my friends list of people who were no longer active, I ended up with 1522 friends. I am followed by 1133 people on Twitter (@JudiStull) and use Twitter, Yelp, Instagram and Swarm fairly regularly, I have a blog just for this trip at ThisCrazyTrip.Blogspot.com .  I am a good driver with no accidents that were my fault.  I don’t have any speeding tickets or other driving issues, even though I will admit to exceeding the speed limit occasionally. 

Will you help me make ThisCrazyTrip a reality?

Thanks!!

Judi Stull

ThisCrazyTrip@gmail.com  410-599-5955

Creating a Schedule

I am feeling so loved right now!  

I have found that there's not much that will make me feel more loved than asking if I can spend the night at someone's house and getting all of the responses that I've read!  It's truly humbling and amazing. 

From Facebook on Jan 23rd: 

"Do you want to know the most amazing thing about planning ‪#‎ThisCrazyTrip‬ ? People are so good! Even if I can't spend the night at their house, they are bending over backward to help me have a great trip. I've had offers of money, showers, food, explorations in the area and today, two people said, "Well, we won't be home, but stay at our house anyway!" One of these people has never met me in person. I'm overwhelmed by the kindness of my friends. smile emoticon Thank you."

Since I started sending out the letter, three days ago, I have had three offers to spend the night even if the homeowners won't be there.  I've been offered showers, a gym trip, a whale-watching trip, a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a night out in Branson to see a show, homemade meals including famous fried chicken and a Brazilian dinner.  I've been offered money, sponsorship, gift cards and other help. 

When I've asked for one night, I've had friends say, "Just one night?  You can stay longer if you want!" When I mentioned that I was planning to camp out in Yellowstone even though I was a little wary of the bears, my sister Sandy even suggested "I'm completely just throwing this out there (aka don't count on it) but are you allowed to stay in a hotel "if" the guest pays for it?  For instance, I've never been to Yellowstone so I might want to visit around... hmmm, maybe July 18th.  If I happened to fun in to you there and I happened to have a pre-paid hotel, could you stay with me without jeopardizing the success of your crazy trip?"

(My answer, in case you're wondering, was "Sure! I'd stay in hotels the whole way if someone would pay for them!") LOL 

Honestly, there's not much that warms my heart more than a response from someone that says, "We would LOVE to have you stay with us for whatever you need."  

Sniff. My heart is full. :)

The Letter

Here is the letter that I am sending to all of the people on my list that I'd like to visit. 

Before I can take ‪#‎ThisCrazyTrip‬ plan to companies that might sponsor me, I need to get okays from everyone about whether I can spend the night or take a few minutes to meet with them when I'm in their town. So, I just wrote this letter and will be messaging people with it today and tomorrow. 

In case you hadn’t heard, I’ve been planning a trip around the US. My husband, Bob, said I could do it if I could do it for free, so I’m doing a social media experiment and asking friends if I can sleep on their couch for the night. I have a tentative schedule in place with a start date of June 10th. I’m still working out many details like getting a car, asking Cracker Barrel or other restaurants for free meals on the trip, starting a Kickstarter to cover tolls and maybe gas if I can’t get it sponsored. It is a little scary and a lot of fun thinking about doing this. I’m also trying to work out a way to raise some money for Heifer International while doing this. There are still a lot of things to do before this trip can become a reality, but I’m moving forward as if it is. 

I’ve spent the past two weeks mapping out my friends list and creating a route that will get me around the US in a little over four months. 

I would like to schedule a stop to see you on __________________________. 

I do/don’t need to spend the night that night. 

Please reply and let me know if you think that date will work.

If I’m just stopping by, I can stop by an office or someplace nearby to just get together for a few minutes to an hour. 
If I’m spending the night, I don’t need much, just a couch. I’ll bring my own blanket and pillow.
I don’t drink or smoke (but don’t care if you do.) I like most kinds of food. I’m allergic to cats, but have Benadryl.
I do not want people to go to a lot of fuss, no cleaning or getting ready, ok? Just a chance to get together for a little while and smile. 
I would like to ask some questions about where you live, what are the “don’t miss” sites in your state? What are the best restaurants or places that you enjoy? And I’d like to know more about you! 
I am hoping to write about this in a blog and for NaNoWriMo in November (National Novel Writing Month), so I’ll need your signature allowing me to use your name, city (no address, just the city) and a photo. 

You can follow along at ThisCrazyTrip.Blogspot.com

I can’t wait to see you!!

THE BIG WHY

THE BIG WHY

In Real Estate coaching, and especially at Keller Williams where I work, we are often asked to decide upon our "Big Why".  What is the One Thing that makes us want to do what we do?  It can change from time to time, as we meet our goals or as our needs change.  My big Why for Real Estate has most often been my family.  I sell Real Estate because I want to be able to provide for my family and I want to work in a business that allows me to be available to my family when I am needed.  Real Estate allows for a more flexible schedule.  That generally means that I don't make as much money as I could if I would really work harder, but I like that I can work when I want to.  Some people wouldn't think that I was very successful because I don't make a ton of money, but to me, I AM successful because I'm living life as I want to live it... I spend a lot of time with my grandkids now, and was able to spend a lot of time with my children when I felt that they needed me to be home in past years.  I have clients who have become great friends and who refer business to me because they feel that I've done a good job for them, and being less busy than many of my fellow Realtors means that I can give my clients pretty much undivided attention as they need me.  Since I have a husband with a great job, it's a Win-Win for me.

When I decided to do this trip, it meant taking more than four months off of doing my job.  That's a pretty tough thing to do financially, even with my laid-back style of working lately.  I'm still recovering from knee surgery, so I haven't been very active and this allowed me the freedom to step away from my job for the time it will take to do this trip.  I'm a little conflicted about walking away during our busy time of the year, though, even though I'm very excited about doing the trip.

So, why am I taking this trip?

Several years ago, when our youngest son, Matt, was in middle school, I wanted to try homeschooling him and I thought it would be a great idea to drive around the country, visiting zoos.  I would get him involved by writing a book about all of the zoos and have him give a kid's perspective and I would write the adult perspective about each of the zoos.  My husband, Bob, was not as excited as I was.  Neither was Matt.  So, that idea went out the window.

Then last year, I wanted to visit my mother who lives on the West Coast near Portland, Oregon.  I live in Maryland.  My ADD-addled brain's thought pattern went, "Wouldn't it be fun to drive there?  Oooh!  If I'm driving there, I could take Tommy (our grandson, who was 7 at the time) and we could visit his other grandparents in South Dakota.  Oh!  And we could take a different route on the way back and visit his other great grandmas who live in Oklahoma and Kansas...  Oh, and we could see all these great sites... " You get the idea. Sadly, Tommy wasn't interested and Bob, again, thought I was crazy.  We ended up flying to the West Coast.

Driving around the country has long been something that I thought would be fun. A little grueling, perhaps, but fun.  Bob and I don't get along so well when we travel together, so going alone is probably the best choice for our sanity and our marriage.  No sense throwing away a perfectly good 33-year marriage for one trip around the U.S.!  LOL

As I've said before, it started out as a "What If..." project.  Almost a joke, in fact.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it.  It's now become almost a reality!

Brian Buffini is a real estate coach who I have followed for years.  I love the things he teaches and his idea of doing "Pop-Bys" is something that I've tried to do at various times, though I have not been good at it in the past couple of years.  He suggests that we should Pop-By our past clients with a small gift, reminding them that we are in the real estate business and thanking them for their past business with us.  We should also ask for referrals and build our business in this manner.  When I was doing Pop Bys, I was doing a good amount of business just from the referrals I received from my friends and past clients.

I thought this trip would be a great way for me to Pop By to see many of my past clients who have moved to other places and a good way for me to get in touch with other Realtors around the country.  Referrals between other Realtors is a good part of business, too.

But this trip couldn't just be about business.  It needed to be about something more than just me.  I have been a speaker for Heifer International (www.heifer.org) for at least 10 years.  They are an organization that I believe in and trust. So, I'm trying to figure out a way to make this be a fund-raiser for Heifer International, also.  My friend Laura Scott suggested that I make a Flat Stanley type project with Judi the Heifer and take pictures of a flat cow everywhere I go.  What a fun idea!  I think I might change the name, though.  LOL

So, here are my BIG WHYs.
1.  Pop By past clients, friends, family and other Realtors to enhance our relationships and become better friends.
2.  See the Continental U.S. and hopefully get enough sponsors through Kickstarter to go to Alaska and Hawaii.
3.  Raise money for Heifer International.
4.  Prove to my husband (and others) that I can travel around the U.S. for free.
5.  Have fun!

At my bridal shower nearly 34 years ago, the attendees were asked for their words of wisdom for me as a new bride.  My sister Linda wrote, "Always Have Fun!"  Some people laughed, but it is the only thing that has stuck with me and it is still my creed.  So, Always Have Fun!

An Accidental Dare

It Started As An Accidental Dare From My Husband.

I've been wanting to travel around the US for some time now, it has probably been two years since I first thought about it seriously.  But the costs involved in hotels, gas, or renting a small motorhome or camper just made it impossible.  Not to mention time from work and from teaching.  It just wasn't going to work.  Until Bob said, "You can do it, if it doesn't cost anything."

Bob doesn't remember saying that (based upon the expressions I get when I mention the Accidental Dare.)  I don't know, maybe I dreamed it.  It's possible these days. 

Ten days ago, on January 7th, I posted THIS on Facebook:
          "I've been wanting to take a trip around the US visiting friends and family along the way for quite a while now - probably a couple of years. Bob said I can if it doesn't cost anything. LOL I was trying to figure out a way to do that and realized that I have Facebook friends in probably every state. This is totally in the "What if..." stage at the moment, but what do you think? Would you let me camp out on your couch for a night as I came through town? LOL I know a good portion of my 1600+ friends in real life, but a lot of you I've never met. I'm trying to figure out a Social Media Experiment here - what if I could get around the US just by the goodwill of people I know online? Am I crazy to try this? I think it would be a fun blog!!"

I got a much larger response than I'd hoped for, so I started going through my friends list on Facebook.  I found that it's pretty difficult to just READ through my Friends list.  It changes each time I go to the list and it's not in any order, nor can it be sorted into any useful configuration.  So, I did a search for A's.  Only about 20 people showed up.  Ummm. That can't be right!  So I did a search for Aa, then Ab, etc.  Occasionally, I'd have to search for four letters in order to get down to less than 20 people, and I still missed a few people.  After a few days of working on this, I thought I had a pretty definitive alphabetical list of people and where they lived.  I knew people in 47 states and 26 other countries!!  I sorted that into states, then I mapped those cities onto a blank US map.

I took the state lists and rated each person #1 through #5.
1.  People who offered to have to me stay or I don't need to ask.
2.  People I feel comfortable asking.
3.  People I might ask if needed.
4.  Public figures, single men or others I will never ask if I can stay.
5.  Ignore.

Then I took my #1s and #2s, marked them on the US map and last night I finished creating a route than went through every state, visiting everyone on my list.

During this time, friends had asked me about paying for gas and food and if that counted in my "no cost" rule.  I thought I would ask a car dealership to loan me an electric car for the trip, but after searching for Electric car charging stations throughout the US, and knowing my route, that's not feasible. (Which made me sad, since I really wanted to drive a Tesla!)  I made a list of all electric cars and all electric-gas hybrids to see which types might work best for this trip. 

I came up with the following cars, based solely on a few articles:

Cadillac ELR
Chevy Volt
Ford C-MAX Energi
Ford Fusion Energi
and the new Audi A3 E-Tron

the Toyota RAV4 EV would have been terrific, too, but it's been discontinued.

My son Eric suggested that I talk to rental car agencies instead of dealerships, which is a terrific idea since they are nation-wide instead of local and would be more likely to loan me a car in exchange for free publicity for a few months.  And today, my friend Francine Speaker asked if I had spoken to any company like Subway for free food?  No!  I hadn't even thought about it!  I think I'll contact Cracker Barrel, since I would happily eat there every day for several months.

Since this is looking more likely to happen, I decided that I'd better start a blog and get everyone up to speed on how this started.  Now you know the HOW, next time I'll talk about the WHY.