Moving Across the Country (Again)

I don’t like driving. That being said, last week I drove from Los Angeles to New York by myself. In 3 days. I had decided a few months ago to move out of LA, for lots of reasons I won’t get into right now. Suffice it to say I’ll be joining the herds of people leaving SoCal for greener pastures. I went through a lot of different ideas to figure out the best way I could move from the West to the East. By best, of course, I mean the cheapest option short of abandoning the place. I realized the only way I could do it would be to fly out of LA, rent a car, pack it up, & drive back. Which is exactly what I did.

I flew out of Newark Airport the Tuesday after Labor Day. I was incredibly intoxicated the night before leading to a rather unpleasant morning that involved driving from the Hamptons to my parents house in Westchester only to be greeted by an incredibly intense and emotional wave of nostalgia pulling into their driveway. I hadn’t been home in over a year, but I couldn’t focus on that as I had a much larger task at hand. My dad was late (as usual) and I became increasingly nervous my flight would take off without me. Through God’s grace the flight ended up being a half hour delayed, and I truly mean it when I say Thank God because I otherwise would not have made it. The ride itself was smooth, I had a whole empty row to myself and it was at the very least a good start for what was to come.

My best friend Elizabeth picked me up from LAX. When we started driving to her place, I got another wave of uneasy nostalgia, questioning if I’m making the right decision. Quitting the start of my LA life before it had a chance to grow wasn’t an easy decision. I liked California, but right now I just want to travel and I can’t live there and see the world at the same time. So a choice had to be made and there we were.

The next morning we packed up the rental car after several espresso shots. Needless to say my anxiety level shot through the roof. It’s very nerve-wracking, trying to figure out a trip like this. I wasn’t even sure which route I’d take. I tried to relax the rest of the day and spend time with Elizabeth and that helped immensely. After a while though, it was time for bed, I set my alarms for 2:35 in the morning and tried to sleep as best I could.

I woke up about a minute before my alarms were set to go off anyway. My body clock knew. I packed my last few things, said my goodbyes, and hit the road by 3 am. I drove into the sunrise and past Las Vegas before making my first stop. I made excellent time… and then I lost the keys to the car and couldn’t find them for 40 minutes. I eventually found them, though I’m pretty sure my blood pressure is still recovering from the stress.

I drove on down the road and made it to Richfield, Utah before my next hiccup. The touch screen on my phone stopped working. Usually I take things like this as a sign to get off my phone and go outside but on a drive like this I didn’t just need my phone for music but for navigation. It was a lesson in never taking a trip like this without a paper map in front of me. I had to call my sister in New York ok my apple watch to look at my location and direct me to the nearest Walmart. The staff helped me out in less than a minute by rebooting my phone, but my hope for making it across the Rocky Mountains before dark went out the window with that delay.

A few more stops for gas and I was heading into the Rockies just as the sky began to turn pink with dusk fast approaching. My gps took my off the Interstate and onto a dirt road for over an hour because of a major traffic accident. I was so exhausted at that point, frustrated my delays, sore from sitting all day, and then all of a sudden grateful. Grateful that I only had an hour delay and that I wasn’t involved in the accident. I try to take little things like this as blessings rather than nuisances. If I hadn’t lost my keys maybe I would’ve been further up the road. If my phone didn’t break maybe something else could’ve happened, you just never know these things. I tried to stay grateful as the sky became completely dark and I became engulfed by the Rocky Mountains towering over me.

Desperate to see Denver, I drove on. Those city lights were the biggest blessing and sweet relief. I drove about an hour past Denver before stopping for the night. I pulled into a Love’s Travel Stop and hung my sheets in front of the window before lying down horizontally on the passenger and driver’s seat. A better night’s sleep than I had anticipated really. Oddly enough, I felt relatively safe where I slept. As well rested as I’d ever be, I woke up around 3:45 and drove on.

Past the Kanarado border, I saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I’d ever seen. Then I drove though a whole lot of nothing for several hours on end. Missouri’s billboards entertained me, especially the one’s in Boonsville. I hit Kansas City and finally felt as though I were making at least some headway. To be honest I never thought about Kansas City… ever. Driving though however, I gained a new appreciation for its charm and beauty.

My goal that day was to get past Indianapolis. I drove into the dark again and set up camp in a Love’s Travel Stop close to the Ohio and Indiana Border. I drove and drove and slept and cried a little bit. I think I was loosing it slightly, I really don’t know how truckers do this. It’s actually a very difficult job, just having to focus on the road for hours and hours on end.

Feeling slightly less safe in Indiana than I felt in Colorado, I got a minimally restful night of sleep before heading into massive thunderstorms all day driving through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and finally New York. I listened to a very inspiring podcast called the 80/20 podcast. I 100% recommend, the podcast makes me want to get up every day and utilize the hours I have. It makes me want to journal and get a good night's sleep. She made me want to start cooking and taking care of myself better and just for a moment I forgot I would be confined to my rental car for several more hours.

Pennsylvania had to be the most seemingly interminable state to drive through (besides that one time I had to drive though Iowa). Maybe because it downpoured the whole time and I had to drive at 50 mph on the Interstate or the fact that I was so close to New York I could almost feel it, but I wanted to jump out of the car so badly. When I finally got to New York and got myself home I could almost breathe, but not quite yet as the trip didn’t end there. I had to unpack the entire car by myself and drive to the airport to return it. Thankfully the rain held off while I tried to move my things into the house. Then, after the longest few days, I was finally done. Until of course, the next morning when I had to drive back out to Long Island and get back to my job and my life out in the Hamptons. Part of me still thinks this whole thing was a fever dream, but honestly I do enjoy long drives. It’s a good way to clear your head and reconnect with yourself. I wouldn’t recommend driving almost 3,000 miles in 3 days but definitely give it a try sometime, you’d be surprised what you can learn about yourself.