Rules of the Road (#1)

Rules of the Road 10 States In, No Kings in Wisconsin, Best Stories, and Little Tips

7 Days, 11 States

Welcome to the first blog of Ana + I’s Year Around the World 🌎

It’s been a hell of an effort to get here, and it really does feel surreal that the physical journey has begun!

We’ve had a whirlwind of a first week. We’re entering a new state of mind and time is mushing together. Before I get started, I’d like to remind you of the…

Rules of the Road:

• I promise to never use AI to write or edit this blog. While I, like many of you, are evaluating how to use AI in our lives, there is nothing like writing in isolation--I will go through the pains of creating pieces end-to-end. I will note I have ALWAYS loved em dashes, so expect plenty in here!

• I will aspire to write weekly. A few years ago, I went on a writing craze and posted every day. I lasted 93 days. Without intention and accountability you rarely go far, so I'd love to be held accountable to ~50 posts in the next year. No further strings or requirements other than that, but hear me now when I say I expect texts if I miss getting one out by every Sunday evening!

• My ask to you: Don’t hold back on feedback. Writing in isolation can make me really anxious at times. Being the right amount of vulnerable is tough.

On the Road Again…

In the last 7 days, we’ve ventured 1600 miles in the van through 11 states: NC, SC, GA, AL, TN, AK, OK, KS, CO, IL, WI. This is part of our first leg of our travels—a 50 day, 7000 mile expedition in the Chevy Express van in search of our favorite national parks in America.

Our turnaround to get on the road was truly a mad dash; 48 hours after a fantastic wedding at Camp Kanuga in Western NC to say our goodbyes, practice for Portico’s biggest show (on 6/21 in BHM, more on that next week), and completely move out, clean my house, and make final preparations on the van. It was tense. It was early mornings and late nights. Long, extending to-dos and lots of small, compounding decisions. We are so grateful for Mike's famous meatballs🍝 to be our last official dinner in Birmingham for a while.

All that aside, like how most things go, we got on the road. What proceeded: Home cooked dinner in Memphis, disc golf in Tulsa, Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball in Wichita, sunset swims in rural Kansas, listening session in Denver and lastly, live Jazz + cheese curds in Madison.

I only did a touch of research for the drive out, as I had mentally blocked it off as a "just get it over with" kind of ride. But with the week through, that was an oversight; it was wonderful, filled with nature, connection, adjusting to van life, and serendipitous spontaneity. The Starlink works. We’re 1400 miles in and the van is humming right along.

No Kings in Wisconsin

In the midst of perhaps a rather inward last few weeks, it was surprising to hear and then witness the No Kings protest in Madison, WI that went down State St to the Capitol last Saturday. Over 20,000 people came out, and I heard over 2000 protests happened across the US.

I was so refreshed, energized, and motivated by the creative signs, chants, and spirit of so many. "The only ICE I want is in my Horchata" was my personal favorite.

I’ll admit, apathy has really taken a toll on me since January, and I decided to focus more on what’s local and in my control, but the power that comes from seeing people show up and speak out physically is catalyzing; I am reflecting more on if & how I can be more vocal on what is going on in our administration.

Best Stories?

Another incorrect assumption of the van trip— we would be spending a lot of time together in isolation from our people. Last week, the foundation of our travels was time spent with others.

We were able to catch up with a number of close pals across our stops & states (shoutout to the Haddows, Adi, Max, Wiese, Zeke + Sarah, Hailey + Todd, and our newly-weds — Savannah + Darrell!)

Max ended our happy hour with a very thought-provoking question:

"What's your best story?"

We proceeded to share a couple each, notably ones Ana and I hadn't heard about the other. I obviously stole the idea and have asked it a bunch since—so far, I’ve heard about Temple lunches in South India, Island Bar Crawl shenanigans in the US Virgin Islands, and power outages in Rome.

You can steal it too, but you have to call, text, or voice memo me one of your best stories :-) I don’t make the rules!

Highlight:

📍Venango Campground, Lake Kanopolis, Kansas

While most of Kansas felt like driving on a treadmill, we stumbled on a phenomenal campsite that was free during the weekdays, walked up to a private beach (yes we had a sunset swim), and hot showers. While the road will certainly bring trials, it also brings unexpected beauties. Can’t recommend this stop enough if when you find yourself enjoying the Kansas treadmill next.

Conversations:

• Search Funds / Entrepreneurship through Acquisition

• The Power of Protests

• Running a Dairy Farm in Wisconsin

• Navigating relationship conflict (Date 2 of the book 8 Dates)

What We’re Enjoying:

• 50x Podcast, Asurion Series (Thx Jared for the rec)

• Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

• Bennett Coast’s discography

• Recreation.gov

Little Tips?

Growing up in New Zealand, I would give unsolicited advice to my best friend Max all. the. time. He started to hate it, so I started prompting it by saying “Little Tip?” first. Here’s some little tips of the week.

• Actually read the paragraph of instructions on a pinball machine. They’re at the bottom right. And survey the board. It’s way more fun when you identify combos, multi-ball, and hit the things to progress in the narrative arc.

• Starlink has been phenomenal; I was pleasantly, pleasantly delighted to know I can just put it on the dash and join video meetings from the passenger seat. A game-changer for working on the road.

• Everyone should have a car monitor for Carplay. It’s fantastic for navigation, timely communication, and safer driving. My Dad recommended the one we got ($59) after a few weeks of use.

• Denver has the other Federal Mint (Philly being the primary), and a lot of bars let you exchange for $2 bills hot-off-the-press. Use for tips to surprise and delight on your next outing.

• Disc Golf is perfect for road trips — you can do 9 holes in an hour, see a pretty part of a city or region, get a couple miles on the feet, save and pack a lunch over dining out, and its free.

What to expect Next Week: Utah — Arches/Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Vegas, and Portico’s biggest show to date in Birmingham’s Avondale Brewery.