2009 In My Rear View Mirror
(photo taken by me near the Columbia river, view on flickr)
Zack Klein posted the cities he slept in this year, and Eugene decided to aggregate his travel stats similarly. We did a lot of our travel together sans a few trips, so there aren’t a whole lot of differences (he went to Mexico and Isarel, I went to the Carolinas, Kentucky, Maryland, and upstate NY another time).
I slept at least one night in each of theses 36 U.S. cities:
- Chicago, IL (Home)
- Valparaiso, IN* (Home, Home)
- Richmond, VA
- Hampton, VA
- Charlottesville, VA*
- Boston, MA
- Rochester, NY
- New York, NY*
- Uniondale, NY
- Asheville, NC
- Knoxville, TN
- Manchester, TN
- Nashville, TN
- Bloomington, IN*
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Noblesville, IN
- Bayside, WI
- Louisville, KY
- Lincoln, NE
- Denver, CO
- Moab, UT
- Las Vegas, NV
- San Francisco, CA
- Portland, OR
- George, WA
- Billings, MT
- Columbia, MD
- Columbia, SC
- Charlotte, NC
- Burkesville, KY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Palm Desert, CA
- Cincinnati, OH
- Lancaster, PA
- Albany, NY*
- Portland, ME
* Denotes multiple non-contiguous visits.
Additionally, I’ve driven almost 23,000 miles this year through 32 states, and flown another 6,000 miles.
I’m probably going to write more about what this year has meant to me, but it’s been a truly beautiful experience to travel to so many diverse places in this country over the course of 2009. While in years past I’ve done some formidable road trips or backpacked abroad, I have never gone coast to coast to coast (I’ve actually gone to the east coast 4 times from Chicago, and once all the way to the Pacific).
In between, I’ve met up with some incredible friends from my childhood, from tumblr, and various other channels. I’ve met new people who I’ve stayed in touch with, and made memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I saw over 60 concerts and 2 large music festivals, I watched my favorite band reinvent themselves in front of my eyes; I saw the Appalachians, Catskills, Rockies, and Cascades. I stayed in the desert twice, climbed to the highest point on the northern end of the Grand Canyon. I heard the natural swirl of sound at Red Rocks, watched the most beautiful sunset at The Gorge, raged in the craziest lightning storm of my life at Deer Creek, and saw shows at two of the biggest stages in the world (Empire Polo Fields and Bonnaroo). I was able to bring my brother along for parts, I traveled with my best friend and business partner, I met up with friends from my Indiana hometown in Southern California and Denver, and I saw tour buddies at various stops in various climates in various months of the year.
Through it all I think I learned more about myself and what I value, and how my values fit in with those of others across the U.S. Maybe I’ll do another coast to coast trip in my life, but I can’t imagine it being as meaningful or awe inspiring as the one I took this year.
