From September 26, 2012, to January 25, 2013, I was on what I called a “never-ending roadtrip.”
That September, I sold my house in Washington, DC, put everything I owned in storage, and just drove around the country/continent for a bit. Doing freelance work (and writing), it didn’t matter too much where I was. And it was a great opportunity to give a lot of talks on responsive design at meetups and other events in several different cities.
The never-ending roadtrip ended sooner than I’d planned. I got married and moved to Montreal, which it turns out is in a whole different country! And they speak French there! It’s pretty crazy.
I met a ton of great people in every city I visited, and a lot of them asked me where I’d been and where I was going, so I put up this page for everybody who asked what I was up to.
If you’re wondering what it’s like to live out of your car, it’s AWESOME. No, I didn’t sleep in my car. I mostly stayed in Airbnbs. It was challenging to decide what to bring with me; I have a small hatchback Scion, so there wasn’t very much room! Imagine packing for a trip, but trying to figure out everything you might need for several months.
These days, my roadtrips are shorter. But I feel like I could keep going forever.
| Location | Date(s) |
|---|---|
| Washington, DC | Sept. 26-28, 2012 |
| Bremerton, WA* | Sept. 28-30, 2012 |
| Seattle, WA* | Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2012 |
| Washington, DC | Oct. 3-14, 2012 |
| Leonardstown, MD | Oct. 14-18, 2012 |
| College Park, MD | Oct. 18-20, 2012 |
| Philadelphia, PA | Oct. 20-23, 2012 |
| Brooklyn, NY | Oct. 23-25, 2012 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | Oct. 25-29, 2012 |
| Cleveland, OH | Oct. 29-31, 2012 |
| Ann Arbor, MI | Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2012 |
| Des Plaines, IL | Nov. 2-3, 2012 |
| Wisconsin | Nov. 3-15, 2012 |
| Lansing, MI | Nov. 15-16, 2012 |
| Toronto, ON | Nov. 16-18, 2012 |
| Kitchener, ON | Nov. 18-20, 2012 |
| Montreal, QC | Nov. 20-26, 2012 |
| Quebec City, QC | Nov. 26-29, 2012 |
| Bangor, ME | Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2012 |
| Bar Harbor, ME (Acadia) | Dec. 1-3, 2012 |
| Boston, MA | Dec. 3-6, 2012 |
| New York, NY | Dec. 6, 2012-Jan. 3, 2013 |
| Hyattsville, MD | Jan. 3-Jan. 22, 2013 |
| Brooklyn, NY | Jan. 22-Jan. 25, 2013 |
| Montreal, QC | Jan. 25, 2013 |
*Washington state is not officially part of the roadtrip, since I flew there.
States visited: Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin.
Provinces visited: Ontario, Quebec.