Moving Out West

My journey moving across the country

"This Land is Your Land" Musical Fence

Pampa, TX

To start off my new year, I made multiple changes in my life. First, I decided to take a sebattical from school to prioritize my mental health. At the time, I was still in the Music Education field, but I was not happy with what I was studying. On top of this stress, I also was struggling to take care of myself. It literally broke my heart that I was going to leave school, and I did not want to abandon what I had started. After the 2019 Fall semester here at Butler, I decided that I cannot keep going down the destructive path that I was choosing for myself. So, for the first time, I made the hard decision to take a pause on school and figure out what I want to do in life (big goal, right?)

---

While I was discussing my plans with my family over the winter break, I also received the news that my dad had been offered a new job out in California! It was amazing and bittersweet that I would be leaving my home state and live in a completely new environment. I also thought this was the perfect time to live out my dream as a roadie and drive across the country. I mean, what better way to experience new things?

So, with all of our belongings packed up and shipped out, my mom and I made the plan to drive out to our new home with Rockelle, the family dog. I had no idea how much fun this was until we were on the road! The route we picked took us west through Missouri, and then down south to I-40. The states we went through included Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally California. I never knew how much the country's landscape changed from each state.

Some highlights of our trip included the world's largest fork, Ed Galloway's totem pole park, historical Route 66, Buck Atom's (my personal favorite), and many different national and state parks.

The nature parks that we did visit left me astounded at how pretty nature is. The Grand Canyon was definitely worth the view, and I totally understand why Joshua Tree is on so many people's bucket lists. One special place that I did not expect to be my favorite was a private, family owned nature and historical park called Bandera Volcano and Ice Caves located in New Mexico. I even got to play my horn in the cave!

Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano

Grants, NM

Overall, I would have to say that this is probably the best life experience I could have as a young adult. I also would tell anyone who is thinking about a road trip across the U.S. should absolutely do it while they can. It was really neat to appreciate how people across the country thrive in their own way.

This trip also instilled some sort of "America the Beautiful" patriotism in me that has changed my perspective on life. I now understand that we live in a VERY large country that has so many diverse cultures and beautiful landscapes that many people don't know about. To be short, this trip was a humbling experience, and it made me realize how people can be caught up in their own world that they miss the real one right in front of them. While this was probably the best therapy I could have, I am really excited to start off my 2020 in a new place with a fresh perspective!