Amendments to the Plan

I've been contemplating this trip a lot lately. Of course, when you are planning to make a documentary, it's kind of required. After a little advice from a co-worker who has worked in filmmaking for a long time, I've managed to figure out many of the kinks in my plan and picture how I want this documentary to read to other people. I've also had a good response on couchsurfing about the project. A number of people have messaged me saying they want to help with the project and a few have offered me a place to stay while I'm in town. No word yet from Charleston, though. Guess I'll have to get moving on that next week. I'm excited to say that Sunday is my last night working as a waitress. I've managed to add quite a bit of funding to my budget, which is exciting for food's sake, haha. Having two weeks to finish up everything here in town and focus on the project itself will be good for me.

I've decided a few rules in my musing over this trip. Firstly, there will be no facebook activity from me for the duration of the time that I am gone. If family and friends want to keep in touch, they will have to call me. Secondly, I will have minimal contact with the people I already know. There is the exception of a guy in Chicago who I'm meeting up with. But I don't keep in touch with him on a daily basis anyways, so I don't believe this violates that rule. Thirdly, if I find an opportunity to make a little cash, be it painting a house, fixing a cabinet or working on a farm, I must take it. This might extend my trip a little, but I'm okay with that. Lastly, there will be minimal amounts of alcohol consumed on this trip. I can have a drink with some new friends, but no drunken party nights where I don't remember the name if the club I went to. (I'm not a huge fan of alcohol anyways, so this rule will be easy to follow.)

I think these rules will aid in the "finding myself" goal that I've set for this trip. I'm sure many of you are wondering if my husband will be an exception to these rules. The answer is no. I honestly think it will do us both some good to spend some time apart. We've not left each others side very much in the past year and I think it's starting to wear on both of us. So this adventure will be the perfect opportunity to take a step back. When I get home, it'll be like we're starting anew. :)

I don't believe I've yet posted my itinerary, so here it is, tentatively:

Asheville, NC               10hr drive            5/14-5/20

Cincinnati, OH             6 hr drive             5/20-5/25

Indianapolis, IN           2 hr drive             5/25-5/27

Chicago, IL                  2.5 hr drive          5/27-5/31
Minneapolis, MN          7 hr drive             5/31-6/2

Badlands/Rushmore    15hr drive            6/2-6/3

Yellowstone                 9 hr drive             6/3-6/6

Missoula                      5.5 hr drive          6/6-6/10

Glacier Ntl Park            3 hr drive             6/10-6/12

Seattle                         10 hr drive           6/12-6/16

Portland                       3 hr drive             6/16-6/20

Crater Lake Pk             5.5 hr drive           6/20-6/22
San Francisco               7.25 hr drive         6/22-6/25

Las Vegas                    14 hr drive            6/25-6/28

Grand Canyon              5.5 hr drive           6/28-6/29

Moab, UT                     5.5 hr drive           6/29-7/2

Boulder, CO                  6 hr drive             7/2-7/5

Wichita, KS                   8.5 hr drive           7/5-7/7

Tulsa, OK                      3 hr drive             7/7-7/9

Conway, AR                  4 hr drive              7/9

Musings

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." -Chris McCandless

I had a friend compare myself with Chris McCandless today. I am currently reading Into the Wild, which I've found to be a very moving book. I must say, I can understand why he can see parallels between myself and McCandless. It seems we are both romantics, believing in our ability to take the world head on and come out with little more than a few scratches. However, my roadtrip is nothing like the journey that McCandless embarked upon. It will last no more than two months. I will not severe my ties to family and friends. In fact, I am searching for more friends, to become closer to a community which promotes extroverts rather than introverts. I also have no romantic notions that I could survive alone in the wilderness, despite knowing how to hunt (having killed many a squirrel in my time, as well as a deer and a turkey).

I feel that we can learn something from people like McCandless though. That maybe modern humans are missing something in our lives. I do very much agree with the quote above. The fact that I have no secure plans for the future is a major factor in my undertaking this trip. My husband, who has a job in his set career path is not coming with me. I believe that I am more similar to Rita Golden Gelman, at least I strive to be.

"I am a modern-day nomad. I have no permanent address, no possessions except the ones I carry, and I rarely know where I’ll be six months from now. I move through the world without a plan, guided by instinct, connecting through trust, and constantly watching for serendipitous opportunities." -Rita Golden Gelman

I would love to travel the world, becoming a part of thousands of people's lives. When I read Tales of a Female Nomad, I was inspired. This woman had been living my dream since 1986. The difference being she actually had the funding to be able to travel the world and integrate into other cultures. One of the inspiring things about McCandless was his giving up his fortune and hitting the road as a true vegabond. Penniless, but resourceful. I think that I would love to be a medium of the two brave souls. I would like to be able to travel and make money by my own wiles. Meanwhile, I would like to integrate into other cultures, rather than keep myself aloof and disappear when I've gotten too close.

"The world is calling you. Once you have touched it, your heart will open, your senses will expand, and you’ll discover what it means to share your humanity. And if you stay a while, you’ll also discover strengths and talents you never knew you had." Rita Golden Gelman

I adore Rita Gelman. She really is an inspiring woman. Currently, she has a project called Let's Get Global, which is encouraging teenagers to take a gap year before college and see the world. I think that children, especially in their teenage years, are too susceptible to the thought that the only path to success is through school after school after school. No breaks in between, no time off. I was thrown right into this mindset growing up. By the time I was halfway through college, I wanted to quit. I was tired. School seemed like a waste of time. I felt my time could be better spent volunteering somewhere or just simply traveling and photographing everything. I feel like college would have been easier if I had taken a year off, traveled a little. Done something for myself within another culture.

This summer is my gap year, in a sense. I'm in an in-between phase where I'm not sure what's coming next. So, I'm taking this time to integrate myself fully into the couchsurfing community. It is a sub-culture, in a way. I'm turning down the open road that is the United States and I am searching for answers in a community that I feel I've only broken the surface in exploring. I'm trusting my whole being to something like fate. Hoping that my photographs or my documentary will lead me to the next step; no matter where or what that might be.

Truthfully, I am in no way comparable to McCandless nor Gelman. However, I draw inspiration from their journeys. From the different paths they took and the different ends they met. I hope that I can somehow convince myself that I have lived up to the ideal image they generated in me.

Introductions

My name is Samantha Gullion and I am 21 years old. In January 2012, I graduated with a BA of Studio Art from Hendrix College. For my mother's sake, I am walking with my class on May 12. For a little while I was put off from photography because I was pushed too hard in my last year and a half at Hendrix. I thought about pursuing a path in Culinary Arts, but after some months decided it was not the career I should pursue. So, I have recently returned to photography as my medium of expression.

My only true passion in life is adventure. I feel that every day should be lived like it will be your last. Sometimes, (more often than not) this gets me into trouble with other people. I have a tendency to do whatever I want, no matter if it fits into the conventional role I'm "supposed" to play. This is true in all aspects of my life.

I love to travel because I feel that traveling is the greatest adventure a human being can experience. Maybe this is because I am still too young to understand the adventures that can be had in a stable lifestyle. Whatever the case may be, I find I am happiest when I am on the road meeting new people and discovering new places. I feel that when you are traveling you get to see the best of yourself and the best of others. This love of travel fits perfectly into my pure gemini personality. ;)

In March 2010, I joined an online community of couchsurfers. The following winter I traveled to Italy and couchsurfed for two weeks while exploring the beautiful cities of Florence, Sienna, Rome and Bologna. I met some amazing people who showed me the best places to eat, the best places to see and who kept me entertained so I wasn't home sick. The first person I stayed with invited me to join him in traveling back to Switzerland where he works, so I hopped a train and visited Switzerland for 3 days. Adventures like this would not have been probable had I been traveling like a normal tourist. I will forever be grateful to couchsurfing for introducing me to people who have now become friends.

Since then, I have met up with many couchsurfers in various cities: Miami (FL), San Diego (CA), Dublin (Ireland), Conway (AR). Each time I have made new friends and enjoyed the company of some of the most open-minded people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Couchsurfing has always been a positive experience in my life and the lives of those I've met in the community.

Currently, I am planning on taking a very long road trip around the U.S. I have yet to explore the vast majority of the 50 states because I have a low opinion of the condition of our society. However, I have come to realize that there are some amazing sites and amazing people that I need to meet within the states. Along this journey, I plan to create a documentary about couchsurfing and the people that form a community of travelers with light hearts and open arms.

My reasons for this road trip are vast and varied. I want the chance to photograph some of the U.S.'s most beautiful landscapes. I wish to express the incredibleness of a community of people that open their lives and their homes to travelers in an attempt to share experiences and culture. I aspire to find myself and my calling in this world. I am also, I fear, running away from commitment.

Last week I traveled to Ireland with my boyfriend of one year. We had decided that we were to be married while we were abroad. I do not truly believe in the institution of marriage and so I devised a marriage that I found more suitable to my psyche. We tattooed wedding rings on our left hands and called ourselves married. No paperwork, no ceremony, only promises and symbols of our love. However, I am very bad at commitment. I don't like being tied down; be it to a place or a person. I thought I could handle being married if it wasn't a legal marriage that bound me within the confines of the law. I quickly realized this was not true. I began to question everything about our relationship and pushed my new husband away. I began planning this trip two days after we returned from Ireland. To find myself in every sense of the word. To help me see that even though I am married I can still be independent. To give myself time to think about what I want to do in life. ( I feel like I would have been better able to handle the marriage if we had not told our friends and family, which prompted dozens of congratulations and well wishes. But, being married should be something you are proud of, should it not?) So, I am running away from a commitment I am unsure I'm ready for, towards an adventure I've only dreamed of, for the chance to discover who I am.

Being from a Liberal Arts school, it is much harder for me to jump into a career path and follow it to retirement. I long to be an activist and make a difference in the world. I want to volunteer for Peace Corps and aid others while seeing new places. Eventually I want my photography to be featured in National Geographic. I want to learn about every culture this world holds within its bosom. I've taken steps towards these goals, but as of yet am unsure where these steps will truly lead. For now, they have led me to a month or longer adventure around the U.S. Hopefully creating a documentary that will inspire others for years to come and in the process help me to discover what path I'm meant to take for the future.

My departure date is May 14, two days after the graduation ceremony (long enough to recover from the celebrations). This very well could be the adventure of my lifetime. :)