Four and a half years ago Chris and I sat up sipping JD
straight from the bottle, and for some crazy reason we decided that if Jeremy
Clarkson and the gang could buy cars and drive around America we could too. To many this would
have just been put on the 'crazy ideas' shelf and forgotten about. It almost
was. But another close friend got married in California 2 years ago.
It sparked my imagination and drive to see ALL of America
one day. Fortunately Chris hadn't let the idea slip too far either, and so the
plan began to take form.
To start with we hit brick wall after brick wall. Red tape from every governing body that meant it seemed nothing more than a pipe dream that we'd look back on and say well we tried.
Months past and we began to accept that it was nothing short
of impossible. Then we had our first reply to a long forgotten email asking for
help. Someone had the answers we needed.
There were ways around the red tape. Email after email was
sent out trying to see if what we were told was true. It was.
So we set a date of February 2014. Based on saving x amount
of money each month. But in the misery of the cold bleak summer/winter 2012 and
a job I felt trapped in. I decided if I could just put in a few more hours and
save every last penny we could leave earlier.
After a quick call to Chris in January, the ball was set
rolling. We finally were going to do it! We just had to wait for Chris to leave
Cardiff Uni.
And well, I had to give up my job. While my job for the most
part was barely the most exciting job out there. Nor did I feel appreciated.
But it had its perks of the people and the characters I met and talked to on a
daily basis.
In the last few weeks I finally felt appreciated, not by my
colleagues but by the individual customers who took the time, to come in and
wish me luck, put in a little bit of money and generally just say thank you.
And suddenly we're here. 3 days away from the start. The
chaos of packing has started. The first post is up.
See you all state side!
Ben
Ben