Submitted by Bernadette Marciniak
Perhaps we hadn’t gone about everything the right way. Two twenty-something year old girls traveling cross-country in a white seven-year-old Jeep Liberty seems like a recipe for danger and we certainly invited it many a time.
We took all the precautions we possibly could, from researching neighborhoods before booking hotels to carrying extra water in the event of an overheated car, but that still didn’t address all the shenanigans that we weren’t prepared for. However, we can all learn from our mistakes and these two Jersey girls quickly learned how to form solutions to feel safe if nothing else.
To make up for our 11:30pm arrival at Yellowstone National Park we avoided any unwanted encounters with bears and other wildlife at the campgrounds by sleeping uncomfortably but happily within the confines of the aforementioned Jeep. Our backs were less than thrilled but our stress levels appreciated the gesture.
As for our social encounters, we always remained in family-friendly environments including the historic Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 in Ticumcari, New Mexico. At first glance, the desolate site of a once-vibrant community made us quietly cower, but we quickly made friends with the couple who owned the establishment to feel more at peace. They, in turn, introduced us to the bikers who were staying in the rooms next to ours and we were rewarded as we sat on the patio with “Spanky” and “Papa Duane” sipping on local beer and forming new friendships (we still keep in touch).
So while our tactics may not end up in the Roadtrip 101 rulebooks, and some friends and family still think we were crazy, we took the plunge to embark on the experience of a lifetime, learned many things, the most important being comfort and confidence. That’s something no piece of literature will provide.
———————————–
You can visit Bernadette’s blog at One Jeep. One Month. One Tree. and her website at www.bernadettemarciniak.com.
Editor’s note: Looking for some solo travel advice? Check out Beth Whitman’s “Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling“
