Trip Stats:
Total Days: 110
Total Miles Traveled: ~2335 miles
Breakdowns (*Mechanical*): 4
Gallons of Gas Purchased: ~26 gallons
Longest stretch with no showers: 6 days
Mill Springs, NC
I spent the first 3 weeks of August at a community near the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. This was my second workaway experience and it was pretty great. During my 3 week stay I helped start the build of a bio-digester to produce methane gas from compost (instead of releasing it into the air), replaced brake pads on a car and did some trail work. I was also able to read a lot, I read Art as Experience, Siddartha, How Things Don't Work, The Principles of Scientific Management, Parable of the Sower, Parable of Talents, The Communist Manifesto, The Whale and the Reactor. I met a lot of very interesting people and had a great time experiencing a different style of living.
Atlanta, GA
I made it to Atlanta from Mill Springs in ~7 hours, traveling 196 miles. Pretty good time considering the last 200 mile day I had took 12 hours. I stayed with my Uncle and Aunt, Cam and Fernanda who live in Atlanta. In Atlanta I went to the Aquarium and Piedmont park. I left my moped in Atlanta and I took buses for the next few weeks of my trip.
Fort Lauderdale and Miami, FL
My first stop was in Florida visiting my cousins Alex and Michael. I took the Redcoach bus from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale. The Redcoach wasn't that bad, the first bus was a little uncomfortable but completely empty and the second bus had "first class seats" (3 seats across). I stayed with Michael and his girlfriend Jo in Fort Lauderdale for a few days. We took a water taxi around the canals of Fort Lauderdale to see the excessive $50m homes, took an airboat everglades tour + alligator show, visited the swap shop, and played some pickleball.
I spent a few days with Alex and his wife Abi in Miami. I got a tour of his doctor's office which is through a startup called Forward (autonomous doctors' office pods), we went to a car show at the convention center in Miami and also walked around the Wynwood area.
I left Florida on a greyhound bus, headed towards Nashville.
Nashville, TN
I don't think I'll ever take a greyhound again. Redcoach was pretty good and I was optimistic about the greyhound but that changed pretty quickly. Two of the three bus drivers I had almost crashed a few times, one bus driver threatened to leave the bus and take an uber, one guy started yelling at this women calling her a "greyhound whore", all the greyhound stations were absolutely disgusting (couldn't even use the bathrooms). I learned why most people fly if they can afford it, greyhound is just not worth it. I kinda already knew this because the first and only bus I'd been on before when I was ~13, the guy next to us was casually watching porn.
My cousin Jim picked me up from the Nashville Greyhound station and we went on a driving tour of the city. I stayed with Jim and his wife Michiko for a few days. We went on a hike at Radnor lake, went to the indoor shooting range, and had dinner with their son Steven and his girlfriend Alex.
My next stop in Nashville was staying with my parents' friends from the bay area, Tim and Wendy, and Wendy's mother Peggy.
We went to see Carrie Underwood at the Grand Ole Opry, talked a lot about startups/entrepreneurship, biked around Percy-Warner Park, and I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gulch.
I spent my last 2 days in Nashville with Steven. I explored Broadway, Germantown and Five Points. I took my final greyhound back to Atlanta without any issues.
Atlanta, GA
I'm currently in Atlanta until September ~27th cat sitting for my Uncle. At the end of September I'll be traveling 1000 miles in 6 days to Austin, TX. Probably spend a week in Austin before traveling another 1000 miles to LA.