March 1st, 2009
2008, Year at a glance
2008 was a year full of travel and new experiences. I drove from Nashville to San Diego, stopped in Phoenix for two months on the way back, and stayed in Austin for almost a month during the summer.
California dreaming
I set out for San Diego on February 16th, 2008. It was a beautiful drive and an experience I will never forget. I drove through Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before finally reaching California. Ultimately, I only spent two days in San Diego before heading to Phoenix where I rented an apartment for two months. During my two months there I went hiking many times at South Mountain Park and I visited Goldfield, the Phoenix Zoo, and Papago Park. I liked Phoenix so much that I started looking for a job while I was there. I actually got an interview after I had been there about two weeks, and was offered the job, but the salary offered too low and I turned it down. (It was less than half what I was getting at my last full-time job at LifeWay.) I had a few other telephone interviews but never had any more in-person interviews. After two months I decided to throw in the towel and head back to Nashville. On the drive back from Phoenix I drove through Flagstaff and Albuquerque, and I watched the sunset at Palo Duro Canyon close to Amarillo, Texas.
The Austin trip
By June I was starting to get antsy and was ready to take another trip. I had been reading for the last few months about Austin, and was convinced it should be the next place I should check out. So, I decided to fly down and spend a week at the end of June. Austin was great, and I could see why so many people love it. I returned to Nashville by air on June 28th and was in my car on the way back on June 30th. After staying another week I returned to Nashville. I drove back down at the end of July and spent another two weeks there looking for a job and an apartment, but was unable to find anything promising and decided not to waste any more time or money and came back home to Nashville having spent a total of about 4 weeks in Austin.
2009, and the great beyond
Now it’s July 2009, and it has been a year since I returned from Austin and a year and a half since I left Nashville to travel out west. 2008 was an exciting year of travel and new and exciting experiences. Unfortunately my finances will no longer allow traveling like I did last year, but that doesn’t stop me from planning my next great adventure.
