Travelin' with (and sometimes against) the Wind

This Blog will Self Destruct

2008-06-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

After 300+ posts, and over a year and half in blogging here, I have decided to end this blog and concentrate on my other blog:

http://nyncak.blogspot.com/

It will be all about my transistion from North Carolina to Alaska, and since I am true Yankee, I am sure my NY blood will show through too. Hence the NY, NC, AK in the title.

I will leave this post up for a while so that people can update their bookmarks if you want to!!

Alaska, here I come!! Well...soon, anyway. Stay tuned.

Bad Blogger

2008-06-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, is it really almost half way through June?

And I have only posted twice?

I am still here. I still read YOUR blog everyday, though I probably haven't commented, I promise I do. I have been busy crossing some major things to do off my list:

As of 4:00 today I will be DONE with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. It is bittersweet. I leave with no hostility towards the district, like many others do. It has been a wonderful 6 years. But...I am moving on!!

So, obviously I have been cleaning, donating, storing and packaging up everything in my classroom. What a process...all I have left today is the dreaded filing cabinet. I got me some files though!

And then there is the grad class I started this week.

And then there is trying to find a temporary place to live when I arrive in Anchorage with no moolah. Because of other bloggers and because of Craiglist, I have some options here which make me sooooo happy. If you are reading helpful people, big hugs to you.

And saying goodbye sucks.

That is my moving to Alaska from the east coast update!

Escape the Heat

2008-06-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Why else blog if not to express your feelings? I am feeling a tad sad tonight. I met my parents in Asheville yesterday and it was perfect. We all got along for once. The weather was delightfully cooler. The art galleries were inspirational. Dinner was delicious.

This morning, early, my dad and I hiked 6 miles on the Appalachian Trail. My mom joined in for the first half mile, then turned back to drive the car to meet us up the trail. Hiking with my parents...it has been years. I blame them for my love of hiking, it was the free way to keep us busy growing up.

The temperature was so much cooler in the woods.

I miss them tonight. I don't know if it is worse because I know I won't see them for a long time when I am in Alaska. I am guessing yes.
I will see them in July though, before I leave. Okay, I feel somewhat better now. I love, love, love the NC mountains. I am a bit afraid it will become overcrowded in year to come!! Like the year I finally decide to buy a house there!

Daaaaaaaaang!

2008-06-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

Temperature is suppose to hit 101 degrees here in Charlotte this weekend. When I told my kindergartners this, their response was: "Daaaaaaaaaang!"

My thoughts exactly.

I am going to bake in the summer humidity and heat and when I am good and sick of it I will move to Alaska!!

Ferry Schmerry

2008-05-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have totally squashed my romantic daydreams of meeting the man of my dreams on a ferry boat to Alaska. Take that McDreamy!! I am such a dreamer...

Now, I have to concentrate on the wonderful time I will have sleeping in my car or tent in random campgrounds across Canada. I do love camping. And at least the sun won't go down until I am good and ready to go to sleep. I wonder if any travelers will claim me as their granddaughter.

I want to hike up to a mountain top and scream at the top of my lungs, but I do not know if it is out of happiness or sheer terror or excitement or anxiety.

I saw this quote here:

we can be wistful and sad and still be burning with happiness. it is not a contradiction, it is life.

So true.

Me

2008-05-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

5 things you might not have known about Karen Travels.

1. I love science fiction movies, especially when there is romance involved. I just watched and fell in love with Stardust. I sometimes wonder if I my deep desire to move to Alaska stems from me wanting a science fiction like adventure. Think about it: beautiful terrain, northern lights, everything is larger than life...

2. I have never worn make up in my life. Maybe this is why I look 15 in these pictures. I wouldn't even know where to start if I tried to put on makeup. I do like pedicures though, but my summer budget will only allow at home pedis.

3. A perfect summer for me would be building a house in a foreign country. Or even in the United States. I love good, outdoor, manual labor. If I wasn't working on completing my masters this summer...
4. I get a little natural high when I hear or read that people are traveling somewhere exotic. Even if these people are complete strangers. Rwanda? Thailand? Nigeria? Yes, I want to hear all about it!!

5. I love to edit photos and make them into a photo story. Love, Love, Love. I might have missed my calling in life, but I gots the skills to incorporate photo stories into teaching first grade reading, so it is all good.

Your turn.

I am Chilling Out

2008-05-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your advice on my last post.

The panic was spawned by my current landlord telling me we had to pay for August's rent here.

But we won't be living here in August. Not me, not my roommate. Not even for a second. Not even at 12:01 am on the morning of August first.

Doesn't matter, lease goes to the end of August.

There is nothing I hate more then spending money on things I don't actually see the point of spending money on. Useless spending. I am frugal, yes, but also responsible.

I can't afford to pay rent here and pay August and September rent in Alaska, plus the deposit.
Either can my roommate, although at least her paycheck will be coming in bi-weekly.

I received my last paycheck today...don't get another one until September 15th!!

But, whatever, I can make it. I can do it. Somehow I will convince my landlord that accepting a job on the other side of the continent should qualify me for some kind of discount. There has to be options.

Meanwhile, I figured this out:

Let's say that I spend $200 a day in traveling expenses...I probably will be spending less than that, but that is 150 for gas, 20 for food and 30 for lodging. Someday I will camp, some days I won't put that much in my tank, some days I will live off subway sandwiches and wheat thins.

$200 times 7 days is $1400.

The ferry costs $1150. Currently. $797 for my car and $353 for me. And no, that does not include a cabin, that is an additional cost that I would never think of getting.

Plus the 4 days to get to Seattle, and 1 day to get from Haines to Anchorage. So let's say $1000 added on to the ferry costs.

Obviously driving all 7 days wins out, and $1400 is the extreme. I could probably get it down to under $1000.

And then the apartment will be about 1400 for rent and deposit.

Okay, I am becoming cross eyed with numbers.

But I can do this. And I will do this. Because I want to do this.

Today

2008-05-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today I just want to throw the whole idea out the door, down the drain, off a cliff...

What am I thinking? (What I am really saying is: What the FUCK am I thinking?)

How will I afford to get to Alaska?

What will I do if gas is 5.00 a gallon times 10 gallons times 3 fill ups a day times 7 days?

(That equals 1050.00)

Plus lodging. Plus food.

What am I thinking moving away from those I love?

Even my love ones in Seattle are too far away.

How will I afford to rent a place, and put down a deposit and turn on the lights?

What will I do when I am scared?

I am already scared.

Scratch That

2008-05-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Did I say $482 to take my car on the ferry?

Silly! I meant $739! I thought my car was in the under 10 feet category with motorcycles...ha ha ha.

Just

2008-05-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say I am still alive. Went to NYC, had a beautiful time. As always. Saw my bro, friends, the Yankees, the ocean, walked all over, and ate a lot of food. And as always I come away wondering why I don't live there. I love the city so much.

Oh, wait, I am moving to the other side of the country. Oh yeah...about that...

Someone asked why I wasn't driving to Seattle to see some of my best friends in the world, and then taking the ferry out of Bellingham to Alaska.

So I kinda got all whimsical and spent the trip home from NYC (11 hours in a car) dreaming of the pretty boat ride. What a nice break from driving. How relaxing. Almost romantic. Maybe I would talk to a guy, also traveling solo. Maybe I would meet my soul mate right there on the boat, someone who also was moving to Anchorage, and we could explore the state together....a girl can dream, right?

The ferry costs $482 for my car.

The ferry costs $353 for me.

And that is just to get me on the boat. A cabin costs another 3 to 4 hundred. Not that I would get one.

So much for the ferry idea. Back to hoping my friends will still camp across Canada with me.

Sigh.