As time passed – a whole lot quicker than I wanted it to – I realized it was now or never. If I was going to travel and see more of the world, something had to change. Interestingly, that change came about with the help of an outsourced job and a severance package.

And the road trip I mentioned.

With the extra money I received from my severance package, my daughter and I set out on a cross-country, 6,680 mile road trip across the United States. Camping along the way from Georgia to California, we visited 15 states, 9 national parks and 1 state park. We decided on that trip that we wanted to travel more so we we came up with a plan.

Since my daughter was entering her last year of high school, she knew it was just a matter of time before she would be attending college and adulting too. We decided to make a list of all the places we wanted to go in the next five years. Let me tell you, it was a way overambitious list but it was what we needed to get the ball rolling on our travel goals.

After the outsourcing fiasco, I worked a remote job – before they were cool I might add – and since I worked on quarterly assignments, I was able to travel between those assignments when I finished early. Then, once my daughter moved away to college, I started traveling solo. I’d already been traveling alone for work so why not for fun too?

Even though we ultimately didn’t get to do everything on our list, it was still a win. Our first road trip gave us a starting place. We proactively put our idea on paper and worked towards a goal. Despite our adult responsibilities, we have managed to complete several more cross-country road trips together and just marked off Alaska and three national parks together in 2024.

Besides the travel plan, there were some personal goals on the list as well. I’ve always been a travel guidebook reader, obsessive note taker and trip planner. Talking about and planning a trip is almost as good as going on one. One of my goals was to start a blog. If you are reading this now, well, you know, I have a blog. I’ve also recently added the role of travel advisor to my resume so now I can plan trips for other travelers.

In the few short years since I’ve had my website, I’ve taken some epic road trips and woken up to some gorgeous views from my tent. I’ve been able to cross even more places off my bucket list. I’ve danced salsa in Cuba, saw the northern lights in Iceland and swam with whale sharks in Baja.

And all that travel didn’t just change me. After visiting so many national parks together, my daughter now works for the National Park Service at a rather large western park. I couldn’t be more proud of her. The time spent together road tripping was priceless and I still drive cross-country to visit her all the time, until hopefully, I go west permanently.

In this crazy busy world, I know there are plenty of people out there just like me. People that have lives, kids and other responsibilities and can’t quit their jobs to travel. There are families with tight budgets that want to take vacations. There are women who want to travel solo but aren’t quite sure how to start. Southerner Says is my way of helping you travel and adventure despite all those things. I did it and you can do it too!

So what’s next? Well, more travel and road trips, of course! I’m not a full-time traveler so when I’m at home, I’m busy planning more travel and plotting out an ever changing five year plan that includes maybe a podcast, leading a group tour to Iceland and a Baja or Alaska road trip. Who knows where I’ll go. After all, I have to live up to that middle initial.