Introduction
This 80 day trip that I want to share with you on
this website could be called: “The Home Exchange Adventure.”
I believe that with an open mind and welcoming homes, all
friendships beyond differences becomes possible. I built my trip around this philosophy
of life: understand differences, build friendships and live with inspiration.
I traveled with the purpose of crossing most of the US and to experience
people’s different lifestyles in each state. I have lived with
more than 50 different families since I arrived in United States and
37 during this 80 day trip. I spent about 1200 hours over these 80 days
with them, crossed more than 33 states and drove over 15 000 miles.
My intention was to share, discover and learn. As J.F. Kennedy said,
"The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.”
This adventurous trip was a way for me to unfold my ignorance about
American culture.
Planning the Trip
I chose the towns I visited by first taking into account
the places that you always hear about abroad. The famous places like
New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago were the first selected
ones. Then, towns that my friends and some American people who travel
often advised me to visit.
Besides that I decided to stop in, at least, one city of each of the
33 states that I crossed in my journey, giving priority to the major
cities and capitals.
I divided my trip into three parts. One was a round trip West - East
through the central-south part of the country, beginning in San Francisco.
Then I made another round trip in the northeast and east coast, beginning
in New York. And finally, I finished crossing back from the northeast
all the way to the west on a northern route.
It was the most comfortable, quickest and cheapest way to plan an itinerary
across the country.
I also took into account the following:
I was traveling with my best Brazilian friend for the first 30 days
of my trip and needed for him to come back to San Francisco after the
first month. After the first two round trips that I made, I had to return
the car back at the same place where I rented it. The plane that I took
between SF and Miami, Miami and NY, NY and Minneapolis, and Chicago
to Denver were among the cheapest flights available in the country.
I wanted to first explore in depth the American West culture (Arizona,
Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas City) from San Francisco to St Louis
(the gateway to the West). Then I wanted to go to the most traditional
and highly industrialized states in the East Coast. The third part,
through the northern states from Minneapolis to Seattle, was the geographical
region I was most blessed to see.
You can see the complete list of my destinations and
how I organized my schedule by clicking here.
Or to take a look at the map that shows my route, click here.
