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My decisions, goals and plans (lots of reading)
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My name is Shannon I am 28 years old with some vision and hearing as well as walking disabilities. I've lived in Oregon since I was 13 years old and began living in Oregon since 1993 after living and being raised in California in the East Bay Area (Hayward, Fremont, San Lorenzo).
I have always wanted to see places, travel, it was a dream and I am inches from it finally (well I could have done it if I really took the inititive but I had always thought we couldn't afford it and at some points it was true). I love aviation, no doubt about it, airplanes are my thing. I also liked the railroad, and I realize the railroad of the 1900s vs today's railroad is nothing like it but that doesn't detract from the possibilities of scenery and sometimes cheap & comfortable way to get from point A to point B (although some city pairs are just as costly as airfare if not more which is why I am going to fly to my starting point for several reasons (see below).
I began to taste traveling solo when I was 17, before that I've gone on family trips when we lived in California we'd go to Olympia, Seattle, Arizona, Hawaii too. I lived in Salem Oregon and Vancouver Washington before I ever got my own license to drive and frequented Greyhound and Amtrak to take me up and down the I-5 corridor to my hometown or to various other places along I-5.
When I was 17 I went to the Hellen Keller National Center for a two week conference, I got to see NYC on my first and only weekend there. Yes I went solo, I was flown from Medford to Portland then to Seattle then on direct to JFK when I arrived I was met by a "landing party" as they would call it on the other end so it wasn't like I had to do anything but sit on the airplane all day long and hang out for two weeks as they did everything for you.
A year later I would go to the east coast once again only because I said I would go with a friend and then I was going to fly back with her but my plans kinda changed a bit as my mom had wanted me to fly my cousins home (they were pretty little then too) so I got to ride my longest and last long haul Greyhound ride from Pensacola all the way to Richmond, Virginia where I would meet my 1st cousin whom was stationed at St Petersburg and was leaving a month after I flew her kids home along with her two crazy cats. While I was in Virgina I got to see quite a bit of Washington DC not the way I would have done it but I got to see it and another day Williamsburg and another day Virgina Beach. So again, I never had to do any travel planning as my cousin was supposed to be our guide but she kept putting it off so we ended up only doing 3 1/2 days worth of sightseeing before having to go home in the 6 total days we were there and so I wasn't impressed and I highly doubt I will go see Washington DC again as I have pretty much seen most of the major stuff such as Smithonian, Jefferson Monument, the monument near Dulles (I think?) and of course all day at Williamsburg.
This is my first time trekking completely on my own and having to do ALL the research myself and I think that doing it yourself and doing it fairly well makes it rewarding for you as a trekking traveler. I obviously haven't really planned February but I've guessimated what I'd like to do during that month so that I'm not totally clueless about it halfway into January and scrambling to plan it before it happens.
DECISIONS DECISIONS DECISIONS... (ay how tiring this can get)
I have researched rental cars, airfare, rail fares, bus fares, city transit and city to city transportation where it works and where it doesn't. My initial 30 day budget came out slightly higher than I initially thought, but it was still within the figures I had guestimated but it doesn't stop there.
I don't know how to ascertain the cost of doing campervan/small RV traveling nonetheless I thought it was actually MORE headache because A) you have to drive it yourself thus you are required to be alert and its JUST you (unless you have others tagging along with you) and B) if you want to get somewhere FAST well, an RV isn't exactly going to work unless you can make it fly! And if I was going to have an RV my dog was coming with me, while this isn't exactly a good idea but no harm done either if I did bring her (she is a darling, I know what many will say... it'll get hot in some places and I agree that this is NOT good for the dog to be holed up in the RV on hot days but I don't see why I couldn't hook up to power at a camp and run the A/C full blast and she'd have bowls of water (or run the generator) and I can just see heaps of problems with this and it was just not worth the attachment headache.
So the RV/Campervan idea is out the window and I'm not considering it unless I can rent one for a small area (like Maine, Penn, Mass, Deleware, etc) for a short time then its worth it IMHO or I travel to another country where a campervan/small RV is worthwhile to purchase/rent what have you.
So what have I actually decided? Well as I said I love airplanes and trains so lets get those details down:
A) Amtrak railfare was $296 for one way from Portland, OR (no service available from where I live for this type of itinerary) so this meant I had to drive to the station 4.5 hours away so adding more cost to my trip for fuel and meals; oh and MEALS the train ride is about 2 1/2-3.5 days the average COST per meal is $15/day on the train as its SO expensive... oh yeah lets not go there. So the initial train trip is out of the question.
B) Greyhound wanted $239 out of Medford one way to Pensacola again about 2 1/2 to 3 days worth of traveling and you know convienence foods/fast foods will just skyrocket your budget again with the average meal being $15/day alas cheaper than Amtrak overall... I can't stand to sleep on the bus or the smelly toilets (Amtrak too, I don't get it their stuff breaks all the time! I've been on Amtrak more than I care to have been on and don't get me wrong I like Amtrak but I'm only sticking with them on day trips now).
C) Airfare is only $281 one way out of Medford with stops in Seattle and Atlanta before finally landing in Pensacola. This would be an early morning flight out, getting in at the end of the day at 9:30pm so there would be not much to see/do that day as that day is pretty much gone. This seems to be the BEST option, as I only spend one day getting there and my meal costs are exponentially LESS!!! And I save a lot more time getting there but that wasn't my deciding factor or even a factor at all, and besides I like flying!!! So I really really really would prefer this option and further down into my trip I can fly to any other points in my trip as I need to without having to hassle with either driving to where I want to go or finding a place to stash a vehicle and then have to go retrieve it later which is silly if you ask me.
Since I am new to the couchsurfing idea and I have no arrangements for a couch yet as its probably too early at the moment AND to be considerate to the CSers I have planned for a hotel for the first 1-3 days while I am there and possibly could get a couch for the other 1-3 days that I am there before moving on, my goal isn't to suck off CS hosts at all and would ask very little of them and if they want to offer more well I tend to resist the take action (being given to me) but I do have a problem with saying no when someone takes from me (I give instead) and I tend to give anyway.
So here are my hotel ideas/plans hopefully not much will change in November when I go to book it to secure decent rates.
Where am I staying??
I was actually planning on staying at the Travelodge at 6950 Pensacola Blvd for $46.75+tax per night and unfortunately they do not offer airport shuttle service which isn't horrible as I can get a taxi or some other airport shuttle as I don't think the city bus does pickups at 10pm (by the time I get my baggage it'll be that late). This hotel will be $172.86 for 3 nights and checking out on the 4th day assuming I have found a CS host if not I will stay there hopefully they'll continue to offer that rate or I will have finished visiting Pensacola.
If things don't materialize as much as I want them to I do have a solid 30 day hotel budget for $1,300 total as it is critically important I have a place to stay. Shelter and food is the utmost priority, food I can live without a day or two if I REALLY had to although I won't foresee that problem (if hell breaks lose, I just jump ship and head home).
Where will I eat??
Well I certainly don't want to eat out everyday or I'll gain too much weight so I will succumb to continental breakfast (if I ever get up early enough on some days) or I'll chomp down on some cereal and for lunches I'll either have a home made sandwhich (made by me) or I'll find some place extremely cheap (costco is cheap, very fattening though :(). Of course when a CS host invites me I will eat home foods and supply them with foods so not to eat all their food products so there is also another cost saving factor there as well.
Getting Around...
This is still going to be a fair challenge due to my limited walking ability, although the idea is to be relatively more active than I am right now at home (I weigh 180lbs and I should be weighing closer to 130lbs) so I'm hoping the massive 50lb drop over time will alleviate the pressure on my feet though that problem has been there for quite some time now even before I gained weight and I know its not going to go away but losing 50lbs will increase my mobility significantly and the stregnthening of my lower legs will help with that as well.
Quite the fuss and toss up as to how I will really get around and how I want to get around is quite another matter and the campervan/RV option was one consideration in helping me get around but basically I'd be driving a full size van with an extended top/side (not a full size RV, just an oversized van) so naturally larger vehicles are harder to negotiate when parking or turning and to be honest with you why drive when traveling when you're going by yourself anyway??? Its more responsibility, more work and hassles and most of all liability.
For the things I want to see that are on city bus routes I'd just take the bus its only $1.75 per trip with a 2 hour transfer ticket so I can change busses without paying again if need be or if I end up seeing what I want to see in less than 2hrs so I can head to my next destination. If the bus can't get me within 2-3 blocks (reasonably sized blocks, not big long city blocks) then I'm happy, if not I will still take the bus to get me close then call a taxi to get me the rest of the way for $3-$5 more I think thats reasonable and not outrageous means of getting around.
I saw there are several state parks near Pensacola, they look pretty cool in fact there is a state park some distance aways I believe near Marianna where the Florida Caverens state park is the only way to get to it is via rental car and there is no Greyhound service to Marianna so naturally I will be driving a car that way; However state parks in Florida if I take a day or two in a row to visit them I can use a rental for a couple days which is reasonable too.
Once I want to get to the next city, thats not that hard really the only drawback is I can't go whenever I want I have to go when it is available so that means Greyhound, some destinations are only served once a day and there are no Amtrak service either. As I mentioned earlier, Marianna does not have Greyhound service so I know I will rent a car to get to that area of interest.
I have reserved approximately $40 city bus fares for the first month, $75 for Greyhound intercity service and approximately $465 for car rentals for the month.
The budget after all primary expenses are reserved:
My monthly budget will be approximately $2,000-$3,000/month all the above expenses shown above will leave me around $1,100 and that does not include food or gasoline for rental car use which I am going to guess will be $250 alone for gasoline for the month with an approximate $200 food budget to include going out to eat once a week roughly. This still leaves me with $650 for things to see and do AND of course this reserve can be dipped into to cover city bus, Greyhound, rental car/gasoline and of course food/lodging as needed.
What I want to see:
There are quite a few things I'd like to check out and most of them seem to be museums and state parks around Pensacola and I know there are other things nearby but they don't really interest me that much. Some of the things I don't really care for are: fishing, beaching (although I may go swim in the gulf a couple times just to say that I've swam in the gulf as I haven't swam in the gulf before) and I'd like to do some snorkeling in the reefs (the last time I did oceanic snorkeling was back in Hawaii when I was 11). I'm curious about doing SCUBA diving, but I see a couple problems with this: A) you have to be licensed, which requires training and thus costs a fortune B) I've had an unsual go at ear infections this past year, and once in a great blue moon I seem to have higher levels of moisture/discharge than usual and it isn't even infectious and C) I can't wear glasses for diving or the mask seal won't work so my vision is EXTREMELY reduced and this doesn't bother me with snorkeling as I'm partially sumberged so seeing things isn't really a major concern in that aspect.
I saw that I can rent a ski-doo/Jetski for the day, but I'm not exactly sure why/what for??? I haven't seen any company offer ocean kayaking (which is what I've always wanted to do!) tours or individual rentals. I have though seen MANY companies offering river kayaking and river tours as well as airboat excursions. While I haven't done any river kayaking before I may do that later on at some point as it doesn't really appeal to me right now; although I have been on white water rafting trips/excurions a few times and again it doesn't appeal to me anymore and I potentially want to do white water kayaking down the river someday too.
So I have some research to do when I get to the panhandle because I'd REALLY like to do kayaking out on the ocean along the coast if there is anything worth seeing other than Fort Pickens (I think thats too far for a solo Kayak?). I understand that Ft Pickens is boat only access and requires a hike in if you're going to camp or see it on land which is lame and I don't plan on getting out of my boat.
What do I intend to see other than the possibilities mentioned above ^^?
Well my first night I won't bother doing anything, I'll probably be too tired to even care. The first morning there I'll HOPE to get breakfast (if not, I'll scavenge the trash cans... j/k!!! Nah I'll just go get Mckey D's) and find out if the hotel has any literatures on attractions and city bus information (I can always call/look it up) as I'd like to do a general tour of the city, find a grocery store grab some basic grocery (milk, bread, cheese, lunchmeat, cereal and pepsi/water/juice) then haul ass back to the hotel refrigerate what needs to be refrigerated as you know their dingy little fridges hold barely anything. I'll probably hang out at the hotel the rest of the day doing more research/planning, chatting and if I can meet a CSer somewhere and then go out for the night life on the city bus/walk a bit and I'll probably be out late enough to need a taxi to get back to the hotel unfortunately.
Day two will probably consist of getting to a museum or two if I'm lucky three, Day three I'd like to plan on going to a museum or two (depends on how much I get done the day before) and go swimming or at least go find out about snorkeling and ocean kayaking and meet up with a CSer and for Day four I'd like to swim/snorkel/ocean kayak and possibly meet up with a CSer Day five I'd like to check out Gulf Breeze and go see state parks and such just to check them out (this is the day I'd have to rent a car to get to the parks). Day 6 I'd probably be wrapping things up to get ready to move to the next city and see anything I missed and finally Day 7 I'd only have a few hours so I'd want to make sure everything is set and then I'd get a taxi to take me to the Greyhound station so I can go to Ft Walton Beach at that point.
Where I stayed:
My house!
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