Here's How I spent my Winter Road Trip

Alright, enough procrastinating! I’ve been meaning to get this post up before I elaborate too much on life in Los Angeles, you know, for continuity’s sake. Los Angeles, however, has consumed a lot of my free time recently so that should explain (or at least be an excuse to get me out of) the lack of posting here over the past two weeks. But without any further ado: Here’s How I Spent my Winter Road Trip

First, some fun facts:

• Total distance traveled from Philadelphia to LA: 2722mi

• Total drive time: 42 hours, non-consecutive

• Average speed w/ traffic: 65mph

• Estimated average speed: 85mph

• Gallons of gas purchased: 113.21

• Average price of gas: $1.90/gal

• Miles per gallon: 24mpg

• Total cost on the road: $729.92

  • Gas: $216.21

  • Food: $40.93

  • Motel: $455.78

  • Tolls/Parking: $17

• Total time on the road: 5 days

In retrospect of my decision to drive out instead of fly out, driving was definitely worth the extra time investment (and also saved me on the money side of things). When I started to ask people how I should route my drive most suggested I take my time and not power through the trip, and instead use my extra time to pull off the highway occasionally and see some of the diversity throughout this country of ours. Because I was traveling for work and, after a point, would want to break up the monotony of the drive, I decided to blast through the long in-between stretches of the trip and take my time when traveling through areas with more to experience. As it turns out however, The United States of America features a heck of a lot of open roads and not a lot of substance in the middle (not Middle America, per se, I mean the distance between Point A and Point B). Any cursory reading of any map could probably tell you this information, but experiencing it all first hand really gives you an appreciation for it.

The coolest state to drive through was Arizona thanks to the Rocky mountains, vast stretches of desert, and unexpected collections of green wooded national forests. The least interesting state to drive through was probably Oklahoma (sorry Oklahoma your large McDonalds/Welcome Center did not impress me). If you haven’t heard, OK’s reputation as being flat is entirely accurate. You can drive the fastest through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Also in California, but driving in California is another story altogether.

So far, my time here has been spent unpacking in a slow orderly fashion and seeing friends I have not hung around with since college. I would talk more about my struggles to find a place to live and a job interview, but on my second day here I toured a sublet room in a house I found on Craigslist and liked it enough to sign into the lease, and just as well, i lined up a job with a small production company in the valley before making the move out to California.

Of course Christmas and New Years are right around the corner, which means everyone is about to embark on their holiday travel and much of the industry has begun to spin down until after the champagne bottles have been popped, so I’ve had a bit of unexpected but welcomed downtime on my hands. I won’t even begin my job until the third week of January, but there are many post-New Year’s plans being devised, quite a bit of activity to keep me occupied in this brand new city of mine.

As for the job, I will be working for a post-production company and design house called The Refinery as a Production Assistant, working with an Assistant Editor whose most recent cuts include a 90-minute Jonas Brothers TV special for Disney. Pretty thrilling, I know, but I’m excited nonetheless (and at least it’s not reality TV!).

Here’s to my first balmy winter holiday in Los Angeles, the lack of snow might be a little unnerving but the sunshine and beaches should help me get through it all.