Something that I continually find interesting to observe is how many professionals completely miss the mark with web 2.0, and using the web in general as a marketing tool. I have seen it many times in many places where technology is completely misused or underutilized by seemingly smart people.
The latest example is at the restaurant I work at. It is located in the middle of a high density commercial area of the city, surrounded by office skyscrapers. Thus, it does a very good business lunch and cocktail hour business. This restaurant has two clients: tourists, and business people. Thats it. Management at this restaurant has decided that they want this to be a classy, high end outdoor dining option for the denizens of Midtown. Thats fine, the decor can handle it. But they don't treat the business as such. Yesterday, I found feedback cards that we are supposed to put at every table at the end of the meal. These cards include a feedback area, as well as a prompt asking if the guest would like to be notified of future offers and events. This is followed by a space for personal info and an email address.
Knowing the clientèle, and knowing the vision for the space, do you think this fits as a way to promote the restaurant? Absolutely not. Businesses often make the mistake of blindly trying to fit electronic marketing and web 2.0 into their business, even if there is no place for them because it is the hot buzz business thing to do. This restaurant hurts its brand by asking for feedback and creating a mailing list (for events and offers that don't exist, by the way). One, it puts it into the customer's mind that there might be something wrong with their service. Two it isn't what a classy place should be doing. Third, its self selecting in that only a small percentage of people who have positive experiences (and almost all that have negative experiences) will bother with the card.
The only way I can see such a strategy working is to do it in a very focused, targeted way. Only put them at the bar, in order to improve the cocktail hour product. Or only offer them at lunch, building an email list of clients who routinely visit the restaurant for business lunches. Then, use the list to send out an email blast every time the specials change, detailing the new dishes with pictures, descriptions, and maybe highlighting one regular menu item as well. Send these emails at 11:30 on whatever day you choose to send them, and as people begin to think about lunch plans, they are receiving emails from the restaurant showing what they could be having in 30 minutes' time.
The key to marketing isn't to do what everyone else is doing, its to look at your customers and figure out how to reach them the best.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The last couple of months have been eventful, to say the least. Beyond the obvious (throwing my life on its head by quitting my job), I also went to Argentina for two weeks, and pretty much ran from life for as long as possible.
Luckily, all that travel time gave me the free time for some serious soul searching. I spent time looking at what was going on in my life, where it was going, and what I wanted to do with it (this will be a recurring theme right now here, because its a recurring theme in my life.) Between being at school for almost two weeks just before graduation (which brought back a whole host of emotions I didn't really want to deal with.) and being halfway across the world, there was plenty to dwell on. Looking back, I think I could have set up this change much better, but unfortunately I don't know that I had the opportunity. If I could go back, I would change things, but as it stands, i put myself into an unchangable position in March, and I feel like I made the most of a shit situation. Regardless, quitting was the right decision, even if I had nothing to move on to. I have felt better about life more in the last 3 months than I did in the 9 previously, and that in itself is all the evidence I need. I still do question myself sometimes though. I remember the first job I worked at the restaurant, I was bartending a corporate cocktail hour, a company with a contract with my old employer, actually. About halfway through, it hit me
"Holy shit, this was my life." I was sitting behind the bar, and the bar itself almost became a bridge to me. I saw where I was now, but on the other side, I saw people my age trying to make it in the corporate culture (and to their credit, apparently doing a better job than me). It shook me though, because on the outside it looks like I took such a step backwards. I know it isn't so, but its still hard to explain to, well, anyone else.
Luckily, all that travel time gave me the free time for some serious soul searching. I spent time looking at what was going on in my life, where it was going, and what I wanted to do with it (this will be a recurring theme right now here, because its a recurring theme in my life.) Between being at school for almost two weeks just before graduation (which brought back a whole host of emotions I didn't really want to deal with.) and being halfway across the world, there was plenty to dwell on. Looking back, I think I could have set up this change much better, but unfortunately I don't know that I had the opportunity. If I could go back, I would change things, but as it stands, i put myself into an unchangable position in March, and I feel like I made the most of a shit situation. Regardless, quitting was the right decision, even if I had nothing to move on to. I have felt better about life more in the last 3 months than I did in the 9 previously, and that in itself is all the evidence I need. I still do question myself sometimes though. I remember the first job I worked at the restaurant, I was bartending a corporate cocktail hour, a company with a contract with my old employer, actually. About halfway through, it hit me
"Holy shit, this was my life." I was sitting behind the bar, and the bar itself almost became a bridge to me. I saw where I was now, but on the other side, I saw people my age trying to make it in the corporate culture (and to their credit, apparently doing a better job than me). It shook me though, because on the outside it looks like I took such a step backwards. I know it isn't so, but its still hard to explain to, well, anyone else.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I'm Back....Again
So. After a long (and eventful) two months off, a lot has changed in my life. I have started a new job to make ends meet (waiting tables) and have two waiting in the wings that will hopefully provide the opportunities I am looking for. Unfortunately, as with all things, no plan survives its own implementation. Things are taking slower to develop than I had hoped, partially because of me, and partially because of the situation.
I am slowly trying to instill the self-discipline in myself it will take to make this work. The path of least resistance is very tempting, but it will take me no place I want to be. Its easy to get home from work, do some reading, play some video games, go to sleep, and sleep in the next day, only to repeat the process. What that will lead to is wasted time in a dead end job that will do nothing to further what I want to accomplish. The time has come for me to force the change upon myself. I have to take the little time I have, and apply it to the things I need to devote it to. Only then will I get where I want to be.
The best and worst part of starting your own business is that you are your own boss. In my case, I am seeing the worst of it right now, as I try to motivate myself to do all the legwork required to get this started. It doesn't help that my two associates have things keeping them busy in their own lives, so they are ok with this going on the back burner for now. If this moves forward now, it moves forward because of me. Hopefully my schedule won't be as strenuous next week at the restaurant, also it will be less so once I have days off to coach (a 3 hour commitment instead of 9, like the restaurant), and I will be able to devote time to both leisure and working on the business plan of LP. Until then though, leisure needs to take a back seat. Let's hope I can do it.
Coming next: I'll write about what went on the last two months, and why I was lazy about doing this. There may even be some introspection involved.
I am slowly trying to instill the self-discipline in myself it will take to make this work. The path of least resistance is very tempting, but it will take me no place I want to be. Its easy to get home from work, do some reading, play some video games, go to sleep, and sleep in the next day, only to repeat the process. What that will lead to is wasted time in a dead end job that will do nothing to further what I want to accomplish. The time has come for me to force the change upon myself. I have to take the little time I have, and apply it to the things I need to devote it to. Only then will I get where I want to be.
The best and worst part of starting your own business is that you are your own boss. In my case, I am seeing the worst of it right now, as I try to motivate myself to do all the legwork required to get this started. It doesn't help that my two associates have things keeping them busy in their own lives, so they are ok with this going on the back burner for now. If this moves forward now, it moves forward because of me. Hopefully my schedule won't be as strenuous next week at the restaurant, also it will be less so once I have days off to coach (a 3 hour commitment instead of 9, like the restaurant), and I will be able to devote time to both leisure and working on the business plan of LP. Until then though, leisure needs to take a back seat. Let's hope I can do it.
Coming next: I'll write about what went on the last two months, and why I was lazy about doing this. There may even be some introspection involved.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thoughts on the present and past
In the past couple of weeks, I have been forced to make some very hard decisions about my life and its direction. Honestly, its scary. I have said this privately to some friends, but once you leave college you don't quite realize that all bets are off. In making these decisions, for the first time I had no prescribed path. Yes, in college you had some degree of choice (major, courses, activities, etc.) but on the whole, you knew that you were on the right path there. Now, ever since I graduated, I have been finding it harder to make major decisions because this is my first time without that prescribed overall path.. Post college, you can truly do whatever you want, whenever you want. Making these kinds of decisions is hard because there is no 100% certainty in any decision, so there will always be lingering doubts, no matter what side you take. Especially when you have no idea what it is exactly that you want to do. Having to take this personal responsibility for everything definitely adds gravity to the decision.
On that note, I think I am also a little bit gun shy about shaking things up in my life right now. My first nine months in NYC were not what I would call successful, which is partially what landed me at this point in the first place. Towards the end of school last year, I think I suffered from a bit of hubris, and now I am paying for it. I made some amazingly stupid decisions, and only now am at the point where I can start to turn things around and achieve a fresh start. I spent a long time up here very unhappy, and it took me a while to reach the point where I realized I had to make changes. Looking back, its amazing how far I had fallen. I had set the goal of an engaging job in an exciting new place, and latched onto it. I held it as my unifying driving factor, ignoring changing circumstances in my life and the effect they might have on the viability of that goal. Then, once I had achieved it, I realized that in fact it was something that wasn’t what I wanted. By putting blinders on, I closed myself off to other opportunities. I was so tuned in to opening myself up to exciting new experiences, that I missed out on many that were closer to home. Ironic that I wound up in New York.
And then, once I reached this bright new world that I assumed I would take by storm (conveniently forgetting the years of work it took to get where I was at school), I realized that everything wasn't quite so easy as I had made it out to be. This quote is from an online novel I read, discussing the characters’ first experiences at college (though I feel like it applies to people in my situation just as well):
“We were so excited to be on our own. Away from the lives we knew, we could finally see who we were without the preconceived notions and expectations that had always been there because of family and friends and all the other people who'd shaped us growing up.”
What I realized is, what happens when you get to that point, see who you are without those preconceived notions, and you don’t like what is left? That is a question I have had to answer, and it is not a fun thing to do. I was in an environment where I no longer had friends and family looking at me through rose-colored glasses, ignoring my flaws. All day, every day, I was now in an environment where the only reflection I saw was through the harsh glare of how strangers saw me. It magnified my personality “quirks”, and forced me to truly confront them for the first time. And it was sink or swim. I could either run away mentally and refuse to admit that I had to start changing myself, or I could take this feedback that I was getting and observing, and do something with it. The combination of having to change the flaws within myself, as well as stopping the behaviours I had picked up along the way that led to my dislike of who I had become has proven to be very hard to handle. And for a long time I just shut down. Over the course of the last couple months I have started to come out of it though, a process greatly aided by the last couple weeks. Now, all I can hope for is the ability to correct as many of those mistakes as I can, leave the regret behind me, and learn from the personal hell that I have subjected myself to.
On that note, I think I am also a little bit gun shy about shaking things up in my life right now. My first nine months in NYC were not what I would call successful, which is partially what landed me at this point in the first place. Towards the end of school last year, I think I suffered from a bit of hubris, and now I am paying for it. I made some amazingly stupid decisions, and only now am at the point where I can start to turn things around and achieve a fresh start. I spent a long time up here very unhappy, and it took me a while to reach the point where I realized I had to make changes. Looking back, its amazing how far I had fallen. I had set the goal of an engaging job in an exciting new place, and latched onto it. I held it as my unifying driving factor, ignoring changing circumstances in my life and the effect they might have on the viability of that goal. Then, once I had achieved it, I realized that in fact it was something that wasn’t what I wanted. By putting blinders on, I closed myself off to other opportunities. I was so tuned in to opening myself up to exciting new experiences, that I missed out on many that were closer to home. Ironic that I wound up in New York.
And then, once I reached this bright new world that I assumed I would take by storm (conveniently forgetting the years of work it took to get where I was at school), I realized that everything wasn't quite so easy as I had made it out to be. This quote is from an online novel I read, discussing the characters’ first experiences at college (though I feel like it applies to people in my situation just as well):
“We were so excited to be on our own. Away from the lives we knew, we could finally see who we were without the preconceived notions and expectations that had always been there because of family and friends and all the other people who'd shaped us growing up.”
What I realized is, what happens when you get to that point, see who you are without those preconceived notions, and you don’t like what is left? That is a question I have had to answer, and it is not a fun thing to do. I was in an environment where I no longer had friends and family looking at me through rose-colored glasses, ignoring my flaws. All day, every day, I was now in an environment where the only reflection I saw was through the harsh glare of how strangers saw me. It magnified my personality “quirks”, and forced me to truly confront them for the first time. And it was sink or swim. I could either run away mentally and refuse to admit that I had to start changing myself, or I could take this feedback that I was getting and observing, and do something with it. The combination of having to change the flaws within myself, as well as stopping the behaviours I had picked up along the way that led to my dislike of who I had become has proven to be very hard to handle. And for a long time I just shut down. Over the course of the last couple months I have started to come out of it though, a process greatly aided by the last couple weeks. Now, all I can hope for is the ability to correct as many of those mistakes as I can, leave the regret behind me, and learn from the personal hell that I have subjected myself to.
Let's Try Again
Looking back over the last 16 or so posts, I realize this has rambled back and forth between stagnancy and proliferation, with no real common line of subjects. I have deleted about half of those, and saved the rest, with the hope of a fresh start in this space. I am going to start this up again to provide myself a place to chronicle my thoughts. Partly because i find myself constantly reading and finding information that I want to retain, but short of taking notes, have no way to organize it all, this will be that place. Also, reading over the posts I did not delete, I am upset I did not keep it up back then. It was worthwhile to read the short ones I have left, if I had done full write-ups on those trips, they would have been absolutely priceless. This is pretty much going to be the place I keep my internal life organized, and a place where I can look back and chart my progress. Towards what I am progressing, I don’t rightly know. I know that I am, and always will be, on the path though. I will let this flow where it will, in the meantime developing my voice, my own processes. I have learned a lot and matured a lot these past few months, but I don’t want to lose those lessons. I know now how easy it is to forget past lessons while caught up in life’s current successes. Let this also stand as my way of reining myself in, constantly reminding myself that the journey is never over, and to never be satisfied with what I have accomplished (more on all that later though).
Lately I have read a lot about how, with the information and content driven business model cropping up everywhere today, where added value is the buzzword, people are beginning to manage themselves as a brand. In the past, that was a much more ethereal concept. Your personal brand was how people thought of you, the network you build, the connections you make in your day to day life. Now, with the proliferation of Web 2.0 and social networking, personal branding has taken on a whole new level of involvement. Through the multitude of options (Twittr, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, et al) each person has the ability to present themselves exactly how they wish, and to network with anyone the world over in the process. Never before was such unfettered access to the haves given to the have nots. For example, through Twittr and blogs, anyone can now interact with Senior level members of Fortune 500 companies. This space, then, is also to serve as my way of keeping all of that together. It will help me keep my online life organized and easy to track. Also, now your resume is not the only thing representing you to prospective employers. I have already seen job postings that specifically ask you to not submit a resume. Rather, they want to see what is in your RSS reader, what you write in your blog, the content you contribute and are capable of creating.
The main purpose of this is internal for me, in that I will use it to track where I have been and what I was thinking. If people enjoy what I write here and share it with others, or want to use it to keep in touch with me, that is wonderful. On the flip side, if everyone who comes across this thinks it is ridiculous and no one ever reads it, I will be just as happy. I make this public as an extra motivation to stay involved with it.
Lately I have read a lot about how, with the information and content driven business model cropping up everywhere today, where added value is the buzzword, people are beginning to manage themselves as a brand. In the past, that was a much more ethereal concept. Your personal brand was how people thought of you, the network you build, the connections you make in your day to day life. Now, with the proliferation of Web 2.0 and social networking, personal branding has taken on a whole new level of involvement. Through the multitude of options (Twittr, Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, et al) each person has the ability to present themselves exactly how they wish, and to network with anyone the world over in the process. Never before was such unfettered access to the haves given to the have nots. For example, through Twittr and blogs, anyone can now interact with Senior level members of Fortune 500 companies. This space, then, is also to serve as my way of keeping all of that together. It will help me keep my online life organized and easy to track. Also, now your resume is not the only thing representing you to prospective employers. I have already seen job postings that specifically ask you to not submit a resume. Rather, they want to see what is in your RSS reader, what you write in your blog, the content you contribute and are capable of creating.
The main purpose of this is internal for me, in that I will use it to track where I have been and what I was thinking. If people enjoy what I write here and share it with others, or want to use it to keep in touch with me, that is wonderful. On the flip side, if everyone who comes across this thinks it is ridiculous and no one ever reads it, I will be just as happy. I make this public as an extra motivation to stay involved with it.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thoughts from the Road PT. 3
So its official: The Trip is now over. I am writing this sitting in my room back at school, back in the dismal reality of New Jersey and College winter. What I would like is some time to reflect on this trip, and what I taught me and showed me. Unfortunately, I spent about a third of the drive doing hw, so that should give you an idea of what my schedule looks like now that I am back. So with the small amount of time that I do have, I’m going to kind of list observations/things I learned, and extrapolate them as time permits.
-Back to my first post on the trip, it is really cool how much smaller the world seems now. I mean, we drove across and back the United States in a week. Not easy, but very fun nonetheless.
-Its interesting that, where most people would have cabin fever from being in a dodge caravan that long, we grew into it. It was our home for 8 days, and we treated it like that (yes, right down to the fact that it was an absolute mess). But we had a routine in the van, it became a nice home away from home for us. We had a sleeping area, food, well, everywhere, a rotation on driving, it was nice. I am almost sad to see it go….almost. Its been a long, strange trip, and I am very happy for the way it played out. We toyed with many variations (number of people, whether or not to take an RV, etc.) but I think we accidentally stumbled upon the best one. Three guys, one van, 6 cities, 6500 miles of road.
-I was thinking the other night, and this in a way is very close to being just as large a culmination of my college career as I could get. Four years ago, driving to Philadelphia would have been taxing, and today, I organized and planned this trip. That’s pretty cool. I had to use a lot of the connections I have made over the years, as well as all of my social competence and ingenuity. Not to say that driving across the country is a laudable achievement, but its kind of cool to think of in the regard of the different skills I used.
-Seeing the evolution of our culture and its roots. Its odd, driving through an area, listening to the radio, etc., you can get a good general feel for an area. Also, if you know the history of an area, you can see how the different regional cultures shaped these cities. Its amazing how every city has such a distinct and unique inherent personality.
- In thinking about my future and where I want to move to, I gradually came to a conclusion as this went on. There is no right answer. I keep looking for the perfect fit and everything, when in reality, I could make any city a perfect fit. I met so many people from so many diverse backgrounds, that it was impossible to not realize that your experience is what you make of it, not what the area makes of it. I met:
-native Chicagoan in san fran
-native LA in san fran
-Native LA in Chicago
-etc.
and all of them were happy. The focus of their happiness wasn’t what their respective new home offered, because they could find what made them happy in any major city. What made them happy was the fact that they were experiencing it all in a new city. I also think that’s what allowed us to get along so well with everyone we hung out with: we shared that same adventurous spirit with them. In all our travels, we may have hung out with 1-3 people that were actually still in the place they grew up. This makes my decision easier (because now there is no pressure to find the perfect place) but harder at the same time (because now its harder to distinguish between which cities I think I will be happier in).
-Over the course of the trip, we hung out with a huge age range of people (19-28). Most of these people were working or going to school in locations that they were not raised in. It was interesting to see how different ages reacted to the shock of being in new areas. One couple we met in Chicago were in their late 20s and had moved there to go to grad school after working in the career world a couple years. They were acclimated so much quicker (it seems) than someone who did it younger. Then again, it could have been because they did the move as a couple, who knows. It was cool to see how different people react to the move that I am planning on doing, and seeing that more than one person goes through the same progression of dealing with it.
-All in all this was an awesomely fun trip. But I didn’t go on this trip to only have fun. I saw this as an amazing learning and maturation experience. I suggest it to anyone. In talking to people on our trip, I realize that I have very slowly and quietly done lots of awesome traveling in the last couple years. I have been to and partied in so many of the biggest cities in America. (LA, SF, Vegas, Memphis, NOLA, Austin, New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, everywhere in between) and driven through dozens more. I have seen the natural climates and landscapes of deserts, mountains, forests, etc. I have seen the way that the entire country lives. And I am only 22. Granted, much of my experience in these cities is limited, but it is still experience. I believe that it is such an enlightening and enriching experience, I love it. I am hooked to the road. My traveling has given me a much wider window on the world, a stronger sense of confidence in myself to survive once I am independent, plus some really good stories.
- Its amazing the worlds you can travel to in a days time. Entire worlds that exist independently of each other. Each city is a microcosm society. It gives you a feeling the scale of things, that you can be somewhere else in a days time starting over.
-Back to my first post on the trip, it is really cool how much smaller the world seems now. I mean, we drove across and back the United States in a week. Not easy, but very fun nonetheless.
-Its interesting that, where most people would have cabin fever from being in a dodge caravan that long, we grew into it. It was our home for 8 days, and we treated it like that (yes, right down to the fact that it was an absolute mess). But we had a routine in the van, it became a nice home away from home for us. We had a sleeping area, food, well, everywhere, a rotation on driving, it was nice. I am almost sad to see it go….almost. Its been a long, strange trip, and I am very happy for the way it played out. We toyed with many variations (number of people, whether or not to take an RV, etc.) but I think we accidentally stumbled upon the best one. Three guys, one van, 6 cities, 6500 miles of road.
-I was thinking the other night, and this in a way is very close to being just as large a culmination of my college career as I could get. Four years ago, driving to Philadelphia would have been taxing, and today, I organized and planned this trip. That’s pretty cool. I had to use a lot of the connections I have made over the years, as well as all of my social competence and ingenuity. Not to say that driving across the country is a laudable achievement, but its kind of cool to think of in the regard of the different skills I used.
-Seeing the evolution of our culture and its roots. Its odd, driving through an area, listening to the radio, etc., you can get a good general feel for an area. Also, if you know the history of an area, you can see how the different regional cultures shaped these cities. Its amazing how every city has such a distinct and unique inherent personality.
- In thinking about my future and where I want to move to, I gradually came to a conclusion as this went on. There is no right answer. I keep looking for the perfect fit and everything, when in reality, I could make any city a perfect fit. I met so many people from so many diverse backgrounds, that it was impossible to not realize that your experience is what you make of it, not what the area makes of it. I met:
-native Chicagoan in san fran
-native LA in san fran
-Native LA in Chicago
-etc.
and all of them were happy. The focus of their happiness wasn’t what their respective new home offered, because they could find what made them happy in any major city. What made them happy was the fact that they were experiencing it all in a new city. I also think that’s what allowed us to get along so well with everyone we hung out with: we shared that same adventurous spirit with them. In all our travels, we may have hung out with 1-3 people that were actually still in the place they grew up. This makes my decision easier (because now there is no pressure to find the perfect place) but harder at the same time (because now its harder to distinguish between which cities I think I will be happier in).
-Over the course of the trip, we hung out with a huge age range of people (19-28). Most of these people were working or going to school in locations that they were not raised in. It was interesting to see how different ages reacted to the shock of being in new areas. One couple we met in Chicago were in their late 20s and had moved there to go to grad school after working in the career world a couple years. They were acclimated so much quicker (it seems) than someone who did it younger. Then again, it could have been because they did the move as a couple, who knows. It was cool to see how different people react to the move that I am planning on doing, and seeing that more than one person goes through the same progression of dealing with it.
-All in all this was an awesomely fun trip. But I didn’t go on this trip to only have fun. I saw this as an amazing learning and maturation experience. I suggest it to anyone. In talking to people on our trip, I realize that I have very slowly and quietly done lots of awesome traveling in the last couple years. I have been to and partied in so many of the biggest cities in America. (LA, SF, Vegas, Memphis, NOLA, Austin, New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, everywhere in between) and driven through dozens more. I have seen the natural climates and landscapes of deserts, mountains, forests, etc. I have seen the way that the entire country lives. And I am only 22. Granted, much of my experience in these cities is limited, but it is still experience. I believe that it is such an enlightening and enriching experience, I love it. I am hooked to the road. My traveling has given me a much wider window on the world, a stronger sense of confidence in myself to survive once I am independent, plus some really good stories.
- Its amazing the worlds you can travel to in a days time. Entire worlds that exist independently of each other. Each city is a microcosm society. It gives you a feeling the scale of things, that you can be somewhere else in a days time starting over.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Thoughts from the Road PT. 1
In looking at why I love road tripping so much, I think I may have stumbled upon it as we left. It makes the world seem smaller. When people talk about other areas of the country, its often with an air in their voices of them being a world away. And when we can say that we have driven to these places, its almost a power trip of sorts, being able to make this huge country that much smaller, just to us. Its very cool to do this, and see all these different places. Yes, I could have gone to a resort, but I don’t see much value in that. I can party and go to the beach for free in the summer, why spend all this money to go? When, on the flipside, I can spend half the money going to all these awesome places, and seeing what this country has to offer. On this trip alone, we plan to go through 20 states. I am going to get to watch the sun set on the pacific, experience St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, South by Southwest in Austin, and driving from LA to San Fransisco along the PCH. For us as well, the driving is a huge part of the fun. The freedom of having nothing but open road in front of you, spending time with your bros, it’s a great feeling. To most sane people, that kind of a trip is not fun. But I don’t see this trip as brief periods of fun, with large blocks of boring driving in between. I see it as 9 days of a great time with the bros. I guess that’s where the disconnect is with people who don’t understand the trip. It seems like half don’t understand it, and half are jealous of it. Oh well. Right now its 7:30 (all times eastern) and we are driving on I-76 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike) between Philly and Lancaster. From here, we are driving out to Harrisburg to I-80, then down to Tennessee on that road. Not many stories to tell right now, both because we are only two hours out, and also because this particular stretch of road (Jersey to Tennessee) we have already driven two times before. When we went down to Texas, we drove to Memphis first, then south. And when we went to New Orleans, we drove down to the middle of Tennessee, then South through Alabama. So this is the boring part. In the coming days, as we cross every climate this country has to offer, I am sure there will be more to write. Check back periodically, because as the trip goes on, I will probably be posting 1-3 updates every time I can have internet access.
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