Endgame

I'm gonna be honest, I always expected my trip to end in a sort of whimper. Not the bad kind of whimper, where I slowly got bored and started to resent the trip. But in the sense that my final adventures during the trip would probably look very similar to every other adventure I had embarked on. I didn't have a big "end of trip party" planned or a crazy idea that would put the rest of trip to shame. And I had come to terms with that concept. Unfortunately for me, my trip didn't end it a whimper, it ended with a bang... And not the good kind of bang.

I was driving through the panhandle of Florida with my sights set on exploring New Orleans. I had had a fulfilling time in Miami and as I cruised on the interstate dreaming about my future adventures, I started to hear a knocking sound coming from my hood. I decided it was definitely in my best interest to pull over, so I threw on my hazards and started to slow on the side of the road. However, as I began pulling over, my car died. Once I was safely out of traffic, I popped the hood to check what was going on. The knocking noise was definitely coming from the area around the serpentine belt and I wasn't gonna try and get the car to an auto shop by myself-especially after the car had just randomly died. After calling a tow guy and getting it towed to an auto shop in Destin, all was revealed. One of the bearing rods in my engine had snapped and the entire engine would need to be replaced if I was gonna get on the road again. Much to my chagrin, it would cost more to replace the engine then it had to buy the car in the first place. After about a day of super hard deliberation and research, I decided that it would be in my best interest to scrap the car and buy a new one in Georgia. Despite the unfavorable circumstances, my grand aunt and uncle, Pat and Rick, were gracious enough to come and help me get all my stuff out of the car in addition to helping me find a new car in Atlanta.

However, despite having such willing and helpful family nearby, deciding to scrap the Forester was one of the hardest decisions I've made on this trip. Not only was it a difficult logistical decision, but it was also a hard emotional one. I'm perfectly aware that my car is an inanimate object and that it doesn't have feelings, but when you spend so much time with something, you begin to project various parts of yourself onto it. I'm pretty sure I'll never be as close to a car as I was to that one. Not only was Jimmie-my 2006 Subaru Forester-my first car, but I practically lived in it. It was my home away from home. All this to say, it really hurt to end up scrapping him. I almost wanted to ask the scrap guy to be nice to him, even though it wouldn't have made any bit of a difference.

Trying to stay postive before the scrap guy arrived

Feeling sad about having to scrap Jimmie-my car

Giving Jimmie one last hug

Even though I was pretty sad about having to give Jimmie up, I also wasn't going to let it ruin me. After all, I needed to focus on getting a new car and getting on the road again. I spent about four days researching and checking out cars. Despite many dashed hopes and shifty car salesman, I did eventually find myself a steed to take me back home and beyond. I ended up buying a 2012 Subaru Outback with about 107,000 miles on it. I'm excited to make new memories with this car and I look forward to the new bond we'll form.

Feeling excited about starting a new relationship with a new car

I feel like this is a good time to give everyone an update on the status of my trip. To put it simply the trip is over. I was already running out of funds and had shortened the trip quite a bit from what was originally planned. Having the car breakdown and dealing with the emotional stress of buying a new one was just the final nail in the coffin. As I write this, I am driving to Arizona to get the car registered there. Once it's registered, I'm going to spend some time in Washington with family to catch my breath, before attending NAU during the Fall 2026 Semester. While I am technically still on a road trip and still "exploring" the states, the end is basically here.

I never wanted my trip to end like this, but it was always a possibility in the back on my mind. This will not be my last blog post. I intend to write a restrospective of sorts to close out my blog. However, I realized it's been quite a long time since my last post and many of you are probably curious about my prolonged absence. I hope you stick around for my final post, but regardless, I'm still so glad that you tagged along on this momentus journey with me up to this point. For that, I am forever grateful.

Note: I really can't express in words how grateful I am that Pat and Rick were willing to come pick me up and to offer their home to me while I looked at cars in Atlanta. It's times like these you're really grateful for family. And even though sometimes they might drive you crazy and you might take them for granted, it's important that you're there for them in their darkest hour just as they were there for you in yours.