The Epic Amazing Adventure Road Trip

It started as a simple road trip. Head from Houston to Portland, Oregon. Attend the World Domination Summit. Visit family in Seattle, then head to Denver to drop off my car, fly to Chicago to speak at BlogHer, back to Denver to help teach at the Team-X Fight Club, and then head home.

Then while on the road to Portland, I discovered that Crater Lake is in Oregon, and we were going to be there just in time for there to be no moon. PERFECT for night photography of the Milky Way. A long time item on my Life List.

I had to make it happen. We purchased camping gear in Portland. Before I knew it, everything changed. Including all of my plans.

I ended up being gone from Houston for over 4 months. I drove over 19,000 miles. I visited 15 states, plus 2 Canadian provinces. 12 National Parks. People ask me where all I went, and I joke that it might be easier to list off where all I didn’t go. I did not go to the Grand Canyon. Or the National Parks in Utah. Next time. Yes, there will be a next time.

Mike, my husband, was with me for portions of the journey. The first two & a half weeks up until Seattle. Again for a week in North Dakota, where my son & my parents were with us as well. A week in Calgary (the photo above is from our trip to Moraine Lake in Banff while we were there). Another week for my birthday at Grand Teton & Yellowstone.

I learned a lot about myself in the thousands of miles that I drove alone. Camping at the various National Parks. Visiting friends across the country. Photography sessions with many fantastic women. Most of all as my BFF Stephanie & I worked together while I was in Calgary and launched Vivid & Brave, a coaching program for creative women who want to rediscover their voice. Our first round of graduates from the group coaching program just wrapped up today, and it was nothing short of incredible. AMAZING.

I’ve chronicled some of the journey on my personal blog, Avenger of Sexiness, in case you are interested. I will be writing more as I make my way through the thousands and thousands of photos that I took.

I hit the ground running when I returned to Houston with a number of boudoir sessions. I can’t wait for Christmas to come and go so I can share some of the amazingness with you!

Now it is time to prepare for the new year ahead, and the new adventures that await. I’d like to invite you to join Stephanie & I as we share our Countdown to 2014 journal prompts to help you get ready for the year ahead. You can find the whole series on the Vivid & Brave blog. Be sure to enter to win our favorite journaling things as well!