“I planned this road trip last summer with some friends from NYC. The group of friends I was going with are all from Europe, and the original plan was to drive across Route 66. But as we kept planning the trip, it quickly became apparent that they were more interested in the idea of Route 66, rather than the actual road trip. I think we ended up going through four or five different routes before settling on one that worked for everyone.

We flew into Vegas and then made our way into California — we went from Sequoia National Park to Yosemite, over to San Francisco and then up to Napa Valley before finally driving down the coast to San Diego. I grew up in southern California so it was a really cool experience to show my friends the things that make my home state special, especially because it was all completely new to them.

Before the trip, one of my friends had asked me if I was a mountain or an ocean person. I was totally confused — both have always appealed to me. But once we were on the road trip and we were going from mountain to desert to ocean, I definitely began to understand that each of us had a definite preference for ocean or mountain. We got excited like little kids whenever we were in our “zone,” and one of the best parts about the trip was seeing my companions’ faces light up when they felt at home. Two of us were “oceans” and two of us were “mountains.” By the way, turns out that I’m an ocean…

My absolute favorite part of the trip and a memory I hold very dear to my heart was in Big Sur. If you’ve never been, add Big Sur to the top of your bucket list because it’s one of those magical places where the ocean meets the mountains and both sides come together to exist in complete bliss…We ended up leaving later than we had originally planned, which meant that we were driving on these loopy, windy roads in the dark…in an RV, no less! We were all tired and ready to get to our destination, but then my friend suddenly shouted out for us to stop. “Look out! Look UP! The STARS!!” 

We pulled over as quickly as we could and we all rushed out of the RV and ended up standing next to each other in silence and complete awe… 

I don’t know that I have ever felt so content, and at peace. Being there with them and feeling so connected and also so small at the same time really hit home with me. The only way I could describe it is to say I felt infinite…Out of everything I always worry about, I realized that none of that really matters. There are so many options and paths you can take, and no choice is ever “wrong.” We have so much potential and we just have to choose it…”

 – Kelley Louise // @kelleytravels