Washington Park

The home stretch is upon me after cutting the trip two weeks short.

Why did we cut the trip short? Nothing to do with the success of the trip and meetings. We just quickly realized that this time of the year is going to be extremely difficult to get meetings with the STEM Van. End of the year and first week of summer is a busy one for administration and teachers at schools so we opted to reschedule this portion of the trip.

The bad news: I’m missing some opps in D.C., Maryland, NJ, and NY.

The good news: I get to head home a bit early after logging over 10,000 miles, staying at 29 hotels, and having 38 meetings. It’s been a heck of a trip thus far.

The recap of the last two weeks. I ended up all over Florida, from Orlando, to Boynton Beach, to Tampa, to Naples, to Sanford. Lots of phenomenal meetings and some great relaxation by the beach time. I probably spent over 2 hours just laying in the ocean during my time in florida. This part of the trip was the best I’ve felt.

It was quickly followed by Memorial Day weekend in Charleston, one of the hardest weekends of the trip thus far. I woke up Friday Memorial Day weekend with a mission to make it back to San Diego for my buddies bday. I was still in Jacksonville Florida for a morning meeting but I figured out all the logistics to make it happen. It felt real. Then I hit two road bumps that had to do with my hotel not being refundable for any reason and the van not having the correct parking at Charleston international airport (it doesn’t fit into garages-too tall). Long story short, I stayed in Charleston. Albeit it being a fun weekend of exploration, great food, beaches, and meeting some new people, I was super bummed to see all my friends having a weekend “for the books.” I was home sick all weekend, but I reminded myself that I’m on this mission for a reason, to enjoy it and explore cause it’s only temporary.

Back to Charleston. If you haven’t been, it’s a beautiful city. The food was phenomenal, some of the best I’ve had on the road. The houses were charming, the downtown scene was hoppin, and the historical landmarks were incredible. This city has a lot to offer and there are so many things to do. Someone connected me with a group of friends that live in Charleston so I was able to meet up with them, socialize, and hear about some of the local things to do which helped guide my experience there. All in all, I’ll be back.

So as I’m hitting the home stretch of this trip, a lot of feelings are coming to the surface. On one side of the coin, I’m incredibly proud of how much I’ve accomplished in such a short time. This idea I had completely came to life. All it took was some
manifestation, a vision, and some perseverance to bring it to the finish line. On the other hand, I feel a bit like it’s unfinished because Im not going to be completing the entirety of the trip. BUT, I learned a lot and I think the next versions of these trip will be much different.

Peace out for now. Final recap post to come.Read more