On The Road With Fastfreta...How I'm Doing It

If you've followed me up to this point,(I Lost My Home To Foreclosure, On The Road With Fastfreta, etc.) then you know what I'm doing. If not, let me explain. I'm taking this opportunity to travel across country to visit friends and family, also to stop in cities that I've either never been in, or ones that I'd not spent a lot of time in. I'm doing this all by Amtrak, riding the rails, as it were.

My desire, since I'm "homeless," (not really), is to do this for one year, then decide what I want to do, and actually where I want to stay for awhile. I've had several offers along the way for permanent residences Incidentally, I'm loving this. I never dreamed for one minute of my life that I'd get a chance to do this, now that I have the chance, I'm taking full advantage of it. Being naturally gregarious, this is not a hard thing for me, because I never meet a stranger, I do meet strange people, but they're still not strangers to me, unless they prefer it that way, (smile).

It never occured to me to explain anything about my methods, but a question was put to me recently that gave me pause. My cousin asked me did I win the lottery, she asked this because of the extensiveness of my travels. Oh, believe me I didn't take offense. In addition I've met, or talked to many that said they wished they could do what I'm doing. I'd like to explain how you can do it too.

First of all, no I didn't win the lottery, I don't even play. No, I'm not independently wealthy, in fact I have no money. I didn't lose my home to foreclosure so that I could save for this adventure, I lost it because I lost everything, materially. By that I mean I lost my business, which was my sole support. (Go back and read, "I Lost My Home To Foreclosure," for a full explanation). Wait, now don't feel sorry for me, that's not the purpose of this article. No Debbie Downers, only Positive Pete's here. As a matter of fact I'm quite proud of myself for my ability, determination, tenacity, to embark upon, and sticking with my dream, without allowing any hindrances. OOPS, almost broke my arm, patting myself on the back, LOL! Let me not act as if I've done this by myself. Thanks to the love and generosity of my family and friends, I am still on my journey. No, I don't ask, and don't really want to accept financial help, but they insist, so I am very grateful for what I get. Being on the receiving end doesn't feel as good as the giving end, for me, but I'm sure others are experiencing what I've felt for so long It's being proven over and over again, that as the Bible says you reap what you sow. Yikes, I'm dwelling to long in this valley. Back to the mountain,

Let's get back to how I'm doing this. First I've been fortunate enough to have made lasting friends, and I also have family around the country. A lot of my friends have moved from California to other parts of the country. So, that's my lodging. I'm learning very quickly to be thrifty, which is something that I've not been in the past. Now, I don't foist myself off on my friends, and family. I ask well in advance, and all are glad to have me visit, as I've not visited them before. The key is not to stay too long in one place, and don't take advantage of their hospitality. Another thing is don't act like a guess, meaning don't sit around waiting to be waited on, take the initiative to be helpful, if you're allowed. However, some will insist you act like company, well go ahead and do that, you don't want to offend.

Since I plan to do this for awhile, I'll learn more economic ways of doing it, so along the way, I'll share them, through future articles. There are already very good articles on the Internet with advice on traveling on a budget, so I must read, and apply, the ones that are beneficial.

As I stated in the outset, I'm traveling by Amtrak train. I buy what is called a "Rail Pass." The passes come in three increments. 15 day, 8 segments, 30 day, 12 segments, and 45 day, 15 segments. When you buy the pass you're free to travel within the allotted time and make the allowed stop, (segments), anywhere within the U.S.A. The segments are the times you board a train, and your countdown begins on the first day of travel. So 15, 30, or 45 days from the time you board your first train you must board your last train, 15, 30, or 45 days later. So just think I covered my first major stops, (On The Road With Fastfreta...etc), with sightseeing in between in 30 days, using the 30 day pass. I had to purchase my second pass to complete this part of my adventure, which you'll be reading about later. The cost of each is as follows, $389.00 for the 15 day pass, $579.00, 30 day, and $749.00 for the 45 day one. So you can see it's quite inexpensive to travel this way, I might just never settle down, LOL! In case you didn't know, I traveled from California, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in that 30 day span of time. I also spent a day in Chicago, and Washington, DC, actually 3 days in DC.

You don't have to be rich, or even comfortable financially to do what I'm doing. I wouldn't even say you have to be adventurous. However, I do think you need a dream, determination, and tenacity. Perhaps you might need a little push, in the form of a mishap or two, who knows. Anyway, it's not as hard, or difficult as it might sound, as the commercial says, you just have to do it. I don't want to make this sound like a cake walk, to be sure, this is not for everyone. However, those of you who have no, or little trepidations about traveling alone, why don't you just put this on your Bucket List. You don't have to be as reckless, or fearless, however you want to look at it, as I am, save for it, make long range plans, maybe even do it with a buddy. Whatever you do, don't sit around dreaming about what you'd like to do in life, make it happen.

So, keep up with me. I'm finishing the first part of my adventure in a few weeks from now, but it's by no means the end. I'll give information about my future plans in later articles. My plans are to spend one year living this carefree life, if possible, we shall see.

STAY TUNED! MORE TO COME!