by Carmen

After months of planning (Yes, months. This trip has caused me more planning than our year abroad.) it was finally time to hit the road.  Packing a van for 6 people to camp across the country proved challenging.  It became apparent that we would not be able to fit everything inside.  A quick call to a friend luckily resulted in a soft rooftop container that we could borrow to contain our 6 sleeping bags and 3 of our sleeping pads.  With careful placement of everything in every available space we were able to fit all our stuff and keep all the seats available for human use as well.

We packed the night before our departure and went to bed.  Our second daughter was away on an Appalachian Service Project and the plan was to meet her group at their final campgrounds before their return to Texas.  The meeting place would be DeGray Lake Resort State Park in Arkadelphia, AR, just west of Little Rock.  Even weeks ahead I had not been able to make a camping reservation at this resort because we would be arriving on 4th of July and everything was booked. Fortunately for our trip, however, that caused me to find the Army Corps of Engineer Campgrounds website that was eventually the source of many of our camping choices.  We found a tent spot at Caddo Drive on the same side of the lake.

Day 1

After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and with all the excitement that comes with leaving for family vacations, we piled into the van on Monday morning and took off.  Mapquest estimates the trip at 7 hours 36 minutes and 475  miles.  We wouldn’t be stopping at any colleges on the first day. It would just be direct driving.  The girls had a plan to pass around knitting continuously as we drove and change colors at each state line so that in the end the size of each piece will reflect the size of the states we passed.  They set to work as we got on the highway.  Leaving on a holiday meant traffic was minimal.  However, it also meant cops were shooting radar at nearly every mile marker so we had to pay attention to our speed.

Leaving Texas is always a feat in itself.  If you live in central Texas, you’ll know it is nearly a day’s drive to get out of your own state.   Nevertheless, after about 6 hours we managed to cross the state line from our own sun scorched and drought suffering state into Arkansas.  For anyone driving north on I-35 who needs to make a rest stop, I highly recommend stopping in Waco just before the bridge at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.  They have a public restroom, travel information, a nice place to picnic along the water, interesting historic graveyard and, of course the Hall of Fame.

We made it to DeGray Lake in the estimated travel time (give and take for stops and eating) just in time to pitch our tent in the first rain we Texans had seen in 8 months.  This is a new tent for us.  We had pitched it once at home for practice but putting it up for the first time in the rain was a bit stressful.  In the end we got it up but because it had been stored with the windows open and it has a netting roof, there was substantial water let in before we could get the tarp in place.  We quickly realized we should have brought extra towels for situations like this.  Of course, as soon as we got the tent up and reasonably dried on the inside, the rain stopped!  We were able to set up our camping stove and cook up the ratatouille and some rice from the cooler for dinner. The girls then took a quick swim in the lake and we headed toward the dam to see the fireworks.

The lake was pretty and the fireworks well attended.  We then returned to sleep.  The Caddo Drive tent camping area at DeGray Lake is somewhat tightly packed.  We were quite close to neighbors.  Being close to your neighbors on a holiday like 4th of July isn’t ideal.  There was quite a lot of noise that night well past midnight but we hunkered down and tried to sleep.  Luckily for the girls they were so tired they fell asleep anyway. My husband and I weren’t quite so lucky.  If I were to re-plan this trip I might not camp on 4th of July as I value getting rested when I’m having to drive.

Day 2

The Appalachian Service Project was scheduled to leave the park at 7:30 am.  We weren’t able to get ourselves packed up that quickly so we had to drive over to get Sophia before packing.  We found the group, exhausted but glowing from their experience, and after many tearful goodbyes returned with our daughter.  With one more suitcase, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and human being we set out for our second day.

Our first stop was to be Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.  Those of you looking for a similar trip might also consider Hendrix College in Arkansas which is another liberal arts college praised by Loren Pope in Colleges that Change Lives.  From Arkadelphia to Rhodes is about a 3 1/2 hour drive.  Because of our late departure we didn’t make it to our scheduled tour on time and had to call ahead to let the college know we’d be late.  The Rhodes admissions office was very kind and we were able to have a later tour.  We were all highly impressed with what we saw at Rhodes. The new library was especially beautifully designed (see post featured photo). Walking through the campus you had the feeling that someone had taken Oxford University and plopped the buildings down in Memphis. The girls liked the discussion style format of classes.  The admissions office knows how to put on a good show, projecting your name onto their large screen introductory video and serving custom made cookies with the Rhodes “R” in icing as well as southern style peach iced tea.  I have to say, as I write this now from Connecticut and after having seen several more colleges, no other admissions office has equaled Rhodes welcome to their visitors.

We said goodbye and quickly exchanged our college search hats for our tourist hats and headed over to Graceland!  The home and burial place of Elvis Presley and his family, Graceland is one of those “must sees” for anyone passing through Memphis.  Honestly, it is a bit pricey, and with a family it wasn’t without a wince that we decided to go ahead and see it.  But luck was with us that day.  As we walked towards the ticket office two women gave us 2 adult passes they weren’t using saving us $70!  Sometimes the force is with you.  My husband and I had seen Graceland about 20 years ago.  Since then the tour has improved with a complimentary audio tour with excerpts from Lisa Marie Presley.  They have also opened the racquetball building and moved many of the costumes and museum pieces to the mansion side from across the street.  Our German exchange student particularly enjoyed getting to see Graceland and we each had our favorite rooms.

It was then time to head to our next camping spot just passed Nashville, Seven Points.  Memphis to Nashville is just over a 3 hour drive.  We also had to stop for dinner along the way.  This is where Mapquest failed us.  As we neared our destination, it was clear we were in a residential area.  In fact, as we came to the exact address we were sitting in front of a small bungalow home in central Nashville.  Luckily, the copy of our reservations from the Army Corps of Engineers also had directions to the campground and it became quickly apparent they were quite different.  We got back onto the highway, followed the second set of directions and made it to Seven Points – just in time for rain!

As we pulled into our site after 9 at night we found another family in our place.  It seems a lot of people come into campsites late and take spots without reservations.  We were fortunate that this family agreed to move without any problem, so we went straight to the showers while they dismantled their tent.  This time we were prepared for the rain. Our windows and doors had been zipped shut and we had folded the tarp into the tent so that it covered the roof.  We raised our tent with minimal water entering and went straight to bed.

Day 3

Seven Points was a much nicer campground, more private and quieter than the one in Arkansas. We had a lovely spot on the lake and woke up to ducks who enjoyed some of our old bread.  We wished we could have stayed longer but we had a lot to do and see so we packed up after breakfast and hit the road for North Carolina.

The road from Nashville to Asheville passes through the Smoky Mountains.  It’s a beautiful route along I-40.  In about 3 hours we found our next sightseeing destination, the Biltmore Estate.  Anyone passing near Asheville really should stop at the Biltmore.  Although pricey (pricier than Graceland) it really is an amazing place and a place you could tour for the entire day.  Built by George Vanderbilt in the early 1900′s, the Biltmore is a magnificently kept estate and probably the closest thing the United States has to European chateaus and castles.  Do see it if you ever have a chance.

Knowing the Biltmore would take us many hours to tour, we had nothing else scheduled that day.  We saw the home, the gardens, had an ice cream and moved on to our campgrounds in the evening after a quick stop for groceries.  We arrive at our campground  just east of Asheville at Lake Powhatan and just in time for – rain!  The Lake Powhatan campsites appeared to be geared very much towards rv’ers.  While the facilities were nicely kept with electricity, water and clean bathrooms there was not an appropriate place to pitch a tent.  We made due in our gravel driveway, had our dinner and went on to bed knowing we were in a good position to drive to Davidson College the next day.

by Carmen

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog since returning from our year in Brazil and Mexico.  Don’t take it to mean that our lives have been quiet though!  The girls have another year under their belts and to my husband’s and my amazement our two oldest have reached the age to look at colleges.

There’s something bittersweet about planning a college road trip.  Of course, there is the excitement that comes with planning any travel, but there is also the sense that this could very well be one of our last trips together as a nuclear family – the realization that future trips may be with one of us missing due to conflicting schedules or new interests that include friends over family.  It’s a special time with a lot of mixed emotions.

That said, I’ve decided to blog along the way and share with you the planning that I’ve done to get this trip to happen so that for anyone looking for a similar experience, perhaps you can shorten your preparation time by following along with us.

Here are the variables for our trip:

1) We’re taking off from our hometown of Austin, Texas and heading east.

2) We’ll be camping along the way as much as possible to save money. Camping for us means tent camping.

3) We’ll have 6 people in a Dodge Caravan family van on our way up and 5 on our way down. (my husband doesn’t have enough time from work to travel both directions so I’ll be single mom for the return).

4) In addition to my husband and myself, we have 3 daughters.  The two in question will be an incoming senior and a junior.  We’ll also have our 10 year old daughter and a 17 year old German exchange student who are coming along for the sight seeing opportunities.

5) Our daughters are primarily interested in small, liberal arts colleges so that’s where we’ll be stopping.

6) In the middle of the trip we’ll take a week break to stay with family on the Connecticut shore.

Here’s what we’re taking:

1) On top of the van we are strapping 6 sleeping bags and as many sleeping pads as will fit (probably 4) in a soft container.

Inside the van -

2) Remainder of sleeping pads.

3) Bag of 6 bath towels

4) Bag of 6 sheets because nights will be too hot for sleeping bags in the south.

5) Zip lock of shower supplies

6) 3 flashlights with batteries

7) Camping lantern

Large tent

9) Two burner camping stove top

10) Kitchen supplies including one pan, one pot, one french coffee press, silverware, reusable dishes, reusable bowls, spatula, sharp knife, two larger bowls.

11) One medium cooler with one day’s supply of fresh food. (We will hope to make 2 meals each day and buy one out).

12) One roll toilet paper in case the campsites don’t have any.

13) 2 propane tanks for stove top

14) Collection of cds and dvds chosen by kids.

15) Map of US colleges, the Fiske College Guide and Colleges that Change Lives book.

16) Self created college visit evaluation chart so the girls can record their thoughts.

17) Binder containing all itinerary for trip.

18) 2 laptops (1 for my blogging and trip information, the other so that our oldest daughter can Skype with her calculus tutor.  We would take 1 laptop but my microphone has kicked the bucket).

19) Each family member will have one carry on size bag for clothes and a smaller bag of things for the car.

So – stay tuned and I’ll share with you how things go.  I’ll be uploading information on the campgrounds, wifi situations (as I’ll be working along the way), points of interest, colleges and road conditions.

And we’re off!

Photo by: Milosh Zorica

Milosh Zorica is an old friend of NuNomad. We have featured him in one of our Meet the Nomads interviews here on the blog and have received guest contributions from him including, “You Know You’re a Third Culture Kid When…” .  Milosh is a graphic designer by trade and has lived a location independent lifestyle for many years now.  Here he shares his thoughts and information accumulated during his recent stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Milosh is not one to hold back his opinion of a place.  You may or may not agree with some of it but we thought the abundance of great tips makes the piece worth bringing to you.

by Milosh Zorica

Renowned for its unique mixture of European and North American influences while being  true to it’s South American heritage, Buenos Aires is 1^st world cosmopolitan.  With amazing cultural offerings, Buenos Aires makes an excellent choice for a NuNomad to spend some time or even make it home base, though there are few down sides.

Excellent infrastructure, a friendly environment, open-minded people, vibrant atmosphere and a great lifestyle at a fraction of the price found in similar North American or European cities are among reasons why some NuNomads opt for Buenos Aires.

Even though mentioned everywhere, low cost of living is not the main advantage of Buenos Aires. Yes, it’s still cheap, even though not as it used to be just a few years ago. Your Euros, Quids or Bucks will certainly go a lot farther than in London, Paris or New York. What makes Buenos Aires stand out from the crowd among low-cost cities is its truly 1^st world cosmopolitan status. It’s not a kind of place where locals will see you as a tourist even after living in the town for 15 years and speaking the local language fluently, as in Bangkok, for example. Nothing against Bangkok, really. Actually, Bangkok is one of my favorite cities, where I’ve spent a lot of time and keep returning any time an opportunity arises. Providing you speak Spanish and are an easy-going open-minded person, immersion into local society here in Buenos Aires is fairly easy, even though Argentines and Porteños (Buenos Aires locals) are not  famous for being the friendliest South Americans. I mean, they are great people and they are mostly friendly and easygoing. But, definitely don’t expect the open-armed warmth of Mexico, Brazil or Colombia.

1st World Culture

When it comes to the culture Buenos Aires has much more to offer than Tango. Yes, you can see Tango dancers everywhere, especially in San Telmo (Tango’s place of birth and one of BsAs’ nightlife and arts hotspots) as well as neighboring Boca and Boedo or even Almagro and Abasto (Carlos Gardel‘s native neighbourhood). Museums are also numerous and mainly of great quality. Should you be living in Recoleta (the area popular among expats and well to do locals), Museum of Latinoamerican Arts Buenos Aires (MALBA) makes a great place to pop by! Besides great, regularly held exhibitions, the place has got a great cafeteria with free wifi included!

Corrientes Avenue (between 9 de Julio Avenue and Obelisco) is equivalent to London’s West End and New York’s Broadway. You will find equally great plays, concerts and places to dine out at a fraction of what it would cost in either other city. The cafeterias Los Inmortales and La Paz are among those traditional porteño places where you can feel the city’s soul. They serve decent coffee (except for Starbucks and a few other cafeterias, finding a coffee we Europeans and Yanks are used to is a sort of difficult task in Argentina. Unlike their northern neighbors, they don’t seem to drink a lot of coffee. They prefer coffee-like sugared water) and have free wifi.

Connectivity

Working from cafes is not yet popular in Argentina. Many places offer  wifi hotspots, but don’t expect to find available power outlets. And although you may see an occasional outlet, don’t be surprised if you’re told it is not for customer use. Argentines could use some work on their service skills. It could be irritating if you also happen to roam around Asia a lot, where the service is mostly great.

In your home, getting 3G connectivity if you don’t have a DNI (Argentine ID card) can be pricey and difficult. Both Claro and Movistar seem to offer Pay-as-You-Go 3G Internet with a reasonably priced 3G modems. Getting Claro 3G Internet to work on the devices other than a modem they provide might be difficult. Movistar is similar. Though I have managed to get certain devices working, more often than not, the experience is nothing to write home about. Cable, ADSL, Wi-Fi connectivity without a DNI is something you can forget about unless already provided at the place where you live. McDonald’s seems to be a decent place to get online. The one in front of Obelisco is my favorite. They have more than one power outlet, the connection seems to be fine and they do really serve coffee. Normally, I’m definitely not one of those that look out for a McDonald’s while abroad. However, while getting a wifi hotspot doesn’t seem to be difficult, finding a place where you can actually work from can be tricky.

Accommodations

Even though rental prices seem to be attractive and it seems there are plenty of rental places, getting a place to live and not be charged an arm and a leg is definitely not an easy task. Gringo tax included places are mostly what you find. Even the most basic places could be as high as US$ 1500 a month, 4 times what locals pay. There are ways around. You can either live in a hotel or find someone renting to the gringos at local rates. Hotels are numerous, in just about every part of the city. From 30 peso a night dumps to the major chains, charging like their counterparts elsewhere. Hoteles familiares rent rooms on a monthly basis. But pay attention to their location and who you are going to live with. Many are in dodgy areas and residents are mostly immigrants from the other Latin nations. Shared apartments are another option. The local classified websites such as olx.com.ar are a place to start. Craigslist Argentina might be an option too. But, it’s a lot of hit and miss thing. I have seen prices as ridiculous as US$600 a month for a tiny room. Should you decide to stay in a hotel, some decent, or better said, half decent places to be found are in San Telmo as well as in the Congreso area, actually Alsina street. Real Estate agencies are to be avoided with a few exceptions. One of them is Erika Meurer. Her contact phone is +54 11 48144205 – Ext. 110. She is a nice person and doesn’t charge the Gringo rates. The flats are mostly around AR$ 1500 a month for a studio or one bedroom place. If you are able to pay 6 months up front or can get a garantia (guarantee on someone’s property), then there are the landlords willing to negotiate. Buying a garantia is not as difficult as it might seem. The guys from www.garantiasparaalquilar.com.ar are selling them at reasonable rates. Expat community websites like www.baexpats.org, www.goodmorningba.com and www.expat-connection.com are worth trying as well, not only for rentals. Martin of Expat Connection and Sam of Good Morning Buenos Aires, who is also internations.org Buenos Aires Ambassador are well-known characters to the local expat scene and both of them are friendly and resourceful guys. The online expat scene is fairly limited, especially when compared to Bangkok.

Transportation

Traffic seems to be chaotic, though not asmuch as in Lima, Hanoi or Cairo. The public transit system is decent. It’s probably the best in South America, after Santiago de Chile. The buses (colectivos) operate 24h a day. The subway system (subte) closes at 10:45 pm mostly and strikes are common. Buses are a lot slower, but offer greater coverage and operate 24/7/365.  The colectiveros (bus drivers) drive like maniacs and traffic jams could make your journey a lot longer. Public transport is generally on time, safe and cheap. Buenos Aires Subte seems to be a lot more reliable than the London Underground. Don’t mind the strikes, but in Buenos Aires a “minor delay” doesn’t mean you have to wait for 20min. or more like you do in London. Buenos Aires’ metropolitan area is covered by trains, buses and shared minivan taxi service, similar to Dolmus in Istanbul, the service is the most widely used. Most stop around Obelisco.

Safety

Petty crime in Buenos Aires is rampant. Luckily, violent crime is at a fairly low level. Of course, there are kidnappings and murders. But, it’s more likely you’ll get stabbed in London or shot in Los Angeles than in Buenos Aires. Mugging and pick-pocketing are the most common petty crime forms. Kidnappings are usually very organized and the victim is well known. They don’t kidnap gringos randomly. Never flash off your belongings. Avoid carrying gold and expensive watches. Buenos Aires is not Caracas, where they might cut your hand to take a Rolex off, but it’s better to keep a low profile. Take care of your backpack/bag/briefcase in public places, streets included.

Buenos Aires has got a lot to offer for a few months stay to a NuNomad and certainly is worth checking out. But its geographic location doesn’t make a great travel hub. Plane tickets are too pricey. However, long distance buses are really comfortable and reasonably priced. They make a great way to explore Argentina and neighboring countries. Nevertheless, overall Buenos Aires is a great place if you are location-independent.

You can connect with Milosh at any of the following places:

Linked In

http://www.linkedin.com/in/miloshzorica

Coroflot

Milosh is a Co-Founder of Loana Technology, a media streaming and digital assets protection startup

photo above by Robokow

This Tuesday for my birthday celebration I asked people to send me pictures of what their corner of the world was looking like this October/November.  I received several photos in response and promised to show them to you today.  Here they are below. Thanks to everyone who participated. It was fun hearing from you and seeing what your world looks like!

This first photo is from my dear childhood friend and amazing artist, Laurel Hughes, who loves to paint chickens.  Here, in Manchester, MA, she’s given the birds a hanging broccoli goal to jump for.  Click here to see a Hughes chicken painting.

This beautiful shot was sent by the Happy Jansenns who are now in Morro Bay, California.

“The Big Finish” sent by Julie Mellors of The Truly Useful Company, shows a Duck Race Day in Church Stretton, Shropshire UK. I wonder who the winner was?

From Melvin of Travel Dudes we’ve got Carneval in Cologne, Germany. To learn more about this celebration, visit the description of Cologne on the Travel Dudes site.

This very cold looking photo came from Stratford, Ontario by Barb McMahon of Happy Simple.  I think I may be glad to be in Texas from the looks of this one.

October was the month for the ProBlogger conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Annabel Candy actually got her trip to the conference sponsored by her readers!  Here she is having a blast with other bloggers.

These two beautiful shots are of the Pacific Crest Trail in Truckee CA and show a view of Donner Lake from the top of Mount Judah.  They were sent in by Renee. Thanks Renee!

From my NuNomad partner, Ricardo.  Here we’re cheating a little.  Ricardo sent me some information about the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Throughout Thailand people refrain from eating meat from October 8-16.  On Phuket the festival includes self mortification.  Ricardo didn’t have a picture so I pulled this one from Flickr by the Phuket Observer. All I can say is, great picture but…OUCH!!!

And, just to show what a difference a year can make, here I  am with Mia buying myself a birthday dress on Barra da Lagoa Beach, Florianopolis, Brazil, last year.  One year later…

Here we were watching the Pumpkinhead Regatta on Ladybird Lake of Austin, Texas.  Quite a different view!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent in pictures.  It was loads of fun seeing what’s been happening in your part of the world. What a great birthday present!