We're home.

As those of you who follow us on facebook, twitter, or Instagram already know, we are home.

We've visited all 50 states.  Every single one.  (Full disclosure: Vermont is the only state we didn't visit during the course of the trip - we've been there before, and since it's a short drive away, we will be going soon to add it to the trip tally.)

We lingered over sunsets and sunrises, got giddy at the sight of every rainbow, stared at white, puffy clouds while trying to make out shapes, and searched star-filled night skies for constellations -- but we did none of these as much as we should have. We saw the farm fields of the Midwest, snorkeled in the perfectly blue waters of Hawaii, witnessed how great the Great Lakes actually are, listened to a glacier in Alaska, and drove through a summer storm in the middle of the desert.  We walked the shorelines of California, were slayed by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and visited our country's National Parks. We hiked through forests and up mountains, swam in oceans and lakes, and drove past more cows than we could ever try to count. We ate BBQ from Texas, Kansas City, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia. We enjoyed southern hospitality, listened to live soul music in Memphis, and drank sazeracs on Bourbon Street.  We shared the roads with tractors, road-trippers, and truckers.

We missed some spots we wanted to see, felt rushed at times, were often inspired, but sometimes not. We reconnected with old friends and made new ones.  We took a gazillion (seriously!) pictures, even knowing said photos may never give justice to the sights we saw.

We feel fortunate - blessed. We haven't taken for granted, not even once, this amazing opportunity to see our country.

We can honestly attest that America is beautiful. She's stunning, actually.

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And now we're home....

We've been home for short of two weeks. I've been doing everything I can to not write this post.  I know once I write it - that's it.  The trip is really over. Yesterday we unpacked the final bits of the car - rightfully so, the final bits ended up being our little trip keepsakes, which, right now, are a little bitter/sweet to even look at.

We've adjusted well to staying in one place.  I think it helped that we had a finish date and a plan of what life would be like for us when we returned. Dare I even admit that near the end of the trip we were ready to get home... to see our families... to get back to life. For now, we're staying with Taras's parents in Portsmouth, NH, an hour north of Boston.  Time will tell if we move back to Boston, or stay in these parts - closer to family - for the next phase of our life. For right now, though, we're enjoying the holidays, processing the past six months, going through photos, and planning for our future - a future that has new inspiration and that might not include a traditional desk job (gasp!).

So now that I've gone and told the ending, we'll be going back to where we left off.  We're excited to share our journey with you!

-Amanda

I'm sure you saw this coming...

Hello, friends!  It's been a while, eh?

We have offically decided that updating the blog as we travel takes too much time away from our once in a lifetime trip.  We promise to blog when we return.  We have so many fun pictures and stories to share!

In the meantime, please do follow us on facebook, twitter, and Instagram (@amandabouzakine), where there is no shortage of photo updates!

See you all back here near the end of November.

Cheers for now,
Taras & Amanda

June Recap

Another month has passed! Time is going by way too fast - slow down!!  As with the May update  this will be a lengthy summary of the month, for us to have to look back on.  We understand if you just look at the pictures and move along!

-Amanda

all photos from our Instagram feed:




Stats: Driven 5,374 miles for the month, 8,530 total trip miles. Visited 10 new states: Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. Total trip count is 19 states and 1 Canadian province.

General feeling of living on the road: We're having such an amazing time!  Getting out west and seeing different scenery really hit a spot with both of us. We definitely feel like we're seeing America. We've had spells of no showers, lived in the same outfit for days at a time, and had some interesting camping experiences - it feels like a genuine road trip, for sure!

Notable Moments: Seeing all the Mid West farmland - truly a stunning part of America to experience. Watching the almost full moon late at night at a campsite in Door County, WI - everything was so peaceful, still, and beautifully lit.  Hanging out at Madison Memorial Union Terrace on a perfectly sunny day, sharing a pitcher of beer and watching all the University of Wisconsin students soak up the sun (we were both in kind of a blah mood that day, and this helped us both snap out of it). Walking through the Lincoln Museum in Spingfield, IL - inspiring, to say the least. Seeing old/new friends in St. Louis and meeting up with Taras's brother in Minneapolis. Coming upon Hannibal, MO (Mark Twain's hometown) by happenstance - we were both giddy to see the scenery of which his Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer books were based. Driving alongside the Mississippi River (and I couldn't help but always sing the Mississippi song every time we passed a river sign). Driving into the west and all the change in scenery. Sleeping in shepherds wagon in North Dakota. Going into our first national park and being awestruck by nature. Our whole time in Wyoming was unbelievable and we fell in love with the little town of Dubois, where Taras's old collegue let us stay in his family's vacation cabin and where Taras saw his first rodeo! Having a buffalo come into our campsite on Antelope Island near Salt Lake City, Utah. Sleeping in a fire tower in Montana.

Be Back Soon!

Hello, everyone!  We've made it to the west and are having a great time spotting buffalo and big horn sheep.  Unfortunately, internet has been a bit spotty. We will get some posts up as soon as we have some solid connection time.

Meanwhile, we're updating facebook, twitter, and Instagram (@amandabouzakine) as often as we can, so follow us for real time updates!

Have tips on where we should go, what we should see and do? Submit suggestions here or e-mail us!  We're in North Dakota and headed to Wyoming.

May Recap

Well, we have May under our belts. We've decided to do a monthly recap of our thoughts, progress, etc., really for our purposes to look back on.  This post is extremely long - no offense taken if you don't make it through!

-Amanda

Stats: Driven 3,156 miles. Visited 9 states: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois. Visited 1 Canadian province: Ontario.

General feeling of living on the road: the first couple weeks we felt like we were on any regular vacation. Staying with and seeing friends in the beginning of the trip, and also doing a lot of city exploring… it was all a bit normal and we found it hard to feel like we were living wild and free on the road.  We both agree that we should have camped earlier in the trip – after our first night camping and first few stops that weren’t bigger cities, we started to adjust and feel like we were doing something different, more special.  Scenery was very much standard to our everyday views until we reached Indiana, when we noticed significantly more farm land.  It was nice to start feeling out of our element. I would say that by the end of May we were both feeling more like we’re living on the road and really appreciating what we're doing.  

Notable moments: drinking sangria out of mason jars in Ann Arbor, MI – it was the first day it felt like summer and it was just perfect. Seeing the Great Lakes. They are so blue and impressive and it still blows our minds to see such big bodies of water and realize they’re fresh water. Holland, MI was great because it was our first night of camping... we were right by the lake and biked to go watch the sunset. Everyone in town was there watching it set and it was pretty magical. Biking into Canada at Niagara Falls and walking over the bridge to see the falls lit up at night. Watching a minor league baseball game in Fort Wayne with epic lawn seating. Seeing the Quabbin Reservoir - pretty exciting to see where your water comes from. Finding a beautiful waterfall during a random bike ride in Ohio.

Leaving Boston Behind

We're gonna back-track a little bit to our last week in Boston.  It was all a bit hectic and exciting.  We both worked through the end of April, which was Monday the 30th.  This also happened to be the night we had to be out of our apartment and have our car packed for the trip... there was a solid 24 hours of no sleep and, of course, we managed to lock ourselves out of our building with just an hour left to be moved out. Fun! We spent Tuesday through Thursday nights with our families, then hit the road Friday morning. Throughout our last week we managed many farewell dinners and some fun around Boston. It rained during all the big moments: as we left the apartment, our last night in Boston, the morning we left for the trip... good thing rain means good luck!

-Amanda

 Both of our companies we so supportive of our endeavor, and made sure we had the proper send-offs.

Leaving our apartment was probably the most difficult part of the week.  This had been our only home together. Locking up the apartment truly seemed like the end of an era. And that's me zonked out after unloading the U-haul!

Our last big event in Boston was the Saturday before we left.  We went with friends to the Bacon and Beer fest and it was pretty perfect - all the beer and bacon delights you can imagine.  Then we came back into Boston on Tuesday night for our private farewell to the city.  We had been given tickets to a Sox game and imagined we'd bike to the game and frolic in the city - perfect, right?  But it was raining and miserable.  So we cabbed to the game, stayed only for a couple innings, then called it quits and ate oysters and had cocktails instead.

On Thursday we had a little farewell gathering in New Hampshire with the families and some friends. It was so good to spend time with everyone before we left.

Then we headed out bright and early Friday morning!  Russian tradition is to "sit for the road" which is basically sitting down for a second before leaving on a big trip.  This is Taras's mom and I taking a sit!

We cannot thank our families, friends, and coworkers enough for all the support and encouragement they have given us these last few months!  You all truly made this decision a million times easier.  xo

Introductions, et cetera

Hello, friends!

We'd again like to thank all our guest bloggers from last week: Sarah, Amanda, Emily, Natalie, and Nicole. Your favorite spots from around the US have us even more excited to explore this beautiful country!  We had such a great response to our guest posts that we have decided to feature one guest post each week - email us if you'd like to be added to the line-up!

Also, welcome to all our new friends!  It's time to formally introduce our little travel family:

Taras: The leading man, designated driver and bicycle repair specialist. He's excited for the first time he gets to launder his boxers in the river (using biodegradable soap, of course).
Amanda: The professional car napper, trip budget coordinator and excessive shoe packer. She dreams of hosting a dinner party at a campsite picnic table.
Zion: He was a little sad to leave his beloved prior family, where he could play with an adorable little girl and a fluffy dog.  So far, he's adjusting well to the new gig and just got his tires rotated and oil changed today!
Theodore: Taras's trusted companion.  He's been in the family for a few years now, enduring his share of scrapes and bruises.  Poor guy had the first mechanical casualty of the trip when he popped a tire yesterday.
Shelby: She is the newest addition to the family! She's sporty and lightweight, making her the perfect companion for our cross-county adventures.

If you'd like to know more, check out our about us section.

-Taras & Amanda