My 47-Hour Road Trip

Post #11 of #20: I am reflecting on twenty years of personal and professional experiences in Birmingham and beyond. Visit www.medium.com/HonestlyEd to read the full #20For20 series.

Have you ever taken an unforgettable road trip? Road trips are adventures that stick with us for years. Most of my best road trips have been with friends and loved ones. But, I had a singular road trip that I won’t ever forget — and I took it alone.

In August 2015, I took an epic 47-hour road trip that lasted two weeks and took me through 14 states. I relaxed, broke bread with others, hiked, did sight-seeing and took business meetings along the way.

The trip was timely. The first half of the year was challenging — transitioning out of my business, starting new line of business with my new employer and navigating a marital separation.

I had some pretty specific goals in mind:

• Extended time to think and relax
• Benchmarking best practices for my company
• Connect with family and friends
• Sight-seeing

I planned the trip using Evernote, one of my favorite productivity tools. I organized my travel around appointments, energy, traffic and weather. I don’t think I ever explored Google Maps and Google Earth so much! I was looking forward…