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It was while I was driving, to work, crying about my misery. My job wasn’t the problem, in fact it was the hardest thing to leave behind. The only thing keeping me in the Bay Area (California). I finally got the courage to change my life.

I loved my job, but I just wasn’t happy with my life. I felt stagnant, staying in the same city and town I grew up in. Almost like I was trapped. I knew I wanted to leave, but how could I leave such an awesome job and awesome boss?

I was on my way to work having a mental breakdown when a thought came to my head. My commute to work was about an hour drive from my house, and about midway through, I thought, “What if I just kept driving? What if I just didn’t stop? Where would I end up? Could I drive across the country?”

I looked behind into the backseat of my old Toyota Camry and thought to myself, “Yeah…I could fit there.” The following thoughts were “What’s holding me back? I can make this work with what I have. I don’t need a van, trailer, or RV. I can do this with what I have. I am blessed to have a car that works, and if it breaks down or anything I can stop and figure things out. If I need to get a job somewhere I will. I can figure this out. I can make it work.”

So I did.

Well, I didn’t just start my journey right that second. After all, I do love my job and my boss. I can’t just get up and leave- not to mention my car wasn’t packed with any survival gear of any sort.

I had decided I was going to venture across the country, hit every state and see at least one city in each. It took me a couple months to muster up the courage and heart to break the news to my boss. In fact, I planned to leave within two weeks of having that thought. It ended up being February 2021.

I rummaged my family’s whole house, taking anything I thought I needed. I packed my car, set up the backseat with sleeping bags and blankets to act as a bed. My trunk was filled with winter clothes/ snow gear, spring/summer clothing, shoes and accessories organized into different luggage bags. I also had bags and bags of old clothes I was planning to sell to vintage secondhand shops across America. I sold almost everything and made an extra few bucks in each state by selling my old shit. I packed lots of canned foods and nonperishables, bought cookware for my car, and finally got up and left.

How did I prepare?

Saved all my earnings, sold almost all of my clothing, items I didn’t use, and anything that wasn’t a necessity. I was downsizing from a house to a car. If it isn’t useful, I don’t need it. Sold! (or donated)

I purchased emergency situation items for my car in case of emergencies. Any emergency or situation I could possibly think of, I bought something to help in that situation.

I took my car to my trusty and honest mechanic and asked him to fix literally everything. I told him I may never return and I’ll be driving across the country and seeing where I end up. He fixed everything that he could (there wasn’t much wrong with my car).

Mentally, I reminded myself I will likely not have a source of income for a while. I knew my savings would last me a little bit especially with my frugalness and survival skills, but it wouldn’t last me forever. I told myself if I have to find work, I will. I am an excellent retail sales associate, I would never want to go back to that but if I had to, I would. I printed resumes and brought them with me just in case. As a backup, I started an OnlyFans. A couple months in, I decided I wanted to have some form on income even if its just a little. I used the money I made off OnlyFans to buy myself a night in a cheap airbnb, take photos in the rooms, and sell the sets online. This helped me survive, and is still my main source of income. I don’t make a fuck ton, but I can at least feed myself and cover gas.

Now when I say I got up and left, I literally got up and left (with my car packed to the brim with stuff I felt was necessary to survive living in a car). People often ask me, how do your parents feel about this? Does your family support you?

No! I absolutely did not tell them a thing. I just got up, left with like half the house in my car and didn’t come back or say a word of where I was going. I didn’t even know where I was going or what I was doing with my life. I mean I had a general plan of hitting every state and the general direction I was going but I was still confused with my life and my choices. My mom called a couple times asking if I’ll come back. I said probably not. She asked where I was, I lied and told her I moved to Southern California with the guy I was dating at the time. I didn’t want her to worry that her 21 year old daughter was driving around the country sleeping in her car alone, out in the unknown.

I didn’t tell my friends either. Just my best friends (who thought I was insane and lost my mind, not completely wrong to be honest) and eventually my boss. Then I just left and didn’t tell anyone and set off on my journey.

Do my parents know now? Yes, I kept the lie going for a while though. It was kind of funny, the bullshit I would come up with. I did get tired of lying at some point and it was annoying that every time I visited home my entire family (and extended family) would bombard me with questions about my life in SoCal (which didn’t exist) and I had to make some shit up and lie to everyone. Around December 2021/ January 2022, I finally told my mom I drove across the country and was living in Atlanta, Georgia at the time.

I guess you can say my family sort of supports me, in the way that they know they can’t stop me and they’re happy I’m alive. They don’t like the lifestyle I chose, but they know I’m going to do it anyway. So they don’t really bug me about it and let me live my life the way I choose to.