Plans change. And then they change again. In such a fashion that’s how I found myself back to Atlanta. Though it’s quite necessary. I have been looking at a list of the largest metro areas in the country. When it comes to just driving through I haven’t driven in almost every major city through the first 31 states. Impressive. And it’s good timing too as I caught just the end of a radio story that announced the rudest and most courteous cities in the country to drive in. …

Oh sweet Savannah, order me some more pralines, preferably the dark chocolate ones. Delicious! Savannah was a good stop. My hosts were Sharon, Mel, Amber and Chris. In other cultures and centuries ago it was common for younger couples to live with other family members early on their marriage. In today’s culture it’s rare, very rare. Most people get married and flee off to their own place. Amber and Chris have been married for only a few weeks and are living with Amber’s grandparents Sharon and Mel. …

I am stuffed. For the millionth time in the last eight months I need to loosen my belt. Actually, I should probably just buy some new shorts, boxers, and jeans. They hardly fit anymore. I don’t know exactly what I weighed when I left eight months ago, I think it was around 175. And before all of this started I had some thoughts like, “Well, I’m on the road on my own for a year homeless and unemployed, I might get hungry at times. …

Weeks later, although it feels like months, I am finally out of Florida. I looped around the entire state from Panama City to Tampa to Key West to Miami Beach to Celebration. Florida was an anticipated state with hosts and cities I’ve been excited to see. It was well lived. As Jason told me when I was in Tampa there really is a funnel effect. People from the Midwest head down on I-75 and end up on the west side of Florida while people from the Northeast head down I-95 and find themselves on the east side of the state. …

Most of my morning was spent reading Amy’s book (check it out here). Hopefully I have permission to quote a couple sentences where she states (ha ha, states, that’s sort of funny if you know what I mean), “Journaling was the hardest job I had on the trip. Writing down everything that happened and my thoughts and feelings about them took a lot of time and energy…” Reading it made me feel a little guilty for not taking advantage of times to do some writing. …

This evening I made it to Celebration, FL. Another day, another town, another host, right? Not quite. This is a stop I have been hoping for and anticipating since day one of planning. So you may ask, what brings me to Celebration? Well, quite frankly I don’t need a reason to celebrate. Ok ok, the real reason is to stay with Kurt and Emily, who 12 years ago took their children to all 50 states in one year. …

At heart I’m still an advertising student. Even when I graduated I still wasn’t fully satisfied, I needed to learn more about advertising, work on my projects, pursuit more creativity, and all that jazz. Today’s plan may not have been smart, sorry to say that Jackie. Jackie gave me a great tour of the Miami Ad School this morning. You see, the reason it may not have been smart, is that it was torture. …

The women here are beautiful! I just thought I would let everyone know. So here I am in Miami Beach. Another stop in Florida. It’s becoming much like California where I spent way too long. I’m not complaining, but I’m not knocking down the states like I should be. I’ve been stuck at 31 for a while now. While in Miami Beach I am tracking down more advertising programs. Here I met up with Jan, a former advertising classmate at MSU. …

I am no longer moving east, west, or south. In the next couple months I will only be moving north as I make my way towards Maine. One stop in Key West was for a photo of miler market zero of Highway 1. Now that my first Key West experience is complete I’m still trying to understand that place! In terms of the most interesting people, people watching, character, weirdness, craziness, and anything else I think it’s 2nd to only Venice Beach of where I’ve been on my trip. …

I have officially made it to the southernmost point in the continental United States. It’s a long ways away from just about anywhere. With that note, welcome to Key West, Florida! Of course it’s a well known destination for spring breakers and since I didn’t do the traditional spring break trip (I always opted to go snowboarding instead) this is my chance. Not that I’ll be living the spring break life, after all I’ve been hanging out with retired folks. …