Of Morgantown

Once again I find myself connect to some peers through the article printed in U.25 Magazine. West Virginia was a tough state to find connections. I was greatly disappointed a couple months ago when a wonderful and enthusiastic family said they were host me, and then backed out. Among the other most difficult states to find hosts were Hawaii, Louisiana, Alabama, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Maine. Notice that most of these are in the second half of the trip, which I haven’t spent as much time to plan, so it’s on me.

So a while ago I got a message eon Facebook from Ryan after he read the article. Another great online tool to make something happen. It’s strange how meeting people online is a stigma, yet I do it all the time through magazines, newspaper articles, and even cold calls.

Ryan is an incoming freshman at West Virginia University, his roommate Graceson will be a junior, and Ryan’s brother Pat will be a senior. It’s been a lot of universities, more than I expected and more peers than I planned. But it has been good. They bring a lot of enthusiasm and spontaneity to the trip.