[Free:] Road Trip

     I'm supposed to be driving out to my mom's house during Christmas break. Normally, I would being taking an airplane over there, which is about 10 hours total travel time.
     I really can't stand airplanes anymore so I think it would be fun to drive there. I would be driving for a total of about 5 days, probably. Which includes stopping for the night to sleep.
     Money is going to be huge problem, though. Budgeting for food, and gas, and sometimes a place to sleep. That's going to suck. I've been trying to to get a job, in order to save up for this trip, but no one is hiring.
     My original plan was to take a train there. The train would be leaving Emeryville on a Monday morning, and I would arrive near my mother's house at around midnight on Thursday. I thought about it, but then I realized that I'd be stuck on a train for those days, not having the freedom to get off and, for lack of a better term, 'explore' my surroundings on my way there. And that's only to have a seat on the train, not one of those little bunk things where I could sleep.
     So, I want to drive. I think it would be a great experience.            

     I kind of really like it at my mom's place. It's so different than being here. There, it's just beautiful. Everything is green, and there is countryside as far as the eyes can see. Not to mention, the people are amazing. That whole "southern hospitality" people talk about is very true. Everyone is really hospitable and nice. And things are at a different pace there. Things go just a little bit slower than here (except when people drive, they drive REALLY fast there). The whole feeling of being there is totally relaxing.
      The only thing there I cannot stand, (besides the food, cause that sucks, too) is the fact that my mom's house is 6 hours away from the coast. I never fully appreciated living so close to the ocean until I spent time somewhere else. They all think that they've got it so great because they live 6 hours away from the coast and 5 hours away from the Appalachian Mountains, and then I'm like, "well hey, I live right next to the ocean and if I want to see the mountains, all I have to do is drive the other direction a bit."
     So, I've really grown to appreciate where we are in relation to the water. It's nice to be so close. When I'm at my mom's I feel trapped cause all there is, is land basically. But hey, don't get me wrong, it's beautiful there, it really is.