ROAD TRIP!

I'm driving to Gainesville, FL tomorrow morning! For a wedding! I love road trips, but the last few I've gone on I haven't been able to shake a nagging guilty feeling. So much gas and CO2 just so I can see the Country Music Hall of Fame or something. Gainesville is nearly 700 miles away, we'll be driving clean across three states. But I wouldn't deny anyone the pleasure of a road trip with friends (with a stop at South of the Border!). Here's how I'll be driving with a clear conscience:
-Follow these EPA tips for maintaining good fuel economy
-Travel vegan: A diet without animal products is significantly less stressful on the environment. I'm packing the car with pretzels, carrot sticks, cucumbers, grapes, almonds, and celery with peanut butter!
-We're leaving early in the morning to take advantage of the cool morning weather. If it gets too hot in the car, or if we hit bad traffic, we can stop and relax or explore. Idling wastes a lot of gas, as does the air conditioner. If you're going over 45 mph, however, it is more gas efficient to roll the windows up and use the AC instead.

How do you save gas when travelling? How do you save money? Here are some reviews of the hotel I booked us in for $50 a night:
"I hate it when hair is able to be seen in bathrooms, on the floor, and in baths. It is nauseating."
"This was my most disappointed experience with hotel."
But there's a rooftop pool! Here's too many happy and safe travels this summer!

Go West, Young Girl

I finally finished my application for Brethren Volunteer Service, an organization that will (hopefully) place me in a year-long position in an as-yet-to-be-determined location to do God's as-yet-to-be-determined work. If you're one of the unfortunate many who has listened to me yammer on about my orientation in Harrisonburg this July, get excited because I'm REALLY applying for orientation in Myrtle Point, Oregon! With one week in Portland, Oregon! In September! The orientation will focus on sustainability, peacemaking, and environmentalism.

After that, who knows. On the application, I was asked to list my top three choices for assignment in order of preference. I chose:
1. The La Puenta Home in Alamosa, Colorado
2. Innisfree Village in Crozet, Virginia
3. Catholic Worker House in San Antonio, Texas
I won't know which assignment I get until during my orientation. It might not even be one of the three I chose. All I know is that it will be somewhere in the U.S.

I'm a little disappointed I won't be shipping out sooner, but I'm happy I'll have a little more time to relax and hopefully visit some friends. ALSO my family and friends gave me a the very wonderful graduation gift of a new computer! It is much more reliable than my old one and it has a webcam so I can Skype with everyone while I'm away! I will do my best to deserve such a generous gift by blogging much more often. I have a few ideas in mind:

-Affordable grocery shopping in good conscience: Is there a way to buy local, environmentally friendly, cruelty free food and spend less?
-Hollywood and the Middle East. This summer's blockbusters look as ignorant, misguided, and harmful as ever.
-Traveling cheaply and responsibly.

If you have any tips or ideas on any of those subjects, let me know! And expect to hear more from me soon!