In lieu of flowers, please donate to the celebration of my life instead waiting for a death.  

First, I want to assure you this is NOT a plea for my friends and family to fund my vacation.  This project  was born from the brain of a 7 year-old child. That's about how old I was when I would drag our family beagle-mix, Happy, into Mom's station wagon and pretend to be traveling across the country.  Happy, panting in the smoldering old Buick, would be forced to stay as I pretended to be traveling through the desert.

When I was a little older I read Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley: In Search of America." This amazing book about traveling the country alone with your dog solidified my dream to follow Steinbeck's path.

After years of back-burner dreaming I finally decided it's time.  My friend Julie's husband died unexpectedly and this was the final straw that broke my proverbial camel's back. There will never be a good time.  I thought, now or possibly never.

Then came an epiphany of self awareness. You see, I lead a team of amazing young (and older) leaders at Starbucks and I am lucky to work alongside some of the world's most inspiring talent. But with youth comes many life lessons to teach.  One lesson that is constantly reiterated by me is, “Greatness can only be accomplished through massive amounts of help, so continue to ask!" I coach this over and over but silently refuse to follow this advice in my personal life.  The amount of dumb things I've quietly endured because I was too ashamed to ask for help is startling.  SO, that is when the 2nd part of my journey was born. I am asking for help!

I am asking for help from everyone!  

The first way you can help is if you are a "1st degree friend" (aka someone I know personally), I would like you to ask your 2nd and 3rd degree friends and family to please allow me to stop by and take a shower, wash some clothes and possibly sleep in a safe driveway after conversation and human connection.  I am searching for humanity across America through 2nd degree connection.  My route will be determined purely by the people who are willing to connect.  I want to discover what these connections tell me about myself, my friends and the climate of a crazy election year!  Wow, what an interesting time.

The second way you can help is to like my FB page "Travel 2nd Degree" follow my Instagram account "Travel2nddegree" and check out my blog Travel2ndDegree.wordpress.com (when I start blogging).  I also plan to video blog my journey on YouTube under my channel Travel 2nd Degree.  

Greatness of any kind can only come with loads of help. Please share my posts with your friends.  Helen Keller said, "No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."  I optimistically ask you to help me chart my path across the States.

The very last way you can help is to donate $5, $10, $20 or $100 dollars.  Please no more than that, it would be too much.   I am spending my entire savings on this trip, so believe me when I tell you, this ask is not for money as much as it is an ask to be part of my personal development and growth. 

If you are a very close friend of mine, you know I grew up without basic necessities.  Food, heat and electricity were often times luxuries my mother could not supply.  My siblings and I have accomplished much through very hard work and ruthless tenacity.  Unfortunately we were pressured by society and extended family to be embarrassed of our mixed heritage while we  quietly endured serious poverty.  Although we no longer struggle for necessities, we all still struggle to ask for help.  I am desperately trying to unlearn this terrible habit.

So here are a few of the things I could use help with.

I calculated the gas to keep my Wrangler going to be about $2000.  I need shoes hiking shoes for Barlie, it will be hot and she will be outside a lot (I got them, don't worry).   I'd like to get a Sat. phone in case I get into a serious situation with no phone service.  I would also like an electric fridge for my car but might just go with a small cooler to save money.  I need to change all my spark plugs (Dave’s demanding) and I’ll need a gas can and water can for the outside my jeep.  I am splurging on a lighting donut to film and and an extra battery.  Outfighting my car will be quite a bit and I am not including it in these funds.  Food is going to be minimal to save money.  I’ll consider this trip as my summer diet!

Many have already helped.  My first shout out has to go to @chili_reyno for starting the problem solving of where I am going to sleep in my Jeep.  The second shout out goes to Danny for helping me set up all my accounts (Twitter, website, FB, and Instagram) all with the same name Travel2ndDegree. Thanks to @demarzz for being my first re-post. Thanks to @marklovellwoodworking for donating a stove! Thank you Robert for letting me borrow a tri-pod.  A HUGE thanks to my team for encouraging me, and giving my first gas card plus funds.  I could never leave unless I felt you are all going to flourish as a team while I take a little sabatical to develop myself.

I've always encouraged others to dream big and "If your dreams don't scare you a bit, they're not big enough."  Well, I am a little scared to pull this off.  Please help me get there.

Thanks you for any help.  Michele & Barlie