Month to Month to Me

Here’s one sentence that recaps something new that happened

to me every month starting from May 2016

May- I left New Jersey on a bicycle with my two friends from college.

June- I visited the Gateway Arch in St. Louis for the first time.

July- I fell in love and then two hours later hated Utah.

August- I flew back to New Jersey after visiting California for the first time.

September- I started a new job at SiriusXM.

October- I obtained a driver's license, for the first time in my life, that doesn't say "New Jersey" on it.

November- I tried to avoid all political facebook posts.

December- I turned 28 years old for the first time.

January- I became an Ordained Minister.

February- I completed certification courses in Fundamentals of Project Management, Achieving Personal Success, and Introduction to Time Managment.

March- I delivered for UberEATS on a bicycle.

April- I started cleaning out the van with intensions to sell it later this year.

Shifting Gears in 2016

All across the internet it seems everyone is cursing out 2016. Anticipating a better 2017.

Honestly, I can’t complain because 2016 wasn’t a particularly bad year for me. In fact the last two years I’ve kind of been kicking major keester in the “achieving personal goals” department.

In 2015, I decided to downsize, move into a van and start a podcast/blog. Blah, blah, blah.. I know that’s all I talk about here on, DudeInVan.com (Go figure) My point is, that was a goal and I accomplished it.

Home

In January, at the beginning of 2016, I was working in corporate television. My new obsession.. I mean goal was to get back to producing radio. After months of people telling me walking across America was a bad idea, a friend called me a asked if I would consider riding a bicycle across the country instead. 

I said "YES!” immediately, but most people don’t know this part.. I held off from committing to the trip because I was waiting to hear back from a radio station that I thought I had a chance to work at in the Northern Midwest. In February, I was listening to the radio show, I applied to, and one of the cast members compared my broadcasting experience to a “Subway sandwich maker”… That’s when I realized I wasn’t going to get a call. 

The plan was to quit my corporate job to find a new job, as a Radio Producer.

Day 1, New Jersey

At the end of March I gave my employer a six week notice. By mid-April I bought a bicycle and on the first week in May I was on my way to California riding my stead. 

Full Refund, San Francsico 

I learned a lot about myself and I met bunch of really great people along the way. 

Some New, Some Old Friends.

I contacted a bunch of radio stations as I traveled through 12 states. A few places replied.. most didn’t. At the end of the trip I had a couple of interviews over the phone between Colorado and California.

After miles of peddling from the East Coast to the West Coast, as crazy as it sounds, I accepted a Radio Producer job at the end of my trip.

So, I can’t speak for you, because 2016, for me, went as planned.

Highest Point, Colorado 

I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am proudest of? Working really hard... and achieving as much as I could. -Elena Kagan