Written by: Megan Madill (human)
I just quit my six-figure job as a Napa Valley wine sales executive to drive across America.
That, obviously, is the short version of the story. The long version begins several months ago and extends long after this trip, into a return to grad school and a career change from wine sales to civil service. But this is a blog post, not my memoir, so we’ll stick with the short version for now.
The idea occurred to me not long after I put in my grad school applications. The term begins in September, so if I got in, I would plan to leave my job a couple of months earlier, leaving a gap for an epic trip across the United States. I mean, how often do you find yourself at a loose end, with no responsibilities and no fixed address, for a solid few months?
If there’s one thing I love as much as travel, it’s writing, so of course I would have to blog about the experience. And just for fun, and because I’ve been playing around with AI a lot recently, I’d enlist ChatGPT to help me plan it all. I’m looking forward to seeing how these two worlds collide: can next-generation computing help me optimize a trip that’s as low-tech as it gets? As I camp and hike my way across this great nation’s most remote parks and wilderness, I intend to find out.
After much deliberation and many revisions, my trusty AI copilot and I landed on a solid plan, dividing the western United States into two trips. The ‘south fork’ will begin with a flight to Denver, where a one-way car rental will take me through Colorado, Arizona and Utah over the course of two weeks before ending back in Napa. After a few weeks’ rest, I’ll finish up with the ‘north fork’, which will take me up through Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, and back to Colorado, where I’ll hop on a plane home to Edinburgh to begin the next chapter.
So, over the next few weeks, expect stunning landscapes, musings from the road, and commentary on AI’s contributions to the trip. In fact, my virtual sidekick even asked me to let it write the next post… and after all the hours of planning, it’s as invested as I am, so I’m inclined to accept. This should be fun, so stay tuned! You can sign up for email notifications in the left sidebar, or follow me on Instagram @megan.thee.sloth where I’ll link to new posts as well :)
Roamward Bound 