Our little Toyota Celica was pleading to ease its swollen belly. It was stuffed. Somehow two suitcases, a gym bag, two pillows, a sleeping bag and inflatable mattress, a cooler, hiking supplies, and more random crap were all going to fit. We were relying on the tiny Toyota Celica named Silver.

In moments, Hubs and I were going on our longest vacation together. We wanted to escape our home but didn’t have the vast financial resources to fly away.

The solution? Road trip!

Okay, this wouldn’t be the most hard-core of all road trips. For more than half the time we’d be sleeping at friends and family’s houses. Due to timing and the location of those houses, our trip would be limited in distance. We were taking our car, so no need to rent a vehicle- Silver probably would’ve died before driving too far anyway (we love you Silver!).

Six stops in 2.5 weeks. Would Hubs and I be ready to kill each other after 120 hours? Will some calamity befall the tires while we’re in the middle of nowhere?

We only have a skeleton of a plan. We have family scattered around Florida. Savannah wasn’t that far away, and our friends had invited us to their housewarming party in Atlanta. Both of us have never been to Asheville, so that would become our trip’s climax. We have the important things out of the way, and that’s what matters. 

With a soft slam, Silver’s trunk closed. The little coupe lurched out of the garage. Despite gaining a rapid amount of weight in a short time, Silver held on! This was going to happen! We were escaping. We were free!

Slowly our house grew smaller in the rear view mirror. Then our neighborhood faded away. Then our town. With each minute we were getting further away from our daily lives and closer to a vacation.

But we weren’t driving too far… not yet. We headed east to the playground of the world also known as Orlando. In that city, Hubs would soon chase down his hobby while I would chase down my brother. Our road trip had begun.