JoelNothman.com

I thought I would share a couple of potential changes in plan and ask for anyone’s opinion on them:

Cut short west coast: Currently I’m set to go to San Francisco and the Bay Area on Wednesday, and from there after the weekend make it to Seattle by next Thursday morning. I had hoped to rent a car with someone I picked up in a hostel and drive it up the west coast, but that seems less and less feasible, especially seeing as it is unlikely I’ll be able to rent a car without big fees because I am under 25. I could still take some other mode of transport up to Portland, Oregon and then Seattle, or I could just stay in San Fran and cancel one flight on my ticket, having to have the whole ticket reissued at a cost ($70 or something). Given more time in the Bay Area, I might also make it out to Yosemite National Park, which I hear is really something worth seeing (but usually requires more advance reservation than I have allowed for).

Change mid-USA: I am also thinking of changing my central/mid-west leg of my trip which goes from Alburquerque (New Mexico) to Chicago (Illinois) over 12 nights. Doing so without a car will probably be best by train which goes through Colorado, Kansas and Missouri, or by bus which takes that route or goes through Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Travel time overall is over a day, so I would split it up and see places along the way. The other alternative is to change my flights and land in New Orleans instead of Alburquerque, again total travel is about a day by bus, but it follows the Mississippi river up through MS state and Tennessee. I would probably spend some time in Memphis or something along the way.

I’m up for changing the ticket to drop Seattle and New Mexico’s desert—any thoughts?