We, two humans and Joey our canine, had spent a collective 27 years in New York City. Angela and I had great, stable jobs that supported us comfortably. Yet, at the end of April 2009, within moments of just another dinner conversation at a restaurant whose name escapes us, we decided to uproot ourselves from our beloved city during the worst economical climate since the Great Depression and go traveling for seven months. We concluded that this was our last opportunity for some exploration and adventure before starting a family. The time was now.



We turned in our resignations, sold Angela’s beloved Honda Civic, and bought a 12-year-old Nissan Pathfinder for $4100. We arranged for our belongings to be moved to storage in California, installed a Thule rooftop cargo box to free up more romping room for Joey. And just like that, we left for our adventure on July 23, 2009. This book tells the story of our road trip, which lasted 2 1/2 months and took us from Manhattan to the tip of Alaska. We did not have much of an itinerary nor did we know where we would be going after the road trip. We embraced the unknown. It was a luxury few travelers had, and we took full advantage of it.