Sustainable Couch Surfing Around the U.S.: Part 1

By Guest Bloggers James McAuley and Cayce Clifford

Is it possible to travel around the U.S. for next to no cost and see how sustainable we all really are? It's been a couple of weeks since we were last on Tonic as the subject of Rosie Haney 's article, and we are pleased to share our first update of what we've been doing to answer that question.

We set out on our five-week cross-country road trip on the morning of June 20. Both being photojournalism students at Ohio University's Visual Communications program and both having an appetite to explore, we thought it best to spend the first half of our summer on the road -- photographing and taking video and audio of the United States.

Of course, there are many aspects about the trip that excite us, but one of the coolest things about it is that we have been able to travel at almost minimum cost by giving up some of the commodities and expenses that most travelers experience. Our main expense has been putting gas in our car. We have eliminated lodging expenses by staying with family, couch surfing through friends (and online), and staying at free campsites in national parks. We stockpiled non-perishable food items using extra meal plan dollars from college and gathered more than enough food for the entire expedition. Instead of buying souvenirs from pricey gift stores, we are taking photographs to record the memories. We are avoiding entrance fees, opting towards free attractions and sites off the beaten path. These money-saving techniques have made the trip possible and affordable for us.

Since we left home nearly two weeks ago, we have traveled through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. We've had more than a few memorable experiences along our way. Near the beginning, we had seven consecutive days of 100+ degree weather. We lost our way in the Ozarks of Arkansas late at night while trying to find a non-existent campground. We spent the night in a houseboat on a beautiful bayou on the Chitimacha Indian Reservation in the deep south of Louisiana. We witnessed the devestation of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and we saw the shore in southwestern Louisiana -- where the coast is overpopulated with oil rigs, factories, and fuel refineries.

We were pleasantly surprised when we picked up a pair of vegan hitchhikers named Maigan and Josh, who were headed for the Rainbow Gathering in New Mexico. We are both freegans ourselves, and we shared a lot of common culture with them. We camped in the mountains of the Santa Fe National Forest with a beautiful overlook of the city, surrounded by white aspen trees. The following day, we climbed one of the tall red rock plateaus of northwestern New Mexico, with the permission of an aged Native American named Wilson, who owned the land. We woke up at 4 a.m. this morning from our campsite near the Grand Canyon to take advantage of the free early admission and to see the sun rise over the famously breath-taking landmark. This afternoon, we were caught in a torrential and picturesque hailstorm on the road from Las Vegas, near Death Valley. To say the least, we've seen many sights that we will remember for the rest of our lifetimes.

We have three weeks left to our journey and we still have a lot left to see. On the radar are Highway 1 spanning the California coast, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to name a few. As often as we find reliable internet access, we update our blogs with photographs and tales of our travels. We'll be processing more of the audio and video media that we have been gathering, and we'll upload it to our sites as we get more time. Keep checking back to Tonic.com for future updates on our cross-country adventure, and wish us luck in our travels!

Cayce's Blog

James' Blog

All photos courtesy of Cayce and James

James McAuley and Cayce Clifford are touring the U.S. this summer to see if they can do so on very little budget and to report on the sustainability of America. You can follow their adventures right here at Tonic.

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