All alone, he woke up in his car. The light peaked in through the windows as the sun rose above the horizon. In the distance, you could hear the waves crashing on the shore, quiet but piercing through the silence.

 

In solitude, he began his morning routine by scanning his surroundings to ensure he was safe. On this particular morning, he found himself on a desolate beach on the coast of California. He took a breath of fresh air and basked in its beauty, free of distraction from anyone or anything.

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After breakfast, he got dressed, prepped his car for the drive, and asked himself, “where to now?”

 

The Leap of Faith

 

Asher Stuart has always strived to live outside of his comfort zone. He is the type of person who just looks like he has a great story to tell -- and he truly does. Asher was a sophomore in college and wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do in his future, but he knew that he wanted to seize the opportunity set before him. “I just really wanted to take advantage of the position I was in,” said Asher, “I was ahead in school, I had a good amount of money saved up, and I didn’t really have any responsibilities holding me back.”

 

So, in the fall of 2019, Asher took a semester off to embrace this freedom. It was his 20th birthday when Asher embarked on his solo road trip across the western half of the United States. “I have always had a wanderlust heart, and I’ve always loved the idea of living out of a vehicle,” Asher said, and that is exactly what he did.

 

For the next three months, he would be living in his car, a 2014 Kia Sorento. Asher and his dad worked on the car for three weeks prior to his departure, customizing it in preparation for the 13,000-mile solo trip. The two of them built a lifted platform to occupy a twin-size bed and storage for the food, clothes, and equipment he would need along the way.

 

The Journey

 

The trip began in his hometown, Mansfield, Texas. In the months that followed, he traveled through Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, and then back east through New Mexico to land back home. The average American visits only 12 states in his or her lifetime; Asher exceeded this number in just three months (1).

 

“My goal was to emerge myself into the natural environments in America,” Asher said, “I wanted to hit as many national parks as possible and really take my time exploring them.” On his journey, Asher visited 15 national parks and picked up a patch or sticker at nearly every one of them to “stamp” his figurative passport through the states.

 

Along the way, Asher encountered many people and plenty of wildlife. “There is this crazy rush that comes over you when you are standing in the presence of a grizzly bear,” says Asher. “I remember driving through Grand Teton National Park and encountering a bear on the road. All the cars were pulled off to the side of the road. When you’re in a national park, that’s usually the sign that there is wildlife in the area.”

 

During this traffic stop, he met a fellow traveler from London. They admired the grizzly together and joked with one another about how they plan on outrunning each other if the bear decided to attack. It was encounters like these that he cherished the most. Whether it was an opportunity to meet someone or the luck of spotting an animal he had never seen before, Asher appreciated everything that came his way.

 

Beyond the Sights

 

Asher describes his freedom on the road to be strange. “It was weird being in control of every aspect of my life, yet at the same time not being sure of anything,” he said. Most days, he didn’t know where he was going to sleep, what he was going to eat, what he was going to do, or when he was going to do it. “It was a really liberating experience of just completely owning every decision I had in my life,” Asher said.

 

Being alone for this trip was something he really wanted, but it came at a price.  Being away from friends and family was one of his biggest difficulties on the trip. “There were many times when my hometown friends were making plans that I would have loved to have been a part of, but simply couldn’t be. It was also hard to keep up with people too; sometimes, I would just forget to call people, even my parents,” he recalls.

 

Though these times were tough, there was still a silver lining. Being on this trip revealed the true importance of the people in his life. He was able to determine which relationships truly mattered, giving him a deeper level of appreciation for those people.

 

Asher was challenged by his isolation because he is naturally a very extroverted person. As someone who has always surrounded himself with loved ones, the lack of a social life presented a unique obstacle to overcome: being content by himself. It wasn’t too far into the trip that he eventually found peace in his solitude and became comfortable doing everything by himself. “I started to really enjoy eating alone at restaurants,” Asher says, “I feel like that is something that would usually give people anxiety, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.”

 

“Taking that semester off was one of the best decisions I have ever made,” says Asher. He says that if there is anyone considering a trip like this, the time is now.

 

Life is full of obligations and responsibilities and over time, they just stack on top of each other. “Right now is probably the most free you will ever be, so why wait?”

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References

 

(1) Carmichael, Matt. (2016). The Average American has Visited Just 12 States