Great thing you're doing. As I've told you on IRC.

Sounds interesting. I'm in southern Texas, but I'll probably be too busy to meet up with anybody.

I live in the state of Misery (AKA Missouri), you don't want to come here lol.

Greetings Alater!  I don't think we've met, I've only been around the VE for a couple of months.  Pleased to meet ye!

I live in Japan (though I'm British).  Can't offer much in a place to crash (apartments here are small.  You have NO idea just how small I am talking!), but if ye are planning on coming out this far I would be happy to give you some advice and help.

Note, my Japanese is poor at best.

I'm in OK, so not too far from Stormz. However, I'm in a dorm and am not allowed to have people sleep over. If you pass through, though, it'd be cool to meet up for a little while.

-Drac

Arizona... you seriously don't want to come to this dust bowl... seriously, you don't... the only thing here is that big hole in the ground, and that's like... a 5 minute attraction.  After that, it's like "eh... already saw it..."  unless you're into geology or native american history, a senior citizen, or completely insane, Arizona is not the place to visit for any reason what-so-ever...

I suppose that if you were to roll out Iowa-way I could offer you a dorm room for a night. And booze.

Well you know where I am.. Australia's capital.

I even have a guest house these days.

That's alright, I'll suffer for a cause.

I'm an NC-er maself. Livin' at school, so my dorm's basically off-limits.

On note: NC will probably be my first stop. Including real life friends, other internet friends, and here; if everybody just from NC showed up it would be like 30 people. Add in nearby places like VA, TN, SC, and maybe georgia...Ya. Lot of people for that first big huhra.

As for sleeping arrangements: I'm fully aware that most of you are underaged or broke college students. That's great! This trip is really going to be, for me, about getting out and having fun. I will find a place to sleep. If nothing else my car has removable back seats and I will probably be removing them to make a small bed in the back. Couches will probably just be more comfortable.

Basically this is about me finding myself after a bad stint in my life and the VE means a lot to me. When I was younger...(kinda a stupid thing to say from a 20 year old) I was here as a very disturbed youth and some friends I met here gave me some really hard lessons that helped me to live to see this second turning point in my life. This organization, this community, you guys in general, mean a lot to me. 2 weeks in? Got your heart into it? I love you too. I can't express how much the VE means to me, and I only wish I could have devoted more of my time to it. Maybe more of my money too instead of buying frivolous things.

A little side note here: Pay attention to the people around you. Some of the people here are assholes, self centered, and sometimes hateful people, but they never last. Observe the community as a whole. There are a lot of lessons, a lot of values to be found. Find a friend, a group of friends, talk them into sharing about their life, or just do what I do and share about yours. We're here because we're naturally anti-social people on one level or another. Human social interaction is key to human mental and physical health.

I could go on like this forever bu you get my point.

Summary: Love the VE, love you guys. I'm going to travel to find myself, my life, and my purpose. I want to meet some of the great people that have made this possible, and in the process maybe make the place a little better. I'm not asking for hand outs, I'm not begging for beds. I will stop and work, I will build a bed in my car. I just want you guys to show up, drag yourselves out your RP closet, and see the VE the way I do.

<--- I'm apparently becoming a fucking hippy...

Thanks for the vote of confidence. This post will all probably get deleted when I start up the main post. A lot of this I probably shouldn't even be posting due to the rollercoaster of emotion going on right now.

So I've come up with a preliminary cost list. Now of course there are some things I'm forgetting, and that these are approx. prices. If you see any kind of blaring errors in all of these, please let me know.

Cost of trip, A to Z

First trip costs

Car repairs: Approx $100
Spare tire: Already got one :P
Heater: $24
Clothes: Got it
Plates Etc.: $20
One eye burner: $18
Cookware: Amazingly $9.50
Food: Approx $300, maybe more maybe less
Passport: $140
Website hosting: $120 bucks for the year
Sleeping bag: $22.37
Gas: Approx $600

Estimated East to West coast trip: $1355
Sell Car: $750-$1000
Plane trip to Canberra: $1400