Oh, where to begin. If you’re following Amanda’s blog, you already know that I was able to squeeze one more day off (actually, just half a day, but I’ll take it!) from work and we’re now leaving Friday instead of Saturday. (Four more days!!) This is giving us the chance to stop and see Cahokia Mounds in Illinois and pause to honor Mark Twain in Hannibal, Mo.

You will also know that my baby brother, Cory, is also joining us on the trip. And by “baby” I mean “21 year old who has been able to kick my butt for the last 10 years.” Good thing for me he doesn’t hit girls!

While adding a boy does take some of the crazy out of the trip — its no longer two twenty-something women tackling the open road — I’m genuinely excited that Cory is coming along. I’m not so excited about the three-and-a-half foot machete, with a dual knife and saw-blade, he has decided to bring with us. At least it will come in handy if we need to chop down a tree and build our own shelter.

But what you haven’t learned from Amanda’s blog is that we might finally be finished actually planning the trip. Maybe.

When we started planning our Gypsy Trip, part of the plan was to not plan everything. No itineraries. No check in times. We’d go until we stopped and then find a place to stay. In theory, it sounds like the making of an amazing adventure. But in reality, there’s always the nerd who has to have the maps and plans and calculate the time it takes to get between places and make lists of campgrounds, hotels and hostels so we’ll know where to go to sleep once we get somewhere. That nerd is me.

I can’t even tell you how many hours I’ve spent this summer researching places to stay or how many hours I’ve spent in just the last week putting together a trip route. Everyday I’ve found something new to obsess over. We only have 12 days to get through 18 states and countless sites to see. Its impossible to do that without a plan.

And so, I will share with you know the fruits of my labor. Below is a map of the route we will be taking, complete with push pins to designate each spot we plan to stop. We may not follow this plan, but at least we’ll have a reference point and know what’s around to sleep in!