Remote in Albany: The Arrival
I made it! After two days, very little sleep and lots of coffee, I am officially in Albany. No limbs missing, just mostly brain fried as two sisters would be after driving up the coast for 2 days. The best piece of advice about driving up? Actually make it a road trip. Not a marathon. Take a few more days off, put the “getting there” anxiety to bed, and take longer rest stops in cities you have not been in before. Explore a little bit. Safely though!
Thankfully, my sister and I made the trip together. That’s another piece of advice I recommend- get a driving buddy. The monotony of the road and fields get to you after a while. I could not imagine doing that drive on my own. As my sister and I are cut from the same cloth, we planned the heck out of it entirely. Playlists and podcasts were curated and downloaded before the trip to divvy up the time. Snacks and drinks were purchased the day before to avoid run-ins with the hangry sisters. Facemasks and hand sanitizer were at the ready because we’re still in a pandemic, guys.
I made it! After two days, very little sleep and lots of coffee, I am officially in Albany. No limbs missing, just mostly brain fried as two sisters would be after driving up the coast for 2 days. The best piece of advice about driving up? Actually make it a road trip. Not a marathon. Take a few more days off, put the “getting there” anxiety to bed, and take longer rest stops in cities you have not been in before. Explore a little bit. Safely though!
Thankfully, my sister and I made the trip together. That’s another piece of advice I recommend- get a driving buddy. The monotony of the road and fields get to you after a while. I could not imagine doing that drive on my own. As my sister and I are cut from the same cloth, we planned the heck out of it entirely. Playlists and podcasts were curated and downloaded before the trip to divvy up the time. Snacks and drinks were purchased the day before to avoid run-ins with the hangry sisters. Facemasks and hand sanitizer were at the ready because we’re still in a pandemic, guys.
@mactabbycatcafe
When it came to staying overnight in a city, we chose Charlotte, North Carolina. We had family living there that were comfortable with us staying with them so we graciously took them up on the offer. When we arrived a
little earlier than anticipated, we grabbed a cold one at PopBar, where you can customize your own popsicles and stopped in to play with some cats at McTabby Cat Cafe. The best thing about the cat cafe beside the cats? The strong mimosa they poured. It was a well-earned treat for Day One.
Day Two started at 6 am. Charlotte is not quite the halfway point so we had three extra hours tacked on from the day before’s 8 hour trek. Hands down, Pennsylvania was the longest state to drive through. I almost lost it. That was one of the most prevalent items about that day. The other highlight past the Pennsylvania portion of the drive are all the delightful small towns we drove through to avoid tolls. It was on the border of New York State dotted all along before hitting the capital city that we almost gave up on Albany and decided to settle in one of the small towns. 10/10 recommend that leg of the trip! That will be the most looked forward to part of the trip back too.
When we arrived in Albany around 6:30 pm Saturday night, we finally got a first look at the apartment! Which is truly perfect. I’ll show it off…in my next post. Thinking ahead, I figured we would be completely wiped that night.
There was truly no moving in happening. We did, however, get all the boxes out of the car before heading to the Renaissance hotel. That place was heaven! Honestly, the perfect place to lay your bones after a marathon car drive. We feasted on food from Pad Thai Noodle and passed out watching Schitt’s Creek. Praise the Renaissance for being open, safe, and rule-abiding. Best part? It was a three-minute drive from my apartment!
Top Road Trip Takeaways:
Make it a road trip- not a marathon
Get a buddy to take on the trip
Curate those playlists and download the podcasts
Snacks on snacks with a side of lots of water
Don’t forget to be safe- Facemasks and hand sanitizer
Find a cool halfway point to rest, pet cats and have a mimosa in
Take the “No Tolls” option on the map
Splurge on a hotel the day you get in for ultimate relaxation
Now, I think I’ll go ahead and pour myself a mimosa.
xo,
Kristen
P.S. Enjoy 1 of 3 road trip playlists I created ranging from Chill to Not So Chill.
