Spring Break
Who's Up For A Trip?
Two Alums Span Country On Post-Graduate Road Trip
Christopher Duray
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News
Lots of students leave college eager to jump into a career, or to keep studying in graduate school, but seven months ago, two UConn graduates decided to take an extended road trip throughout America, a tour that should end some time next week when they return to their starting point in West Suffield.
Brett Mickelson, 24 and his girlfriend Julia Bolton, 23 have traveled through 35 states in their 1993 Chevrolet Suburban with their 1 1/2-year-old chocolate lab retriever, Data. The two met while interning for the HEART program at UConn. They have been driving since July 16, all the while keeping a blog at roadtrip.brettmickelson.com. Their trip started heading west across New York going through Canada and the north Midwestern states to California before looping around and traveling through the southern states. The two estimate they have been to more than 20 national parks on the way. At the time of the interview, the two were in New Jersey, close to Atlantic City.
"It's the kind of trip that both of us agree everyone should get out and do," Mickelson said. "We're doing it on a much larger scale than most people are able or inclined to do. I know some people say they couldn't live in a car for six months even if they wanted to, but it was the perfect time and the perfect opportunity for us to do this, and it was an experience above and beyond what we expected."
Mickelson said that the main reason for the trip came at the realization that he and Bolton had been to more foreign countries than states, and decided to take the opportunity to truly see the place where they lived.
"You can watch as many movies as you want and get the feel for the west, or you can see all the national parks in a book, but to see them in real life is a totally different experience," he said.
The pair have been living out of their car for nearly seven months, though they took every chance they could to stay with any friends and family who lived along the way.
Brett Mickelson, 24 and his girlfriend Julia Bolton, 23 have traveled through 35 states in their 1993 Chevrolet Suburban with their 1 1/2-year-old chocolate lab retriever, Data. The two met while interning for the HEART program at UConn. They have been driving since July 16, all the while keeping a blog at roadtrip.brettmickelson.com. Their trip started heading west across New York going through Canada and the north Midwestern states to California before looping around and traveling through the southern states. The two estimate they have been to more than 20 national parks on the way. At the time of the interview, the two were in New Jersey, close to Atlantic City.
"It's the kind of trip that both of us agree everyone should get out and do," Mickelson said. "We're doing it on a much larger scale than most people are able or inclined to do. I know some people say they couldn't live in a car for six months even if they wanted to, but it was the perfect time and the perfect opportunity for us to do this, and it was an experience above and beyond what we expected."
Mickelson said that the main reason for the trip came at the realization that he and Bolton had been to more foreign countries than states, and decided to take the opportunity to truly see the place where they lived.
"You can watch as many movies as you want and get the feel for the west, or you can see all the national parks in a book, but to see them in real life is a totally different experience," he said.
The pair have been living out of their car for nearly seven months, though they took every chance they could to stay with any friends and family who lived along the way.
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