Road Trip 2011

There is just something about driving a car alone for hours that I LOVE. Ever since my first solo cross country trip out to Vegas, I have been making a lot of time for road trips. I pack the car with hours of music and audio books to read and just go. It really clears my head and get’s me thinking about the important stuff. It forces me to get the hell away from a computer for a while and really think about the next few months and what I want to accomplish. Any excuse I have for a road tip, I take.

I have been going out west on a ski trip this time of year ever since I graduated from college (for the last 6 years or so). Since I work from home now, I decided to start making it a road trip, driving to different parts of the mountains to visit friends and hit the slopes. Tomorrow will be the start of my second annual trip out west and I hope to keep up the tradition.

Of course this isn’t a three week vacation Per se. “Real” vacations went out the door as soon as I decided to leave my full time job and start working for myself. Working for myself means I’ll still be making time to write blog posts, answer Emails, do tutorials, put out new iPhone apps, do live shows, comment on the facebook page and do everything to made this business run. There is nobody else to do it for me. But of course, that’s ok. I LIKE doing that stuff. I’ll just have to do it in between ski days and driving days.

This Year’s Route


A: Chicago, IL
B: Big Sky, MT
C: Jackson Hole WY
D: Salt Lake City, UT
E: Denver, CO
F: Chicago, IL

Books and Podcasts I will be reading and re-reading this trip

Linchpin by Seth Godin
Catching up on This Week In Startups
Philosophers notes Volume 2
Re-listening to “Back To Work” – My favorite new podcast.
The Wayne Dyer Audio Collection

Oh yeah, I will be posting photos and stuff throughout the trip. You can follow me on Posterous or Flickr if you want to see where I am and what I am doing on the trip. Also, I may have time to schedule a meet-up in SLC and Denver. So if you are in the area, make sure to watch facebook or twitter for more info. Hope to see you there!

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  • journey is a fuel for keeping mind artistic .. specially when your work is related to computers 😛

    happy journey nick..
    enjoy !!

  • Man, I could really go for a road trip right now. Living downtown with public trans is great and all, but nothing beats the solitude and freedom of a long car ride and Sigur Ros.

    Enjoy every second of it.

  • This Week In Startups is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts. Jason Calacanis (@jason) has so much energy and brings up many great points! You can never go wrong with a Seth Godin book either. Have fun and always drive fast and take chances!

  • Hey nick,
    Say hey when you make it to D-Town. It s a balmy 55 degrees here today.

    I’ll buy you a coffee or a beer at one of my favorite Irish joints. Or a round of Golden Tee at a local dive.

    Cheers,
    Jamie

  • Hey Nick.
    Maybe to help round out the CityGen library and research, here are two Google Map pins for a decent shot of downtown Denver…

    This location I got from my long-time friend and DP. He goes here to shoot the city-at-night shots you see for Denver Ballgames…(Usually the nuggets) It’s a unsuspecting location – very easy to get to – just drive up and park. Pull out the sticks and shoot. This area and a few spot north and south of here are about 300 feet above the denver city skyline – overlooking the Coors field, the amusement park Elitch Gardens and a very Modest-sized Denver skyline. For me, this spot is specifically good for a sunrise or moonrise shot or timelapse HDR-panos or lightning images in the spring. It’s on the west side looking east. Any lens around a 50mm would be fine here.
    http://tinyurl.com/4g6x3gb

    This one is on the east side looking west. I haven’t been here in a while, but generally speaking anything in/around City Park without a tree in the way is good – – and if you can skip onto the 9th hole at the nearby golf course – even better. – The mountains are way way in the background – so you’ll need a clear day to have them in the shot. Figure you’ll want a long lens ~200mm would be ideal. Denver has one signature high-rise building called the “Cash Register Building.” From spots around this location you’ll see that in the foreground.
    http://tinyurl.com/46ww6zm

    Let me know if you get anything cool from – if you miss it – I’ll send you what I have.

    Cheers,
    Jamie

  • Oh and if you’re feelin’ the spirit of Jack Kerouac.

    His home is about 2-3 miles from me, but don’t bother visiting unless you are really really REALLY interested in such things. (the google street view should be enough.)
    http://tinyurl.com/4jynbuw

    Better off hitting up the local music scene and a dive bar or two on Colfax instead. (BlueBird, Ogden, Lions Lair – end the night with a Gyro at Pete’s Kitchen.)

    “Down in Denver, All I did was die.”
    JK

  • I see you’re going through Des Moines. Sweet! Let me know if you’re making a stop. I’ll put some gas in your car!

  • awesome man!, I love road trip and much like you stated above I feel in love with solitude on road trips when I made my way across the country once! Good stuff and some of my best ideas have come from these trips! Enjoy and keep up the good work!

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