I drove across the country again... here's what happened.
If you would’ve told me a few weeks ago I’d be driving through a massive snow blizzard in North Dakota with two new puppies in the back of a rental car, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Nevertheless, I did. And after a 24-hour stretch of driving (sans sleep), Crystal and I arrived in Boston on Friday morning at 8 am with two new puppies and 3 weeks to find a new apartment.
The decision to get a new puppy wasn’t something I made up on a whim. I had been considering this for a while now. And Laurence seemed like the perfect one.
I thought about my life in 2021. How picture-perfect it felt living in my studio… The peace and calm I created… The hours I put into developing myself. I loved my life the way it was. Yet I also recognized how alone I felt. There was no one to share the fruits of my labor with and there were many nights I went home to an empty apartment with a heart that ached for companionship.
By the end of my trip to Idaho, I knew I was ready to bring Laurence back to Boston with me. The only thing I didn’t know was how I was going to get him here.
I thought about taking him on the airplane, but my travel plans weren’t set up for that.
I looked into having a service drive him, but that didn’t feel right either.
I called my friend, Crystal, and said…
“I just feel like Laurence and Leeza are supposed to stay together. Is that crazy? I want to drive them back to Boston with me, I just don’t think I can do it on my own.”
Her response, without hesitation, was “You’re not alone. I can help you.” Crystal made the decision to adopt Leeza right then and there. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe her willingness to trust me and extend her unwavering support for my vision of keeping them together.
We devised a plan, slept on it, and took action the next morning.
It was an experience I will never forget.
The first few days on the road were challenging. My body was sore from driving and lugging two puppies and all of our belongings to and fro. On the first night I burst into tears. What have I gotten myself into? Why am I doing this? I thought.
I thought about my first road trip across the country; how in many ways it felt the same. Trusting myself with a fearless faith and hoping my intuition was leading me to a place I belonged.
We had only five days to make it to Boston so I could catch a departing flight to LAX for a friend’s baby shower. I was worried I had bitten off more than I could chew. And I most certainly had, but I was still determined to get there. I was determined to make it work.
On the last leg of our trip, we drove through Boston’s first snowstorm of the year at 5 am. The roads were icy and almost unseeable and I was afraid one of us was going to fall asleep at the wheel. We had been driving for 24hrs with no sleep so I could make it to the airport on time.
When we finally arrived in Boston, we were exhausted, depleted, and overwhelmed with joy that we had finally made it. It was one of the hardest trips I had ever embarked on, yet one of the most rewarding to see Laurence and Leeza in their new home..
I didn’t end up making my flight to California. The snowstorm delayed it until it no longer made sense to go any longer. I was devastated, heartbroken, and exhausted while I sat at the airport at 10 pm, finally making the decision to get up, leave the terminal, and call an Uber back to my apartment. I did everything I could, I thought. I did my best. And that’s all I can ever ask of myself.
Teamwork, diligence, and patience are the words that come to mind when I think about this trip. I couldn’t have done it alone. Nor could I have done it without a wholehearted determination.
“You can’t get lazy,” said Crystal’s mom, when asked about the puppies, “You’ve got to do the work.”
If this experience has taught me anything, it’s go all in. Give it everything you got, because how you do one thing is how you do everything.
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In love and light,
Anna Vatuone
