that's the way we get by

As I write this, Mom and I are sitting in the hotel in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, after an easy day of driving through six states. We woke up in South Carolina, drove through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and now PA. We’ve been amazingly lucky so far as far as weather, traffic, lodging, restaurants, and all that other stuff that can either make traveling easy and fun or a living hell.
I’ve been so focused on the travel part of this journey that the destination has sort of taken a backseat in my mind. Which is not necessarily good, considering the destination/three-month apprenticeship are the reasonnn I’m traveling in the first place. Luckily I’ll have a bit of time in Stockbridge and then at the dorm itself (again, !) to get settled and shift into high gear/hardworking actor mode. Not that I’m not alllllways in that mode, but let’s be honest, I’m not.
So while listening to the Fellowship of the Rings on audiobook during the driving day and watching Community on my iPad (Apple plug!—not) in the hotel at night are fun and diverting, what I reallllllly should be doing is solidifying my audition material and reading (or re-reading) one of the approximately 342 plays I packed. (Sidebar: the Berkshires arrival packet specifically stated *do not overpack* [but in bold not asterisks but I’m new at this Tumblr blogging thing and I don’t really understand HTML], but I know how much it sucks to UNDERpack, so: sorry BTF, I brought a lotta shit.)
Annnnnyway. I think once I get on the (godawful but ultimately incredibly helpful) schedule of waking up at the asscrack of dawn every day, it’ll be much easier to put my nose to the grindstone, if you will.
As for tonight? I think I’m gonna watch some more Community.

Mom and I took turns driving from Ocean Springs, MS, to Spartanburg, SC today. We spent about nine and half hours on the road, counting two pit stops and a lunch stop.
After we got in town and checked into the hotel, we went and saw a movie and had popcorn and movie hot dogs (let that sink in for a minute…ew) for dinner, and then returned to the hotel.
So, yeah, that was a boring and non-witty description of what happened today. But it happened. And I had a good time. And I hung out with my mom, like, all day. Which is rare.
But we had fun. And maybe bonded or some shit.
I guess I’m saying all this to say that as much game as I talk about being grown and wanting to get out, I’m really gonna miss my family when I’m gone.
And I think they’re really gonna miss me too.

So I’m going on an epic field trip.

Since I’m spending the summer in the Berkshires, and the Berkshires has little-to-no public transportation, and I live in Mississippi, I’m the lucky recipient of a 24-hour road trip with my dear ol’ mom.

That’s right. I have to have my car up there, but it’s an extraordinarily long drive, so my mother and I are sharing the driving duties and spending three days heading from my parents’ house in Ocean Springs, MS to my dorm (!) in Stockbridge, MA. Then once we get my belongings all moved in, I’ll drive Mom to the airport so she can return home, a little wiser.

We begin this epic journey tomorrow morning at eight in the a.m., my teeny car loaded down with three months’ worth of an actor’s possessions (i.e., too much), my mom’s weekender bag, and a few snacks and drinks to keep the weary travelers nourished. Oh, and my dad’s copy of The Fellowship of the Ring on audiobook, because what better way to begin an adventure?

I expect my last night in Mississippi (for two-and-a-half months, at least) to be a sleepless one, spent in eager anticipation of the Lunchable- and schoolbus-less field trip that awaits me tomorrow.

Berkshires or bust, y’all.