Heather Davis's Blog

I have to say that I'm ecstatic that the weather is finally starting to fall in line with typical spring temperatures, because I was finding it awfully difficult to drag myself out of the house for any sort of activity recently. Not only does the sudden burst of sunshine mean I can start hiking and cycling outdoors again, but I can also pursue one of my favorite pastimes - hitting the open road in search of adventure. While I'm all in favor of traveling to distant, exotic locations by airplane, there's something about embarking on a spring or summer road trip that I simply can't resist.

I'm still in the planning stages of picking a destination for my impending getaway, but I have a couple of ideas in mind. I've already been all over the northeast and southwest, so I'm thinking about hugging the Atlantic coast all the way from Vermont down to Florida for a tour of the southeast.

In my frequent travels, I've developed a series of strategies for not only saving as much as a can on the road, but making sure I'm not bogged down by any unnecessary delays. I've found that if I stick to these tried-and-true methods, I'm able to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of my road trips without breaking the bank.

First of all, I rarely travel without a companion if I can help it. Not only does this help in terms of splitting gas and hotel accommodations, but it's also just nice to share an adventure with a friend or family member. This time around, I'm planning on sharing the road with my boyfriend Alden for our first vacation together as a couple. Considering that we live in different states (I'm in Vermont while he's in Massachusetts), I'm super excited to spend more than a couple of days together as we cruise south.

Another great thing about having a traveling buddy is that it makes the trip much safer. While I can always rely on a nice cup of Nantucket Blend® coffee to keep me alert and focused, spending hours behind the wheel can even render caffeine ineffective. It's nice to know that when I'm growing too sleepy to keep driving, Alden can just take over while I relax and sip the remainder of my delicious coffee.

In fact, coffee is such an important part of my travel experience that Alden and I have even decided to pack up my Keurig® brewer to have when we stop in hotels for the night - you can never count of good coffee at roadside accommodations, after all. With a great cup of coffee only a push of a button away, we'll save plenty of money by avoiding expensive coffee shops, and that's something anyone can get behind when you're on an extended vacation.

Between the beautiful mountains, pristine forests, close-knit communities and incredible food, you'd have to drag me away kicking and screaming to get me out of Vermont for more than a few days. Unfortunately, my boyfriend Alden is tied to his job in Boston, so our relationship has always had to deal with us living in two different places. I'm not going to lie - navigating a not-so-long-distance (Vermont to Boston isn't that far, after all) has been tough, but Alden and I seem to have found a way to make it work.

While eventually one of us will have to reconsider his or her respective living arrangement (my money's on Alden) to progress the relationship any further, I've also discovered there are a few enjoyable advantages to being a part of a long distance relationship.

Perhaps the most significant benefit I've noticed is that communicating with your partner when you're separated by many miles allows you to really get to know each other. When you have to schedule specific times to talk either on a lunch break or in the evening, there isn't much time for empty chatter. As a result, I feel like I've discovered parts of Alden's personality that might have taken much longer to uncover through conventional dating.

For instance, I recall one conversation we had that lasted nearly two hours on Skype. We started off with the usual chit-chat - discussing our days at work and griping about this and that - but eventually the conversation evolved to an intense trip into our respective pasts. We talked about our favorite childhood memories, our experiences together in college, traveling, and even old relationships.

After what seemed like a few minutes, both of us realized that we had been talking for an hour and that it was well past nine o'clock. While it was late, neither of us wanted to cut the conversation short, so we fired up our respective Keurig® Vue™ brewers for a necessary caffeine fix. It was during this particular conversation that we learned about our mutual obsession with Barista Prima® Italian Roast. It's good to know that when we end up in the same place, we won't have to argue about which coffee we prefer best.

With our coffee brewed, we were ready to carry the conversation for another hour. After a few more trips to the Keurig, we were both feeling alert enough to watch a movie together. We synced up our well-worn copies of The Big Lebowski (a classic film by all standards) and bantered about our favorite lines from the movie.