From Vegas Sparkle To Quiet Desert: Lessons From A Six-Week Drive

We take you through a six-week road trip that turned a birthday adventure into a masterclass on planning, flexibility, and choosing rest over hustle. The big stops mattered less than the small moments that revealed how to travel smarter and live more intentionally.

• turning the car into a functional home
• practical packing systems and hotel routines
• tactical snack strategy and fitness habits
• route highlights across MO, TX, NM, NV, CA, AZ
• Vegas celebration and the value of friend time
• managing a rare hand infection while traveling
• choosing rest and recovery over rigid plans
• a cruise as active recovery and reset
• the mental game of long drives and two-hour chunks
• finding meaning in small roadside moments
• shifting from reactive living to intentional choices
• what to do differently next time and why

If this episode helped you, made you laugh, or made you consider taking your own adventure, share it with someone who needs a little push out of their comfort zone
You can find everything at MarcyBacchusmedia.com
You can also find all of my podcasts wherever you get your podcasts
So until next time, keep driving your own life, keep choosing your direction, and don't forget the snacks

Transcript

Road Trip Rules And Setup

Packing And Organization Tactics

Route West And Snack Strategy

Vegas Birthday And Friend Time

Fitness On The Road

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello. Welcome to Inside Marcy's Mind. My name is Marcy Backis and I am your host. I'm glad you're here with me today. I want to welcome you back to Inside Marcy's Mind. If you're new here, buckle up literally, because we are talking about road tripping. And if you are not new here, you know I just wrapped up a six-week road trip that was part adventure, part therapy session, part snack management, and a marathon. And let me tell you something. Road trips will reveal things about you, whoo, things you don't ask to know. It'll also reveal a lot of beautiful things about yourself. One of the things is like how quickly you can go from spiritual gratitude to road rage in under 3.5 seconds. So today I'm giving you road trip rules. But along with that, I'm going to tell you about my trip. What worked, what did not, what I will absolutely never do again. I will never do a six-week road trip again. I can tell you that much. I love a road trip. It was wonderful. It ended up being six weeks as I planned it. Um, it's a long way to go. Uh, I'm two-thirds away from California here in Chicago. So if you're planning a road trip or even just life in general, these tips will save your sanity. The biggest thing is your car is your house. And just to say it clearly, when you're on a road trip, your car is your home. Not your cute home, not your stage for Instagram home. It's like, why are these three empty bottles here and a rogue sock in here? Home. Okay. So the first trip is organization. I organized immensely because on this trip, I was doing a lot of things. The first stop was Vegas, and in Vegas, I was celebrating my birthday at a very fancy place for dinner. We also were going the next day to see the Wizard of Oz at the sphere. So everybody kind of wanted to have beautiful clothes for that. So I had to have that whole thing set up: jewelry clothes, jackets, everything for that. Shoes look fabulous. So that was one thing. Had daily driving clothes because I'm drive, I drove five days out there, four days home because I came home from Arizona. Um, I had a week-long cruise in the middle of this to Mexico. Wanted to look great every night for dinner, wanted to work out, wanted to spend time at the spa, wanted to be comfortable, wanted to look good. There was a lot. So I did pack in these like bags you use for your closet, and one was pants, bottoms, tops, sweaters. I had a jacket bag. But then all of a sudden I was like, I'm just going to hotels for the first five nights. So then I had to stop and get a, I had to buy a like a I had a shoebag. Oh my gosh. It was crazy. Anyways, I had to buy something to that was small to go in and out of hotels with, and but I did it. Organization was the key there. So what I drove five days. My first um stop was in Springfield, Missouri. I stopped there and on the way there, I stopped in Uranus for fudge. Yes, jokes galore. It's like a nine-year-old wrote all the jokes, but they have great fudge. Stopped there. Um, I ate healthy on this trip. I ended up losing six pounds. Don't ask me how I did that, but uh by not snacking a lot, I can tell you that. Smart snacking is what I did. Popcorners are your friends. Let's see, what else? Okay, so I drove to Springfield, Missouri. From Springfield, Missouri, I went to Amarillo, Texas. And that was one night that I did treat myself to eat out. Other than that, I was eating yogurt and cottage cheese that I brought with me. Um, I stopped at the Big Texan, and I did not have a big steak at the Big Texan. I had a big salad and some French fries. I allow myself as much Diet Coke as I want on this trip. After that, I drove to Albuquerque and from Albuquerque into Vegas. And so let's talk about organizing for that. So I kind of give you an idea of how I kept things organized. Um, I would have to take things in and out of the trunk. It wasn't super easy, but I did it. I had my electronics in something, I had my snacks in something, I had an emergency kit in there as well. And still by week three, I'm digging around like I'm on an archaeological expedition. And here's what I learned: keep snacks within reach, keep trash contained, which I did. And for the love of all things holy, designate a water bottle spot. So I didn't even use water bottles, but if you do, make sure you have a spot. I had my big Stanley cup that was in one of my cup holders. And since I was alone, the other cup holder had Diet Coke in it from a fountain at all times. So um you don't want water bottles rolling around in your car. And I got two bottles of water every time I stopped at the hotel because I stayed at all Hilton's, I stayed at Hilton True's. They're a great driving trip hotel, great priced. I know I'm a Marriott girl, but for driving trips, I love Hilton's. And since I'm a Hilton's Honors member, I always got a snack and two water bottles. So snack strategy for this. Let's talk snacks. Road trip snacks are not casual, they are tactical. So for this, I really stayed away from salty things. I stuck with high protein and popcorners. That was my goal. So once I got to Vegas, as I said, I had a great time with girlfriends. We really enjoyed ourselves. We shopped, we walked, we talked, we ate. I ordered my own birthday cake. It was a gorgeous hot pink um shape, heart-shaped cake with disco balls on it. It was delicious. Chocolate with greasy, greasy, my favorite shortening icing. And I got it from, as I think I've told you on this podcast, I got it from Walmart. Don't sleep on Walmart cakes. They're darn good and they do a great job. They do custom cakes. They're not just Costco cakes. Don't sleep on those cakes. And from there, um, everybody flew home except for Lynn drove with me, and I dropped Lynn off at her house. Um, I was supposed to be staying with my sister for three days, but we had a dust up, so I ixnade that and I stayed in a hotel and really had some good time. Uh, Lynn and I went shopping one day, went out to lunch. I went up and I saw my nephew and his wife and carpenteria. What a beautiful drive that was. I um I ended up seeing three of my nephews on this trip. It was pretty fabulous. Um did that, spent those three days in a hotel. I worked out, I will tell you, every day before I drove, I went on the treadmill. And when I got to the hotel, I went on the treadmill. And I did the same things for every time I stayed in a hotel. If I stayed with friends, which I did, I went to um Planet Fitness because as a Medicare member, you get a free Planet Fitness membership. So I used all of those because my$225 a month Equinox is only good for the Equinox in Chicago. I don't pay extra for the other equinox. So I took advantage all over the place of my free Planet Fitness. I worked out as much as I could because as much as this was a trip, it was six weeks long, people. Excuse me, I got the hiccups. Six weeks long. So my snack strategy was a lifestyle. I really thought about it. I indulged myself in some fudge. I indulged myself in some MMs. I really kept it clean as I could. Um, gas station snacks are deadly, and I will tell you, these beautiful truck stops that are all along the highways they were on, and they were beautiful. They have their snack game on point. On point, I tell you. Never let yourself get too hungry because highway hunger is dramatic hunger. I did not drive through any fast food restaurants, which is if you know me, I am a fast food queen. But I have learned to curtail that. On the cruise, Lynn and I ate what we wanted, but we did not overindulge. I will tell you that. So from there I went and I stayed a couple nights at my girlfriend Lynn's house, had a great time. She has her grandbaby there and her son's there, and just it's a house full of cats and people, and that was a delight to be with everyone. From there, I went down to Torrance, where I was going to spend time with my oldest Kyle. Kyle got that horrible gross flu cold thing that was going around, and we didn't get to spend as much time together, but we did. We did get to go out to eat together and spend a little time together. Well, I was in Torrance on that Saturday while Kyle was working. I went to my bestie Shane and his new husband, Dominic's wedding reception down in Orange County. And what a gift that was. What a delight. What a great day. And I feel very honored that I gotten to sit next to Shane at his table. And somebody that sat down at that table looked at me and said, I don't know who you are, but you are definitely someone special to be sitting at that table. And what an honor to create a friendship through work that has lasted four years since I've retired. Shane has visited me twice here, once alone and once with his husband, Dominic, and uh here in Chicago. And what a gift. That was a great thing to do. I then had a little issue with a hand infection that I've been trying to convince every doctor I have seen for the last five months that I had it flared up. I ended up at urgent care. They didn't know what to do with me. And thankfully, thankfully, I have a friend Dan and his wife Lenore here in Chicago who helped me and got me a hand surgeon in California that I saw on that Monday, and they did a biopsy on that Tuesday. And we now know from the first part of the biopsy that I have a rare infection again in my hand, and we are waiting to find out what rare infection that is. It does take a little bit of time. So that was a little um a little problem there. So the surgery for the biopsy on my hand created quite a swelling. The night of that, I was to go to Disneyland, a hotel by Disneyland, which I did do. But for once in my life, I made an adult decision. Lynn and I were supposed to go to Disneyland together, and I said no. That night I had gone out with my girlfriend Diana, another old work friend who I absolutely adore. She put up with me and my newly surgical hand, and we had a great Taco Tuesday dinner. So seeing friends along the way was the best part. And I will tell you, I ate a lot of good meals. I had a lot of fun. I was grateful that I chose not to go to Disneyland because I woke up with a hand that looked like someone had pumped air into it. It was hugely swollen. I took those two days at that hotel to decompress, get my act together, and then drove down and had dinner with my girlfriend Mary and her husband. And I stayed at their husband house for three days, and that's like staying at home. I've stayed there many times and they treat me extremely well. From there, they had on Saturday, they had to go to a funeral, unfortunately, which gave me the opportunity to bring in all of my stuff from my car and pack for my cruise, which I did. And that Sunday morning I met Lynn down at the San Pedro cruise. We got on a Norwegian cruise line cruise. We had a great week. We ate, we were merry, we relaxed, we never got off the ship. We didn't get off at any ports. We spent our time in the spas. I spent over$1,000 on spa treatments and loved every single solitary minute of it, people. It was a great cruise. That Sunday we got off the ship. I went back to Mary because on Monday I had to get my stitches out. My hands are doing great. I'm home. We're figuring it out. From there, I drove after I got my stitches out. I drove straight to Arizona and spent time with David, Angie, and Brooke. Chris came home from college for a few days. It was fabulous. I got a little time with everyone. That was the third nephew. Oh, I forgot to say, while I was in Torrance visiting Kyle, and Kyle was sick, I got to have dinner with my nephew and his wife, Beth, and my great-niece and great nephew Adeline and Alan. And my nephew's a great cook, so you never miss a meal at his house. And we had pork tacos that he had smoked, a pork butt all day long, and he made a coast. Oh, great food. So when I got to Arizona, that was my third one of my nephews. That was my third nephew, David. He is actually my first nephew. He was the firstborn grandchild and his family. And I spent an entire week in Arizona visiting friends, seeing girlfriends, saw a friend I hadn't seen in 25 years, saw another girlfriend who I see every time I go, but we became friends in Oregon. You know, you live long enough, you've got a lot of life out there. And I left on Sunday. I left Arizona and I drove to Albuquerque, Albuquerque to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City to um South St. Louis, and then yesterday I drove into Chicago. I am now home. I'm alone. Craig is in California, crazy enough. I've unpacked, I've relaxed, I've recorded my three podcasts today. And that was my trip, everyone. That was it. It was amazing. It was exhausting. It's exhausting going from hotel to people's homes, from people's homes to doesn't mean you're not having fun, but it is a lot of work. And driving long distances is mental. Nobody tells you that road tripping is 80% mental. You can physically sit for hours, but mentally, mentally you start negotiating with yourself. You get to the just get to the next stop, just get to the next state line, just get to the next gas station and get your diet co. I broke my drive into chunks, two-hour chunks. I I tried to keep my day short. I did not do eight hours except for on the way home. And you do it on the way home because you know what? You just want to freaking get home. I did a lot of negotiating. I did a lot of thinking. I did a lot of happiness and regrets and solo car concerts and elite therapy. I don't like music as much as I like podcasts, so I listened to a ton of podcasts, solved a lot of crimes. I did a lot of small stomps. And here's something that surprised me. It wasn't the big destinations that stayed with me. It was the random moments. It was the weird roadside statue, the quiet desert stretch, the tiny places where nobody knew my story. I stopped in Winslow, Arizona and stood on the corner. If you know what I'm talking about, you know, you know. I went to Uranus and got fudge. That's the thing about road trips. You think you're traveling to somewhere, but the magic is in between. And that applies to life in general. We rush to our destinations, but the in-between is where the growth happens. Yes, I got deep and it happens. You meet yourself out there. Here's the truth. When you're alone in a car for hours, you meet yourself. You can't scroll forever, you can't distract forever. Eventually, it's just you and your thoughts. And I had moments of clarity, I had moments of gratitude. I had moments of what am I doing with my life? There were a lot of those. What does the next half of my life look like? Or the next part of my life. I guess it's the next third of my life. I want my next part of my life to be intentional. Craig and I have lived a life of 35 years together, and it seems like we have reacted to everything in life. Because that's what life happens. Life happens, life changes, you react. This next part needs to be intentional. It needs to be intentional a lot of ways. There are a lot of come to Jesus moments for Craig and I on this trip. And when Craig gets home, we know we have a lot of work to do. Road trips give you space, and space is powerful. I learned something else. Some days I was done, not physically exhausted, but energetically done. Instead of pushing through, I rested. I knew I shouldn't go to Disneyland a day after having surgery on my hand. They went into my knuckle. It was a big deal. So I rested. I ordered food. I watched something mindless, and I went to bed early. We glorify product activity, but sometimes the bravest thing we can do is stop. Things will go wrong. Weather, traffic, closed road, hotels that are questionable. Didn't have hotels that were questionable, but I did miscalculate a hotel's address and got lost in Oklahoma City. I went through a place in Oklahoma City where there was giant mansions. Who knew? If you do a road trip with rigidity, you will suffer. If you're a road trip with flexibility, you'll adapt.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

That's a life lesson, too. What would I do differently? Let's be honest. I would pack lighter. I would overthink less. I would bring less just in case nonsense, absolutely.

Family Visits And A Health Scare

SPEAKER_00 18:35

But would I go again in a heartbeat? I will never do a six-week road trip again. That was insane. I love a road trip. A week, a week and a half, six weeks, never again. Because road trips reminded you that you can handle more than you think. They remind you that independence feels great. They remind you that you are capable. So here's what the road trip taught me: plan, don't overplan, prepare and don't panic. Move, but don't rush. Enjoy, don't just arrive. Another thing a road trip taught me is that I am blessed from people throughout my life. From the early days of my sobriety where I met Karen and we had lunch in Arizona, to new friends like Dan and Lenore that helped me when I was at my darkest hour on this trip with a hand that needed to be figured out. And they sent me to an amazing hand surgeon, Dr. Maholtra in Orange County. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking me on at the last minute on Monday and providing me with a biopsy on Tuesday so that I could have the answers when I got back here to Chicago to provide me the treatment that I need. Yes, everybody that knows me, I had a rare infection in my left hand. This is my right hand. I now have a rare infection in it. And my doctor told me to go out and buy a lottery ticket. So when I tell you I am a unique medical specimen, believe me. There's always a road forward. Sometimes it's long, sometimes it's messy, sometimes it has questionable gas stations, but it's there. I want to thank you for being here. I want to thank you for riding along with me literally and figuratively. I'm back in my home studio. I have my home computer. If this episode helped you, made you laugh, or made you consider taking your own adventure, share it with someone who needs a little push out of their comfort zone. You can find all the episodes to all of my podcasts. I have three Inside Marcy's Mind, Aging Aim for Sissies, and Unbottled for those of you that may struggle with addiction. You can find everything at MarcyBacchusmedia.com. You can also find all of my podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. So until next time, keep driving your own life, keep choosing your direction, and don't forget the snacks. I love you all. See you next week.