We planned to make Day 2 better than Day 1. Remember the INITIAL 12minRVconvos podcast journey goal was to get to 1001 face to face conversations while driving across North America. That goal would require an average of 12 conversations per day. On, the 1st Day we recorded 8 AMAZING conversations. Now, for Day 2, our scheduled meet ups were Nathan Hirsch at his home, Virginia Ritterbusch  at  Lake Eola Park, Scott Devore at a location to be decided, Randy Magray at the Florida Hospital Church, Shawn McBride opposite the Volusia County Court House, around the DeLand area and Inez Bracy at her home. Jessica Brace was also on our schedule, unfortunately we miscalculated the intensity of traffic and didn't get to meet her.

No, it did not! Based on my experiences, I expected this because it comes with the process of pursuing big, hairy audacious goals. The beginning is always a lot more challenging. Nevertheless, I remained positive about all the variables that were popping up, while mentally taking note of them. 

Our plan would be to edit the recordings with an intro, outro, along with cut scenes as we experienced the road-trip life. This was easier said than done. The process of editing was time consuming. Internet connection was terrible while driving which made uploading the episodes practically impossible.

These two, coupled together resulted in delayed episode release. Also, storage space for recordings were being depleted FAST. The requirements for vehicular parking and adjusting to fluctuations in fuel prices were two factors we had to take into consideration. All these variables had one overarching variable in common- a tight budget.

An average of 200 miles, just over 3 hours of non-stop driving for Day 2 of the 12minRVconvos podcast journey. This would be our first time leaving the metaphoric nest of our starting point not to return for 12 weeks. Mackenzly and Alica Cox, to you we are both thankful. You both believed in our dreams and supported it. 

Yes, I have. On November 2013 I drove for the first time in Florida under the coaching of Mackenzly. I was flying to Tennessee for a conference called Entreleadership inspired by Dave Ramsey. The flight was connecting through Florida so I met with Mackenzly and he gave me a crash course, on driving in the US (no pun intended).

I rented a car from Alamo at the airport and successfully drove all by myself for five days, everyday.

My second time driving was with Amanda for Financial Coach Master Series, another conference in Nashville, Tennessee. We did the same route from Trinidad to Florida with a connecting flight to Tennessee. When it was time to return to Trinidad there were no flights available because of a snow storm. Wanting to get home we decided to drive to Florida and fly out from there. That was our first OFFICIAL American road-trip together on February 2015, 13hr, 883 mile drive.

NB. In Trinidad and Tobago, we have predominantly right hand drive vehicles which means we're coming from a left hand driving country.

Day 2 of the 12minRVconvos podcast journey taught me a lot. Definitely, scheduling to meet people would be more challenging than I imagined. Did I say America was HUGE? Adjusting the drive times and recording setup times would have to be taken into deeper consideration.

Meeting someone for the first time face to face after having only a voice to voice conversation online would warrant a conversation for more than 12 minutes. Imagine me saying Hi, let me interview you, then BYE!  It felt as though I wasn't appreciative of them and their effort to meet. After all, everyone's time is valuable.

Traffic delays would have to be taken into account and planning for when we all ate was important.

Driving into the cities meant that car parking would be at a premium when available.  It was clear we needed a boost in our finances.

After a post-mortem of the first day I remember Engel and Ryan having differing opinions of the practicality of meeting each scheduled guest at their specific location. They both made valid points, but for that point in time, we decided to proceed as we did on the first day.

After a night’s rest and the warm, familiar embrace of our friends, Alicia and Mackenzly, we departed. In twelve weeks we would be here again. Our temporary home would now be this Chevy Traverse, with an address of wherever we parked that night. I’ve read about nomads in stories, amazingly, now we were the nomadic characters in the setting of the 12minrvconvo story. So surreal. Meeting each person that day had its own version of special. I remember Nathan's dog relentlessly nudging the side of my legs with his nose. In my mind, I was like, what's up with this dog. So added to taking pictures, which was my assignment, I had to fend off this dog's over-friendly advances. It has been said that the way someone's pet responds to you can tell a whole lot. I must say on this journey we've met quite a few pets and the reviews have been great.

Meeting Virginia at Lake Eola Park was grand. Sadly though, her recorded interview was somehow lost. She shared great insights on what reframing your viewpoint is all about and gifted us with a copy of her book. Virginia would continue to play a part in our story in the days ahead. Kudos to her also for bravely entering that swan paddle boat, with Ryan and myself navigating the way around the lake in the sweltering summer's heat. Afterward, we were able to cool down and get some work done at the nearby library. The parking limitations, however, required Engel and Ryan to be rotating the parking spot on a timed basis.

Traffic was a stickler. In some cases where walking seemed like a better option, we had to think twice because of how hot the weather was. Coming from Trinidad and Tobago, we're literally sunshine people, but I must admit this heat was different and I was in no way craving a tan.

Later on, after Scott's recording, he treated us to our first taste of Vietnamese cuisine. It was a new taste to what our palate was accustomed to, but definitely something we would try again. Then on our way to Randy, at the Florida Hospital Church, an unexpected downpour of rain met us. The lesson learned here was to pay attention to the daily weather forecast. As the evening was winding down and the rain held up we set out to meet Shawn. His image will forever be etched in my mind mainly because of his brilliant, patriotic suit. But then there was a yoga class in progress on the lawn not too far away and a water fountain which added to the aesthetics but challenged the audio on our recording. We were learning.

Our day came to a conclusion in the graceful presence of Inez Bracy. I slept like a baby that night. A time I would recall to memory later on when this journey's dynamics would change greatly.

South Carolina would be the next 12minRVconvos podcast journey stop. Crystal Dixon would be one of the reasons we were all excited to get to South Carolina. She has been a member of our Y.O.U.R.S. accountability group. Crystal's personality is electrifying virtually. All of us were glad to have a friend to meet up next.

Follow us to the next day as we share where we slept on this 2nd night of the 12minRVconvos podcast journey. If you missed Day 1, click HERE to read now.