Well with both me and my husband having years of experience in a variety of fields that indicate our brilliance and flexibility, not to mention degrees in fields that are supposedly desperate for employees - we’re both still unemployable. Or at least, no one want to bother hiring people 3000 miles away. I feel like I should have just gotten a Literature degree like I wanted to, and I would have at least enjoyed my college experience.

So I’ve decided to turn this realization into something positive. One reason why we would eventually want to go back on the job market will be to pay off our student loans and save up to buy some land. I will continue to pay my student loan while on the cross country trip, since the monthly payment is a bit less than $80. I’ll start paying more than the minimum once I get a job on the W. Coast. Husband’s student loan will be on deferment for  roughly 3-4 months. His next payment’s due date is sometime in 2010 because we’ve been paying two to three times more than the minimum during the past year which keeps pushing the due date forward.

Because we’re leaving in the Fall, we might run into rough weather somewhere in the middle, and I’ve been playing around with some ideas.

One idea was to hang out with friends in Colorado being the dirty, smelly, unemployed bums that we will be. Maybe we’ll get some temp jobs, but if the economy is heading south, who knows how the temp market will be. This will mean that we’ll just be burning through our savings. 

Another idea was to head south into New Mexico or Arizona and work on a farm in exchange for room and board. This will give us some useful skills and knowledge and we can keep our savings intact. But are farms busy in the late fall/early winter in the South West? One farmer that I contacted said that there would be work to do, and he wants a 2 week minimum committment. But then what do we do during Christmas season when everything shuts down? Enjoy the desert scenary? Peak into Mexico and hope the border patrol ignores me? Continue to San Diego and then head north?

Some of the farms in the Northwest that need help all year round are located on islands. Which would be a bit of a problem since I can’t swim. I know I should have learned to swim all those times my husband dragged me to the public pool or the beach, but not only does water scare me, but I also find it icky - and the Atlantic isn’t exactly clean either. And I have issues with wearing a swimsuit.

Then of course is the Greyhound option. Some of my readers are getting a bit too excited about my trip and I need to manage these expectations. So please calm down and remember that I am really wimpy and a scaredy cat. We can all celebrate my accomplishment and get excited after I wind up on the Pacific coast in one piece. 

Edit: Another option is house sits. Pick up dog doo and mail in exchange for a free room and/or board.