I am done with EVERYTHING! And coming to the US! :D

Hey guys!

I know I know... it's been a very long period of silence from me. It wasn't intentional. I just couldn't keep up with everything at the same time, and I had to prioritize writing that MA thesis. But I'm done now. Done with the thesis. Done with the exam. Everything is handed in. My next and last action at university will be getting my diploma in September with everyone else who finished this semester.

It doesn't quite feel real yet. Studying was a huge part of my life for the past six years. It was a part of my identity. To not have that anymore... it feels weird. But also good. Because I was sort of fed up with... everything. I just need something else. I need to see the world. Which is what I'm about to do. In pretty much exactly 12 hours from the moment I'm writing this, my plane takes off. My sister and I are doing a huge, six week trip to the US!! :D

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!

Neither of us has ever been to the US before. And now we're going together. First we'll be in New York for about the week, then we're going to Washington D.C. for a day, then we're boarding a plane in Baltimore and flying to New Orleans. We're staying there for another few days, then it's off in the car. We're driving across Texas and then somehow up to the Grand Canyon, then to Vegas for my sister's birthday. After that, down to L.A. and San Diego and then up the coast until San Francisco.

Yup, we've quite a program. And we hope it'll be awesome. And that we'll have adventures. And meet people along the way.

I'm also a bit scared though, to be honest. I've never been so far from home for so long. (I also haven't driven a car in forever) But I also hope I can sort of figure out or at least get more of an idea what to do with my life post-university on this trip. I hope I can write some stories and have new ideas, see new things, get a new perspective.

What does all of this mean for the blog?
Well, even if I'm traveling, I will still be reading. I have in fact read quite a lot even while writing the thesis. I just didn't get around to/have the energy to blog about it. I am VERY out of touch with everyone and everything, including new releases. I also have quite a bunch of ARCs I never got around to reading, but I hope I can catch up a bit over the summer and I still plan to write and post these reviews, even if it's not around the release date anymore. I really missed blogging!! I feel like so many cool things were going on and I am way out of touch with everyone :/

Also, you can expect this blog to become a kind of travel blog for the next few weeks, with pictures and stuff every few days, also depending on where we can get WiFi.

Lastly and very importantly, if you live in NYC or New Orleans or L.A. or San Francisco or basically anywhere I mentioned above, I would love to meet you! It would be so cool to meet bloggers in real life! I wish I could have come earlier and gone to BEA, but I had my exam on  May 27.
I don't mean to come across as a creep with this meeting thing. But we could have coffee or maybe go to your favorite book store or whatever. So if you're a blogger and maybe we've talked before and you live along our route, I'd love to hear from you via email or on Twitter!

So... yeah. I don't really know what else to say. I have to go finish packing and stuff. And freak out some more. And hopefully catch a few hours of sleep. And not do something stupid like forgetting my passport or ESTA thingy. Hopefully you'll hear from me tomorrow or the day after that while I'm sitting in some café in Brooklyn and annoying the natives :P

Have any of you ever gone on a big road trip? Do you have any tips for my sister and me? Places we totally need to see? Things to avoid doing? Bookish places to visit? Let me know in the comments! I've really missed blogging and interacting with you all!