SHOTS

Not those kind. I wanted to take a minute to rave about my Sony a6000 - I picked this up when I decided to get back into the habit of traveling. I absolutely love it. It's easy to learn, easy to use, and roughly 7,000 (give or take a thousand) pounds lighter than my old Canon from college. I purchased mine at Best Buy, which gave me a great deal, lots of rewards points, and, most importantly, FREE tips and tricks from their Sony rep that works in the store.

I firmly believe that photography is in the eye of the beholder - a nice camera does NOT make you a photographer - but...the nice camera doesn't hurt!

While I didn't take my roadtrip (YET :)) and don't have those pictures to share, this camera is the only one I'd consider packing for any future trips. It makes me break out of the iPhone store-and-never-share rut!

TUNES

I hold lots of things to be true about music, but here are three that are relevant:

Summer is made for country music
Roadtrips are made for throwback favorites
Playlists are for sharing

With all of those things in mind, here is the playlist I built for my recent trip:

TREADS

I know I didn't go on the road trip I'd originally planned, but I took a nice trip through Alabama (pictures to come soon, if I can get it together) so let me also brag on my car a little bit. I have a 2014 Toyota Prius (sure, make all your jokes, whatever) and CAN NOT recommend it more to people who like the smaller carbon footprint AND:

Enjoy roadtrips - I drove almost a thousand miles on a recent Alabama "staycation" trip, and the total gas cost was under $80. A flight to my final destination (purchased two weeks in advance) would have been about $350 plus $400 for a rental car to the actual location from the closest airport.
Like a quiet ride - for city travel, it's comfortable (NOT a compact car) and quiet. So quiet that sometimes people walk in front of it in parking lots without realizing there's a car behind them. Annoying in parking lots, peaceful during a commute.
Move/haul/thrift-shop - I've made several house moves with a Prius (I had a 2005 for nine years before I got this one) and it holds SO MUCH. The back seats lay down and it ends up holding about as much as an SUV. The hatch back closes on a flat plane, too, so there's no trunk lip to have to pick things up and over.
Like cost-efficiency - I might fill up with gas twice a month, MAYBE. And I drive around 35 miles round trip to work and back every day. These cars last a long time if you keep them in shape, too - I only have a newer model now because of a wreck. If not for "user error," I'm sure I'd still be driving my 2005.