My name is Gale Straub and I’m 28 years old currently on a long term road trip through North America with my boyfriend Jon. We’re in Portsmouth, NH, but I’m not sure where I’ll be tomorrow – though it will definitely be somewhere in New England. Growing up living in New Hampshire, I didn’t have the luxury to travel far distances.  My first plane ride was at age 12 to visit relatives in New Orleans, LA for Mardi Gras, where I brought a little plastic camera and snapped photos of the French inspired architecture.  The possibility to feel a world away while still in my own country left a lasting impact, and the experience left me inspired by the potential of travel. I took a long term road trip across the Western United States when I was 16 with an adult cousin, my twin sister, and my cousin’s young daughter. It lasted just a month but it was life changing to go from the subtle beauty of New England to the in-your-face beauty of the West. After that experience, I always wanted to go on another one.