My name is Molly Alvarado. I've spent most of my life as a spontaneous traveler and caretaker for family members.

In my mid-20s, I found myself broke and caring for my grandmother with dementia in East Los Angeles, a far cry from my previous life in Kauai. The isolation was overwhelming, and I dreamed of being outdoors, camping, exploring National Parks, and hitting the open road.

During that time, I became obsessed with planning future adventures, researching gear, and making wishlists. After two years, when my grandmother's condition required professional care, I finally returned to work and started turning my dreams into reality.

Over three years, I built my dream camping setup with simple, lightweight gear and started solo camping, which exceeded my expectations. Then COVID hit, and my grandmother passed away from pneumonia. After a failed career change, I realized it was time to pursue my last goal: a cross-country road trip. I spent months planning my micro-camper build, and with no prior skills, I managed to complete it in six weeks. I then hit the road for my first Honda Element meetup at Elements on the Dragon in the Great Smokies.

I planned a six-week trip but stayed on the road for six months. Since then, I've completed two cross-country road trips, driven the entire East and West coasts, and camped across all of the lower 48 states.