Adventures Across America
So far, Adventures across America has been quite interesting. Leaving Sarasota in the rearview mirror, on my own, headed to who knows where in the middle of a crisis felt ridiculous and made perfect sense at the same time.
If you haven’t been following along, please like our Facebook Page. You’ll see Vannah (Our Tour Van) and me travel across America to see as many Parks, Monuments, and Curiosities along the way. You’ll also have to choose from those that will actually determine the direction and place I’ll visit along the way. You will, in part, take the wheel for me.
I have a few objectives in this project. One is to provide you with a real-life interactive way to travel and keep you interested in My XO Adventures. The second is to promote both Sarasota and the businesses I’m visiting along the way. I think we have an obligation to do what we can to help one another, and this is the way I believe I can do it. I hope you follow along, participate, and provide words of encouragement as I make my way through Adventures Across America!
In the meantime, and for the rest of this year, I’ll continue promoting Sarasota and Florida vacation packages. My XO Adventures believes that recovery starts at home and spreads from there.
Next, I’d like to talk about the changes we’ll be making over the next couple of months. We will begin setting specific limits on the group sizes we work with on each departure and will never deviate from them. Cleaning protocols are being discussed and implemented for any tour utilizing the van.
Our vehicle will be cleaned after every use, with a CDC-recommended disinfectant. Hand Sanitizer will be made available and utilized before entry and upon exit of the vehicle. The doors, as always, will be opened and closed for you. That doesn’t change; it’s just good customer service!
Lastly, we will be looking at COVID-19 Free Zones to Visit and focus on those destinations over the next few years. What we mean and where these are located will be explained over the next few months, so stay tuned as we work with international organizations on a cohesive response to the New Next of Travel.
In the meantime, please support your local small businesses. There is a reason the airlines are bailed out, and the Bus Company isn’t. Why are large businesses put to the front of the line, and small businesses are left to survive on their own? I can tell you this small business can and will survive with or without government help. We’ll do it through innovation and determination, and also with your support. We thank you, wish you good health, and give our best to you and yours during this time.
Daniel Milks
XOXO
Update To Adventures Across America
As I look back on Adventures Across America, I can see how every mile, every conversation, and every open stretch of road carried me toward something I didn’t know I was searching for. Those months on the move taught me how much beauty lives in the unexpected. They taught me how to be present, how to listen, and how to trust the quiet pull that tells you it’s time to begin again.
That pull eventually led me to the Black Hills and Badlands, where the land feels ancient and alive at the same time. What started as a stop along the journey slowly became home. Rapid City welcomed me in a way I didn’t anticipate, and before long, I realized this was the place I wanted to plant my feet. The community, the landscape, the sky, the people who share their stories so generously. It all felt like a new beginning waiting for me to say yes.
My XO Adventures has changed too. What was once an international tour company has grown into something more personal and grounded. Today, I offer private tours of the Black Hills and Badlands, guiding guests through the places that changed my life. These tours aren’t just about seeing landmarks. They’re about connection, reflection, and giving people the chance to feel the same awe that brought me here in the first place.
To those of you who followed my journey from the early days, thank you. Your messages, your encouragement, and your presence along the way meant more than you know. Some of you have been here since the very first miles of Adventures Across America. Some joined somewhere in the middle. Some found me only recently. I’m grateful for every single one of you.
Thank you for letting me share my story. Thank you for allowing my path to unfold alongside yours. And thank you for staying with me as My XO Adventures enters this new chapter. The road didn’t end. It simply guided me home.
I hope someday you’ll visit the Black Hills and Badlands. I’d love to show you the place that changed everything.
The nine-month journey of Adventures Across America has ended, and a new journey has begun.
