Jordan has teamed up with Pure Barre to drive from LA to NY on her “Healthy and Hip X-Country Trip!”

Here is the link to the article on the Pure Barre blog. 

It’s an LA story born from a personal relationship with a car. A predictable genesis, but hopefully muscled with a more original journey.

I’ll admit, I’ve been known to dabble in anthropomorphic tendencies. You really don’t need to know the name of my bass guitar, my refrigerator, my camera, or my skis, but I have no shame about it when it comes to my car.

Meet Oscar, my 2001 green Nissan Pathfinder. Oscar’s my boy. He’s lived MY LIFE with me. He’s seen it all go down through my prime years (which will continue for the next 20 or so…). He’s been there through it all; the ups, the downs, the in-betweens, the memorable, the non-memorable, the I-wish-it-weren’t-so-memorable, etc. We took care of each other. He cheered me up. He waited for me. He gave me independence. He offered a wheel to cry on. We spent more time together than I did with many friends. I love my car, OK.

But, sometime early this year, I had an unexplainable urge to check out “what they’ve done in the auto industry in the past 13 years.”

This curiosity led to multiple test-drives around town, all of which resulted in me returning to Oscar, assuring him he was still better than the rest. Satellite radio and a navigation system that really doesn’t rival my own sense of direction had nothing on his loyalty, fit, and rock star driving.

….Until I got in this one car. It was like Goldilocks and The Three Bears, or Jordan and The Three SUV’s. The others were too big or too soft, but this one was juuuuust right. Long story short, three weeks and tons of masterful negotiations later, I came home with Beluga. Oscar would be retiring to a loving house on a lake in upstate NY with a friend this summer.

Driving across the country has always been on my bucket list. So I thought, what better way to have one last adventure with Oscar?!?! But I was worried about my 30 something metabolism handling all of the sedentary hours. I wanted to stay active along the way. And I wanted to soak in all of the latest local culture in each stop, because that’s how I roll.

I mapped out different routes, researched different hotels, restaurants and local offerings, and I wound up with this trip.

On Monday, Oscar and I hit the road. We are doing 10 cities in 10 days for our “Healthy and Hip X-Country Trip!” We’ll be joined by my little French Bulldog, Hula (my real first love, but don’t tell Oscar or Beluga). My dear girlfriend, Liza, will be hopping aboard in Austin.

To stay in shape while we sit in the car for the better portion of daylight hours, we are starting each morning with a Pure Barre class. I couldn’t believe they had one in almost every city we were hitting! Then we drive. The drives will range from 3-9 hours and Oscar will be equipped with nutritious and delicious non-perishables. We will be listening to playlists with bands indigenous to each destination. We will check into a boutique hotel when we arrive in each new city, and dine at a local farm to table restaurant. The rest we will explore as we go!

Send along any hidden gems you’re privy to!

Here is our itinerary:

Monday May 19th
LA -> Phoenix
380 mi – 5.5 hrs
5:45 pm:  Pure Barre Phoenix
Stay: Palomar
Dine: Virtu Scottsdale

Tuesday May 20th
Phoenix -> Marfa
623 mi – 9 hrs (and two time zones!)
Stay: Thunderbird
Dine: Cochineal

Wednesday May 21st
Marfa -> Austin
427 mi – 6.5 hrs
Stay: friend’s house (would have stayed at Heywood)
Dine: Barley Swine

Thursday May 22nd
8:30 am:  Pure Barre Austin – Westlake
Austin -> New Orleans
510 mi – 7.5 hrs
Stay: Loft 523
Dine: Maurepas

Friday May 23rd
9:45 am:  Pure Barre New Orleans
New Orleans -> Jackson
186 mi – 2.75 hrs
Stay: Old Capitol Inn
Dine: Parlor Market

Saturday May 24th
10:45 am: Pure Barre Jackson
Jackson -> Memphis
208 mi – 3 hrs
Stay: Peabody
Dine: Iris

Sunday May 25th
9 am: Pure Barre Memphis
Memphis -> Nashville
213 mi – 3 hrs
Stay: friend’s house (would have stayed at Hutton)
Dine: Josephine

Monday May 26th
9:40 am: Pure Barre Nashville
Nashville -> Asheville
294 mi – 4.5 hrs
Stay: Inn at Biltmore
Dine: Marketplace

Tuesday May 27th
9:45 am: Pure Barre Asheville
Asheville -> Charlottesville
352 mi – 5.5 hrs
Stay: friend’s house (would have stayed at the Clifton Inn)
Dine: The Local

Wednesday May 28th
8:30 am:  Pure Barre Charlottesville
Charlottesville -> NYC
350 mi – 6 hrs
Stay: Home Sweet Home
Dine: Barchetta

Thursday May 29th
12 pm: Pure Barre New York -Upper West Side

 – Jordan Zucker is an actress, blogger, and on-air personality. She writes about her adventures through dining, drinking, dating, dancing, (and now driving) on Oxtails, Cocktails, and Rock Tales. She is the ringleader for the modern female sports fan, creating content geared towards women’s interest in sports and running fantasy leagues on Girls Guide to Sports. She played “Lisa the intern” on Scrubs and guest starred on an episode of The Food Network’s “Grill It!” with Bobby Flay. You can follow along with Jordan on her “Hip & Healthy X-Country Tour” on instagram and twitter: @jordzuck