against my better judgment, I have a blog

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Bike and Build website, here is my B&B biography, which should shed a little bit of light as to my involvement with B&B, and affordable housing, and, well -- cycling.

Hello. My name is Carrie Badanes and I am from Cincinnati, Ohio. In May, I will graduate from the College of William and Mary located seconds away from the heart of Colonial Williamsburg (a living history museum representing the 18th century). Needless to say, this has been an appropriate place to study early American history and I have loved my time here. In my case, the 15th century English proverb rings true, that “all good things must come to an end.” Hopefully, by the time the summer rolls around, I will have a job, or have had an epiphany regarding my future. But for now, as I am not yet sure what the next year has in store for me, this adventure seems to be both an exciting way to celebrate of the completion of about 93 years of formal education, and also perhaps, an extended opportunity to think about what it is I want to do next.

I heard about Bike & Build a few months ago and the idea really worked itself into my head. Truthfully, I found myself thinking about it all the time. I have built with Habitat a few times with my family. However, I have never participated in a build in my own community, so it has always been hard for me to comprehend the extent to which the issue of inadequate housing permeates the country. Bike & Build seems to be a really cool way to stretch a summer of eye-opening experiences and service across an entire continent. Yes, continent, not just country. I recently realized that the trip crosses the entire continent of North America. So, you can be sure that even as I write this, I am imagining how intimidating those mountain ranges are going seem as they loom in the distance.

Furthermore, “limited’ is a generous word to describe my cycling experience, and 4000 is a really big number. Thankfully, I do believe we are all capable of achieving whatever it is that we sincerely set our minds, and hearts to. Additionally, in regards to the mountain ranges, I have found encouragement (and solace) in the rule of gravity that states “what goes up must come down.” That -- and the idea of traversing the continent with a really cool team of people lending a hand, and a voice, to effect change in regards to this pervasive cause.


I have no idea how frequently I will be able to post, especially during the trip, but this is my best idea as far as how to keep everyone posted. Feel free to email me at carriebadanes@gmail.com with any questions or comments (read: encouragement). Thank you again for all of your overwhelming support.