I finally visited San Francisco a few weeks ago. It was a pretty big deal because this was the first time I got to see a palm tree within its natural habitat.

Oh, yeah, and, this is the farthest I’ve ever traveled alone, to a place I haven’t been to, but have been dreaming of visiting for years.

I wanted to do a fun art project for this trip and was inspired by Land Rover. The little car I’m sitting in is the Razor Rover. It’s very lightweight. And no, I didn’t drive all the way to San Francisco from Chicago in it. Because that would’ve been crazy. I flew in on Virgin Airlines, and they are awesome because they let me take Razor Rover in my carry-on.

Oh, yeah, and, because they sing and dance in their airplane safety video and give you free tomato juice.

Before my trip, I designed Razor Rover, built it out of watercolor paper, and drew the details in with ink markers. Then I took the photos with the help of my iPhone, a fisheye phone-camera lens (thanks, Land Rover!), Joby GripTight Mount, and a bluetooth remote.

For my 29th birthday, I strolled through the Golden Gate Bridge. I spent  about 4 hours in the area. (One of those hours was spent charging my phone.) It was so windy that I didn’t think I’d be able to get a Razor Rover photo. Thankfully, one of the employees at the gift shop was able to give me a couple strips of tape to secure the Razor Rover to keep me from flying away in it.

There were a lot of people at the bridge that day and I got some weird looks while I was driving Razor Rover. I thought maybe it’s because they wanted a ride. So, I offered. But then they said stuff like, “Uh, that’s okay. Good luck!”

Weirdos.

At Pier 39, a few people did enjoy Razor Rover. Because it’s such a smooth ride, this guy didn’t even realize he was driving it!

Here’s me in the Razor Rover, attempting to go where no car has gone before: UPHILL the squiggliest street – Lombard Street.

When I got to the top, I parked Razor Rover to the side and enjoyed the view from Russian Hill.

During my first Razor Rover trip, this was the first time I stayed in a hostel, too. The Green Tortoise Hostel SF hallways have this amazing, colorful carpet. During my week-long stay there, I got to meet people from lots of different countries, including England, Australia, Germany, and Italy. Some of them were just enjoying traveling, some were backpacking countries and working temporary jobs, and some were visiting San Francisco for conferences.

I also met Mia, a glassblower from Finland, because she was staying in the same dorm as me. Here, she is testing out Razor Rover’s cruise control. Look, no hands!

It was her idea was that we should catch the sunset at Ocean Beach.

Mission accomplished!

The Razor Rover trip photos were improvised on-location, and I live-tweeted and live-Instagrammed (it was very-instant, okay?) most of the trip. There will be more Razor Rover adventures in the future, and you’ll be able to see the live updates by following the #RazorRover hashtag from my Twitter & Instagram.