Saturday, December 8, 2007

My Experience Getting to NH

Hey Everyone,

My name is Frank and I arrived in NH on Dec. 3rd from Portland, OR. I will be campaigning in NH until the primary (Jan. 8th). Currently, I live in the Hampton Beach house with six other people. I wanted to share my experience with everyone on why and how I was able to get to NH. I made my decision about a week before I decided to leave with hardly any planning. I had already decided to quit my job, so I just needed to figure out my living situation. In the end, I gave up my apartment in downtown Portland, OR. I sold some things and gave away tons of stuff as well. I stored the remainder in boxes at my girlfriends place. I was going to fly into Manchester from Portland, so I just needed to plan a budget.

How can I afford the trip? This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get. If you are active in your local Ron Paul Meetup, I would suggest starting a chipin (www.chipin.com) and asking your members for help. Your group may not be very large or able to donate much, but every bit helps. I had already purchased my plane tickets, but my local Meetup "passed the hat" when they were sending me off and were quite generous. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive group of friends. The OLFD Project simply cannot afford to pay for everyone's travel expenses to NH.

Most Ron Paul Meetups have enough members to contribute $20 or so each to send one member to NH. If all the Meetups did this, we'd have a huge amount of people pouring into the state regularly.

If you are coming from a warmer state or have never been to the Northeast, here's what I recommend as "must-haves."

-insulated, water-proof boots
-rain jacket + pants
-warm, thick socks (merino wool socks are very warm and stay dry)
-towel & washcloth
-sleeping bag (although some houses are furnished with beds and blankets)
-pillow
-thermal underwear (long sleeve shirt and pants)
-chapstick
-sunglasses
-thick (insulated if possible), waterproof gloves
-warm insulated jacket (sometimes you can be canvassing for 2-3hrs outdoors)
-digital camera or camcorder
-scarf
-warm hat or ear muffs

I wouldn't recommend bringing things like toothpaste, soap, etc. It just takes up space and you can get them when you get here. You really want to bring only what is absolutely necessary. I brought two backpacks and I'm going to be here over six weeks. The more stuff you bring, the harder it is to keep track of everything and the longer you have to sit through TSA security or other nonsense. Obviously, people driving don't have this problem :)

If you have any questions, please read everything on the site (www.operationlivefreeordie.com) and on the message board first. We get so much email everyday, it's extremely hard to reply quickly. We are out campaigning all day long and usually don't spend time online until late at night. I hope this helps answer some questions for people who may still be on the fence about coming. Thanks everyone for all their support!

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