If you’re staycationing this summer, you can take a vicarious road trip by following Mary Logan Barmeyer — National Geographic Green Guide research specialist — and her cousin, Trish Harris via their blog, Two Green Girls on the Road.

These two girls took off from Atlanta on July 20 and have been driving across the country while trying to keep their eco-footprint as small as possible by crashing at friends’, hypermiling, and spending just $25 a day. Their ride itself, a gas-guzzling borrowed Volvo, isn’t green — but the car’s supposed to put the girls in the same boat as many American families traveling this summer.

Luckily, the girls are trying to take alternative transportation in the places they visit. In LA, for example, the girls took the Metro from Echo Park to Santa Monica beach!

I was supposed to meet up with these girls when they were in town last week week, but the time they were available — Wed. morning — conflicted with a Green L.A. panel I was on :( But I did get to chat with Mary Logan on her cell as the two drove out of the city.

Mary Logan says LA was “cool,” though it seems they ran into some snafus: They got on and off the Metro 4 and 704 all day, checking out West Hollywood and Beverly Hills on their way to the beach — but didn’t save money by getting a day pass because they didn’t know you could buy said passes on the bus. They also got turned away from The Echo because one of the girls forgot her ID –

But Mary Logan and Trish also got to check out Lovecraft Bio-Fuels, enjoyed some home garden-grown food, and visited Patagonia’s headquarters. The girls are now in San Francisco — and about to head back home. You can follow their progress on GeoMaps.

One odd coincidence, sort of: there are a couple dudes at CNN who’re doing like the exact reverse of what the Green Girls are doing. CNN.com producer Cody McCloy and web developer Brian Hardy are in the middle of biodieseling from San Francisco Bay to Atlanta. At the moment, the boys are in Winslow, Arizona.

If you’re planning a vacation of your own, Grist has a nice comprehensive guide on how to green your vacation. Happy summer –

Photo from National Geographic

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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