Two Road Trips Across the Country In Two Months

Originally, the plan was to move out to Denver after completing my travels around the world. I visited Denver in the last leg of my trip to look at apartments, but things just weren’t feeling right.

I spent the next few months on the go, in Canada and then in Washington (the state). It hit me like a ton of bricks that this is where I should be moving to. This is where I wanted to be and start a big and brand new chapter of my life!

I went back to Michigan for a time, trained for a few months, and then went to Argentina to trek up Aconcagua for about 3 weeks. Once I arrived back home I had a few adult-ish things to do and in about 3-4 weeks, all of my things from storage were loaded into a 16 foot Budget Rental Truck that I had to drive across country by myself. I am now very accustomed to doing things on my own with little anxiety, but this was a bit more nerve-wracking than usual because of the big truck aspect. I wasn’t able to back up in the thing because of the ginormous blind spots and I had no one to tell me if I was going to hit anything or anyone. It was also very prone to being affected by the wind, and with a looser steering wheel, it was easy to over-correct. Most times it wasn’t too terrifying, but when I was going through the major cities in construction zones, it was really scary.

Other than that, I got very used to driving a big truck in a few short days. I love taking road trips and watching America pass me by for 10 days made me extremely happy! I made stops along the way, sang at the top of my lungs to songs I heard over and over again on the radio, and danced in my seat when I thought no one was looking.

I took a southern route to avoid hazardous weather which took me to places I had never been. It’s amazing how beautiful this country is. I was on a tighter schedule because of the rental truck, so every day was 9-12 hrs.

Once I arrived to Washington, I spent a few weeks there before flying back to Michigan to get my van. Another amazing road trip commenced and this time I had a more northernly route. I also had more freedom to make stops without having to worry about dealing with a big moving truck. I also got to spend a week in Utah, something I’ve been wanting to do since 2009.

They were both exciting trips, and the last one also gave me my first experience of #vanlife! I had makeshift curtains rigged up and I made a squished little bed in the back seat. I’m tempted to build a platform and take the seats out for a real taste of #vanlife in August, September, and October, maybe head into Canada??? Jury is still out on that decision.

Anyway, photos from my time on the road are below!

My first cross country experience had a deadline, so there wasn’t much time to stop and relax. After Death Valley, I busted back to Olympia by the next evening.

Gah!!!! What an adventure! There are so many places I wasn’t able to get to. The US is an amazing, and at times, wild place with so much protected land. Make sure to get out there and enjoy it, as well as take care of it, and leave it as you found it!!