Road trip 2020
Travel plan and rules for an off-the-grid road trip through the western U.S. in COVID times.
For a relatively long time I’ve felt the need to take a longer break from work to regain energy and creativity. What better way to do that than with a long solo road trip? In July 2019 I went on a week-long solo road trip in Northern California and loved it. So, in November 2019 I started planning a bigger version of that trip. I had originally planned to take it around April 2020. Unfortunately, this whole pandemic thing hit the world, and with it came a lot of danger and uncertainty. Now that we seem to have adapted to this new, more cautious and mindful lifestyle, I’ve adapted the plan and adopted some rules.
I plan to post regular updates from the road trip on this website. I’ll update this page with more details of the plan.
The route
The trip will span 11 U.S. states, each with its own nature sights. Originally I had only intended to drive a round-trip from the SF Bay Area, CA, to Yellowstone through Nevada US route 50 (“the loneliest road in America”), and back through Oregon. However, having seen that Zion was closeby, and getting lots of tips from friends, it quickly got out of hand and turned into this huge tour of the western United States and the Rocky Mountains.
Rules
Because of COVID-19, this will be a more careful and isolated kind of road trip. Traveling between cities, and especially states, is a highly risky endeavour, since it can spread the disease widely. I understand the risks, so I plan to take extra precautions while traveling. Since I am traveling solo, there is no need for special lodging, nor eating at restaurants. I’ve prepared enough equipment to live “off the grid”, including sleeping, eating, basic hygiene, and showering. I will still need the occasional trip to the store to resupply, but I do that at home, too. Here are some rules I’ve set up for myself:
- Avoid people and especially crowds,
- Always use a face mask in public and maintain distance,
- Gratuitously use hand sanitizer,
- Boondock where possible – camp or sleep in the car,
- Leave no trace,
- Avoid hotels and airbnb’s (one day a week max),
- Avoid indoor areas,
- Maintain regular physical exercise,
- Take at least one day a week off to rest from travel.
Planned sights
The trip will include 15 national parks, 5 national monuments, and various scenic highways, cities, and state parks. The following is a list of the most prominent sights I plan to visit.
- California
- Coastal Highway 1 and 101 northbound
- Avenue of the Giants
- Mattole Point
- Redwood National and State Parks
- Oregon
- Costal highway 101
- John Day Fossil Beds
- Mt. Hood
- Portland
- Washington
- Idaho
- Montana
- Glacier National Park
- Yellowstone National Park (also in Wyoming)
- Wyoming
- Colorado
- Utah
- Arizona
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Vermillion Cliffs
- Glen Canyon, Lake Powell
- Monument Valley (lockdowns permitting)
- Horseshoe Bend
- New Mexico
- Shiprock (lockdowns permitting)
- Nevada
Apps
A trip of this size requires quite a bit of planinng. Fortunately there are some good tools that help specifically with road trip and hike planning. There are the ones I’ve found useful for my purposes: