The Road Goes Ever On
60 Days. 11,000 Miles. 23 Parks. Over 700,000 steps.
What a hell of damned thing we just did. It started as a crazy idea and then we just kind of made it happen. It took a lot of research, a ton of help from the massive community of travelers and #vanlifers on the internet, and some really fortunate timing in our lives.
We’re super grateful that we could do something like this. We know many can’t. For those of you who are considering an RV trip, National Park tour, or just extended weekend in the wilds of America, here’s a few closing thoughts that might help:
There are so many resources that can help. Three of the best for us were outdoorsy.com where we found our van, ioverlander.com (also an app) which has all the info you could ever want about where to camp or dump your tanks, and the incredible National Geographic Guide to National Parks. With those three things you can plan nearly any trip in the U.S.
#Vanlife is not for everyone, so be honest with yourself and your partner/family about what you’re willing to deal with. The day to day stuff (like eating or getting dressed) is much harder. You have to sacrifice a lot of conveniences and luxuries (like regular warm showers). The payoff is that you get to wake up in places like Yosemite and Zion. It’s incredible and you totally get into a groove a few weeks in, but you can have just as much fun staying at hotels if living in a 20 foot van isn’t your thing.
Don’t let the immensity or amount of info about these places overwhelm you. Most times we figured it out by driving into a park, asking some the nice people at the visitors center how to spend the time we had, and then we were off. Huge hats off to the National Park Service for making our parks so welcoming and user friendly.
Think a lot about the time of year and how that impacts your needs. Research high/low temps everywhere you plan to go. Going when we did (Feb-April) cuts down on crowds, but there are a lot of 30 degree nights in the desert in March. Luckily we knew that ahead of time and had plenty of blankets and warm clothes.
Don’t be afraid to splurge on a couple things that will make the whole trip better for you. A few days in we bought memory foam for the bed and it made everything instantly better. It also helps to find some simple & portable foods you really like and make that your staple.
Get a Jackery portable power station. You will thank yourself for this.
Portable Hotspots are essential. We had the Netgear Nighthawk and got a $75/month for 40 gigs of internet and as long as you’re not on Zoom all day, everyday, it worked for us!
Share the experience with friends and family. Honestly, the best part (besides the awesome parks of course) was hearing from the people closest to us about their own experiences and recommendations. You don’t need to start a blog, but ask your friends and loved ones to send ideas and then shout them out when you do their things!
Get to know your fellow travelers. COVID-19 made this more difficult, but force yourself to start up a conversation with a fellow park-goer or camper. You’ll meet amazing people and also pick up some great travel tips.
The National Park “America the Beautiful” Pass was the best thing we bought in all of 2020 (and we quarantined purchased a LOT of great things). $80 for a little card that gets you into every national park at no additional cost (entry is usually around $30 per park).
If at first you don’t succeed…Tweak. Vanlife was great, but we were going at a breakneck pace. People ask us if we’d do it again, and we would — we’d just tweak the way we did it. The longest we stayed in any one location was 3 days so we never got comfortable in an area and we never developed any semblance of a routine. If we were to do it again, we’d pick places and stay 4 - 7 days and plan ahead to get baller campsites. Side note: If you want to stay IN the National Parks, you have to be booking months in advance. Otherwise you’ll stay 30 - 60 minutes outside, which is totally fine too, but just be prepared.
Lastly, just have fun and challenge yourself. Whether you go on a two-month campervan trip or a 2-day weekend getaway to a state park, push yourself to do and try new things. You’ll thank yourself.
The end. Until next time…(we do have another 30 parks to visit after all)