When I quit my job last year to travel around the world, I planned on traveling abroad for 4 months and then coming home and finding a job. Then I met Graham, in the middle of the Australian Outback. To make a long story short: we hit it off big time, changed plans to meet up several more times during the next few months, and then decided to explore the U.S. together. One year ago today we set out in a Kia Optima and spent three months on the road in America, exploring 27 states, 16 National Parks, and covering 13,188 miles. We had the best time ever.
To celebrate the one year mark of leaving for my trip around the world in March, I posted my 10 favorite photos from my 4 months traveling abroad. I wanted to do the same thing to remember this trip as well – my 10 favorite photos from 3 months on the road in the United States.
Although we enjoyed the time we spent in the many U.S. cities and towns we visited along the way, our hearts belonged to the National Parks, and that’s where we focused the majority of our time as well. My favorite photos reflect that – all but two are from a National Park.
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Glacier National Park in Montana has an epic scenic drive called the “Going to the Sun Road” – it crosses the park, weaving along the sides of mountains high above the valley floor. It crosses the Continental Divide, and we hiked the Highline trail that follows the ridge line along the divide and provides incredible views across the valley. (More photos from our time in Glacier National Park.)
It was hard to choose a favorite photo from Yosemite National Park, we spent 5 days and nights there and moved around within the park so we could experience many of its diverse and stunning landscapes. But this photo is my favorite – one evening we drove up to Glacier Point to watch the sunset over Half Dome, and it was one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. (More photos from our time in Yosemite National Park.)
The day we drove to Arches National Park was dark and windy. We raced an actual sandstorm across the desert, which was kind of amazing. We set up our tent just before the rain hit, and then drove back out of the park and went out to dinner. The storm hit and passed through while we ate, and as we drove back through the park we could see the dividing line between the final moments of rain and the sunny skies that were rolling in to greet us that evening. I caught the dividing line in the weather in this photo, and it’s one of my favorites from the trip. (More photos from our time in Arches National Park.)
We decided to visit Very Large Array, or VLA in New Mexico. It’s in the middle of nowhere, there is no cell service, and there are giant crickets everywhere, but visiting this radio astronomy observatory is a really fun adventure. It’s also incredibly photogenic. (More photos of our visit to VLA.)
Part of getting good photos in the National Parks is luck – the weather has a huge impact on your photography. I was so happy that we had a stunningly clear day to enjoy Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. The blue sky reflected onto the beautiful caldera lake, and we had a wonderful day hiking around & dipping our toes in this amazing body of water. (More photos from our time in Crater Lake National Park.)
Badlands National Park in South Dakota was the first National Park we went to on our trip, and it remained Graham’s favorite. We loved the striking landscapes and the opportunity to encounter a large variety of animals throughout the park. I like this photo because it combines the beautiful landscape with the wonderful wildlife we got to observe. (More photos from our time in Badlands National Park.)
Graham did most of the driving during the trip, and so he couldn’t take photographs most of the time we spent in the car. Whenever there was something particularly beautiful ahead of us (which was quite often) he’d say “roooooaaaaaddddd snnnnaaaaaaaaaapppp” – requesting that I take a Road Snap for our official trip records. This one was the most epic – we were at a high altitude in Grand Teton National Park and were at cloud level one day while driving across the park. I love the beautiful clouds in the road, and the dramatic mountains hiding behind the fog.
The Narrows in Zion National Park in Utah is my favorite hike in the world. I feel lucky that I’ve gotten to hike it twice, but I wish I had access to it every single day. Hiking up the Virgin River with the canyon walls stretching high above is one of the most serene and wonderful experiences I’ve ever had. This photo helps take me back there in my mind, and I love it for that.
We drove the entire 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and our first day on the road was foggy and cloudy. It made the mountains in the distance look incredibly beautiful, and showed how they got their name:
I wanted to include at least one photo of the two of us together (there were MANY selfies taken). When we weren’t hiking, stalking animals, campfire cooking, or exploring the National Parks, we could usually be found at our campsite, reading and relaxing. One day about halfway through the trip I decided that since reading around the campsite with Graham would definitely be one of my favorite memories from the trip, I wanted to have a photo of it. I put my bookmark in my book, put my camera on the picnic table, set the timer delay, and ran back to resume reading. The result is my favorite photo of Graham and I from the trip, taken in Yosemite National Park:
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Selecting these ten photos has made me very nostalgic about our 3 months on the road. It was 3 of the most wonderful months of my life, and I’m so grateful that we were able to do it.
Now that Graham and I are staying in one place for a while, I’m working on some posts to share how I planned all the travel I did last year, and tips and advice for long term traveling. I’d love to share what I learned about planning a US roadtrip, please let me know if that is something you’d be interested in reading! :)
I remain partial to the Arches weather photo, but they’re all exceptional. Very large array intrigues me as well.
That Arches photo … one of my all time favorites. VLA was so unique and awesome – really interesting. WAAAAAY in the middle of nowhere too though.
You and Graham have the BEST story!
Aghh your photos are giving me serious flashbacks to my own cross-country road trips. Four years ago, I drove to California with my sister and a friend, stopping at Arches, Yosemite, and San Francisco. (Big Sur was on the agenda, but my car broke down on the way out of Yosemite, and it took three days to get it fixed; we couldn’t just extend the trip because we had to get to Boise for a wedding!) Then, two years ago, my family did a road trip around the Four Corners region, visiting Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Canyonlands, Bryce, Capitol Reef, and The Grand Canyon. If I could spend all of my time exploring national parks, I absolutely would.
Those trips both sound so amazing! I love love love the National Parks in the southwest (the ones I’ve been to: Arches, Bryce, Grand Canyon and Zion) but I haven’t made it to Monument Valley, Canyonlands, or Capitol Reef… they are all high on my list! And I completely agree – I wish I could spend all my time in those parks – there’s so much to discover, and they are so beautiful. I’ve honestly considered moving out there, and it’s not off the table yet. :D
Your pictures are stunning. My husband and I just took a road trip out east to Boston, NYC, and D.C. Next year, we’re hopefully going west. I love big cities, but I missed the whole nature aspect of a trip. Next year, mountains! :)
It definitely recommend it! It takes a LOOOONG time to get out there from Michigan, so you might want to consider flying to a major city and renting a car, unless you can get an extended amount of time off. But it’s such a wonderful experience!
I did not know the story of how you two met, and I must say it’s fantastic! Thank you for sharing that. The third picture in this group, of the Arches storm, may be one of the greatest pictures I’ve ever seen. The transition and split are just superb. I think the Narrows shot may be my second favorite, but there’s so much to love here. I bow to you being able to cut this down to ten. Great stuff.
Holy moly, how did I miss your comment here too? I think the day you commented on a few posts I must have been in outer space, mentally. Thank you for your lovely (as always) words! I’m kind of tickled about the way we met too – it’s quite a story! I agree – that Arches photo is hard to beat – definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time for that one!
I love all of them! I am partial to the reading picture because that is my dream – to read and camp in the national parks. Do you have good ideas on how to plan a trip frugally? Do we drive or fly part of it? How do we find cheap but safe places to stay? How do we get access to the parks during crowded seasons? How do you plan your spending money? If we go, I would like to have the cost of the trip pretty nailed down before we head out. Thanks for anything you can answer here.
These are all such great questions! I hope to go into them in more detail when I dedicate a full post to traveling the US, but a few quick thoughts:
If you’re going for an extended period of time (more than 2 weeks) I think it’s best to drive your own car – you’ll save a lot of money. If you have less than 2 weeks you’ll probably want to fly and then rent a car out West, otherwise you’ll spend too much of your time driving to get there. (I went on a National Parks trip in 2012 that was 10 days, and that’s what we did.)
Are you willing to consider camping? It drastically cuts the cost down. I’m planning a full post on car camping advice too. That’s the best way to make the trip affordable. As for access to the national parks, it’s not usually a problem in most parks during the busy seasons unless you want to stay in the lodges – those get booked up months in advance during the summer months (and they are MUCH more expensive than camping). For spending money, we budgeted about $100/day for the two of us for food and anything else we needed, other than lodging and gas. It was a little high most days, but it covered us on the few days we went over.
Really great questions! I hope to tackle them in much more detail when I write full posts. Please let me know any other thoughts or questions you have and I’ll keep those in mind when working on the travel posts! Thank you!! :D
Echoing Leah here when I say that the way you and Graham met is remarkable, and even more so because you decided to plan the rest of your trips around each other!
There are some stunning photos here. My boyfriend sings the praises of Arches regularly, and I hope he and I will make it out there someday. Also, some friends of mine just recently did their own U.S. road trip before starting grad school, and they had so many good things to say about the Badlands.
Yeah, I could write an essay about all of these pictures. Gorgeous!
Oh hello – just back from camping and finally getting a chance to reply to comments!
First- thank you for all the kind words! :D I kind of adore our “how we met” story, and it’s crazy to think of how many stars had to align for us both to be in the middle of the outback at the same exact time!
Second – YES! I hope you make it to Arches and Bandlands someday soon. They are both phenomenal places. My first trip to Arches was in 2012 when my friends and I took a vacation to Utah/Arizona/Nevada. We flew to Salt Lake City, rented a car, and hit several national parks in our 10 day camping trip. It was a very affordable vacation, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind for the future – it doesn’t have to be saved for a part of a big road trip. I hope to make it back there soon on a vacation.