My Big Road Trip(s) bucket list thread

Greetings.

Back in 2013 I took a work trip to SF and it really sparked a bit of wanderlust in me. I had just turned 34 and realized my world view was limited to mostly the SE United States. In 2018 the family took a road trip to Minnesota and that was a fun experience that I wasn't expecting. London was 2019. 2020 obviously didn't bring much travel.

I purchased my truck and set about modding it in part to get out and explore this country. To see things that I've only seen pictures of, because seeing something with your own two eyes can be like a religious experience. The Golden Gate Bridge took my breath away in person. It took me twenty years to get to London. I can't say how much time I have left on this earth, and am starting to understand experiences mean so much more than things. Mostly.

I'm loathe to use the term overlanding, but my truck and outlook are going to be geared more toward that than rock crawling or true technical offroading. So please factor that in for any offroad suggestions. And while I have cities and urban experiences on my list and I will discuss here, I guess this thread will be looking for natural landscape experiences that I can hit in-between or separately than my desired trips to see FLW buildings, epic cities, and well-known natural landmarks (Grand Canyon, Moraine Lake, etc).

One of the challenges I face since most of the things I want to see are multiple-day drives away from me is that I'll have to make multiple of these trips as well. I'll never see what I want to even in ten trips.

This thread was inspired by @b_r_o and his hiking log.

1/1/21 - 18 states visited (16 driven), three countries
1/1/22 goal - 21 states visited

 

I feel ya man, Ive been living all over the US and never get it all in before the next move. Been in Utah for 4.5 years now and nowhere close to being even halfway down the list.

See what you can, but spend time enjoying the journey and the stops. Having a great day each at 2 places in a weekend will always beat 20 minutes at 10 places and wishing you had spent more time.

 

As far as gear goes:

Benchmark atlas' are fantastic and never run out of batteries. Lots of offroad routes and points of interest indicated as well.

A good camp chair is worth its weight in gold. Really like the helinox or rei knockoff for a comfort/space ratio

Lumenaid lanterns work really well and take no extra batteries. Speaking of, best place to store headlight batteries is in a second headlamp.

Make everything have a place. Take it out, use it, back in its place. Works to avoid losing items and also time lost digging for stuff "I know I just saw somewhere"

Traction boards and one of those noco jumpstart battery packs can get you out of a jam and by yourself, because youll not always have a wingman or a helpful stranger to rely on.

 

I guess I am pretty lucky to have woods and mountains so close to me, the easy access is taken for granted. I wasn't kidding about how most of those trails are less than 2 hrs from my house. My day trip supplies (other than seasonal hiking/touring gear) are just food, coffee and maybe some firewood if I want to hang out somewhere. Planning for multi-day trips seems daunting to me

I often dream about just getting in my truck and driving to Key West or the Artic Circle. Right now work and family life prevent me from being gone for any length of time, at least for the next couple years.

 

I linked my build thread, one of my requirements was to kit it out before I took it offroad at all. I think it should be able to tackle what I want it to after the winch is installed, I figure forest service roads will be the majority of what it will see, but it needs to be more capable. As much as I'd like to do the Rubicon, I don't see that happening. I like the factory paint and bodylines too much. I will probably ask about camping equipment here or the other subforum.

Yeah, I think about a trip out west to see Utah or something. It's a 26 hour drive from my house on the interstate. That's three days one way.

We did kind of have the idea (wife and I) that after the kids leave the house we might do some temporary housing arrangements, like she would pick up with a travel nursing agency and we'd go somewhere for six months to a year. That would help a lot, as if I'm in my current job I can work anywhere with high speed internet.

 

Working on a huge Google Map with landmarks. Not every single one of these will be seen, but it helps me remember contenders.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1DFv60PgVTx9utie0N_T74EBUdmiNxTnL&usp=sharing

 

Logan Pass thru MT then gumball up thru Canada via. Sweetgrass crossing. Straight up to Drum. to see the World Class Dino. Muesuem for starters.

 

Don't forget Cape Flattery. There's a beach campground with cabins and such close by (Hobuck beach resort).

Also check out Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Classic foggy, mossy PNW coastline with huge trees and big waves. To get there, if you take the ferry from Anacortes Wa to Vancouver Island, you go through the San Juan Islands which are very pretty

 

Alpine Loop in Colorado was brought to my attention the other day, I'm also looking for trails that I can go on for both adventure and to get to sights I normally wouldn't see. I think my motivation for going offroad (especially being hundreds of miles from home) would be that over any attempt to test the limits of my truck. I likely won't be lifted.