• Budgeting

    How Much Did That 11.5-Week Road Trip Cost?

    December 21, 2015 - By 

    I’ve said many times that traveling is much cheaper than living in San Francisco. Southeast Asia and most of South America are obviously easier to budget for, but I’ve discovered that even road-tripping around the U.S. is significantly cheaper than living in San Francisco too. Last year when we spent 3.5 months on the road driving from San Francisco to New York and down to New Orleans and back, I compared domestic travel with international travel and laid out tips for RV-living.  This year, I decided to keep track of all my spending over the course of 11.5 weeks because I was…

  • Nevada

    Rhyolite

    December 17, 2015 - By 

    Hundreds if not thousands of ghost towns lay in dishevelment throughout the U.S., and Death Valley National Park is home to a number of forgotten ghost towns that were once mining towns.  Just outside this California park across the border into Nevada are the remains of Rhyolite, now a ghost town but once a prosperous mining town that housed 8,000 people at its peak.  I’ve passed by several ghost towns before, but not one of this scale.  Plenty of dilapidated buildings lined the “downtown” of Rhyolite, begging to be photographed.  I later learned that Rhyolite is one of the most photographed ghost…

  • California

    Death Valley

    December 15, 2015 - By 

    Unlike other national parks, the best time to visit Death Valley National Park is from November through February, where average temperatures hover between a comfortable 60-70ºF.  From May through September, the low season, average temperatures exceed 100ºF.  Despite being the largest national park in the contiguous U.S., this endless desert valley lacks one thing that I love the most about parks: trees! With areas of interest vastly spread out, I ended up spending more time driving in the park than exploring on foot.  Even with the lack of trees and epic hikes, we enjoyed the timeless views from our car windows as we explored by vehicle. Multiple…

  • Nevada

    Las Vegas

    December 14, 2015 - By 

    I think if you’ve lived in California your whole life, the idea of going to Las Vegas in your late 20’s or early 30’s would make you groan.  At least it does for me.  Don’t get me wrong.  Las Vegas is definitely a playground for adults, especially young adults.  Between the age of 21-23, my girl friends and I would flock to Las Vegas at least a couple times per year to get dolled up and party, which is why now the thought of Las Vegas turns me off.  And the last thing I want to do is tow a trailer through a…

  • Arizona

    The Grand Canyon

    December 10, 2015 - By 

    Finally after numerous road trips and two years of travel, we made it to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Freakin’ Canyon.  Because Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon are the most popular and overcrowded national parks in the U.S., visiting them during the low season is key.  It was early December and we were in southern Utah; we had no excuse to miss this natural wonder of the world.  So off we went.  Chris had hiked down to the Colorado River years ago, and now it was my turn. Flowing through several states, the mighty Colorado River cuts and carves…

  • Utah

    Mesa Arch vs. Lost Kiva

    December 2, 2015 - By 

    Mesa Arch sucks. So bad. Mesa Arch is a reminder for why I hate people. We first went to Mesa Arch last year in 2014 at the end of September on a Tuesday.  The idea that a late fall weekday would bring fewer tourists ended up slapping in the face with disappointment as we were painfully proven wrong.  Fast forward one year to now, another Tuesday during the week of Thanksgiving.  Once again we ignorantly assumed (more like hoped) that there would be fewer tourists given it was so late in the season.  Nope.  Instead, the experience was worse. About 10 minutes before sunrise, a small crowd…

  • Utah

    White Rim Road

    November 29, 2015 - By 

    In the spring and fall permits for the White Rim Road sell out fast.  It’s no wonder why. The adventure on White Rim Road in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands offers more than just off-roading.  Tack on canyon rim camping, mountain biking, and hiking over a minimum of 2 days and 1 night and you’ve got some wild fun.  $30 permits can be reserved up to 4 months in advance but thanks to the cold off season we acquired ours the afternoon before we began our first real off-roading adventure. Because it was our first true off-roading…

  • Utah

    Needles

    November 25, 2015 - By 

    I should have explained in my first post about Canyonlands that the national park is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, Needles, and The Maze. These three districts are separated by deep canyons created by the Colorado and Green Rivers, making it impossible to go from one park to the other within national park boundaries. Each district has its own entrance, which takes at least a couple of hours to travel from one to the next. Last year during my first visit to Canyonlands, I sampled two days at Island in the Sky by checking out every overlook, walking all…

  • Utah

    Monument Valley and Around

    November 23, 2015 - By 

    Monument Valley is arguably one of the most famous landscapes in the American Southwest. After watching Forrest Gump, I knew a snapshot of the epic stretch of road leading up into the valley was obligatory. Better yet, I was going to cycle it. Since we were approaching Monument Valley from the northeast in Colorado, I made note of the number of beautiful sites worth seeing along the way: Mexican Hat Rock, Moki Dugway, and Valley of the Gods. Immediately after hiking the Sand Canyon Trail we set out for Mexican Hat Rock, not because the rock formation was particularly interesting,…

  • Colorado

    Mesa Verde and Sand Canyon

    November 22, 2015 - By 

    I knew we weren’t going to leave Colorado before making it to Mesa Verde, the largest and most famous archeological site in the Southwest known to me. These ancient cliff dwellings were discovered by local ranchers only in the late 1800s, and then later became a national park in 1906. Now this popular national park has giant parking lots loaded with tour bus parking zones, and has a third party campground that hosts over 200 campsites. It’s a damn popular place. However, due to the off-season and the winter storm that passed through the night before our arrival, most archeological…