United States

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Land of the free. My adopted country. I’ve driven hundreds of miles of its roads. I’ve hiked hundreds of miles of its trails. I’ve been to 50+ countries and I don’t hesitate to say that The United States is the most beautiful country I’ve been to. It has deserts, icebergs, glaciers, tropical forests, mountains, beaches, ancient civilizations, volcanoes… travel this vast country enough and it’ll spoil you for the rest.

There are a lot of things that this country does wrong, but the great thing it’s done right is the creation of public lands. Lands set aside for the enjoyment and recreation of everyone: national parks, national monuments, national forests, etc.

Where to begin?

Getting Around

Because of its size, the combination of flying and car rental
is the best way to explore the United States.

A lot of people would fly into either Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Las Vegas to start their road trip. Due to high fee of one-way car rental, I recommend trying to make a loop, and then fly to your next city.

An example itinerary could look like this:

Fly to San Francisco and pick up a rental car, visit Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Kings Canyon, Death Valley, Los Angeles, then drive up along the coast visiting the beach towns on Highway One (Big Sur, Morro Bay, etc). Return car in San Francisco.

Then you can fly to Las Vegas to visit the national parks in Utah and Nevada.

National Parks

One of my life’s goals is to visit all of the 59 national parks. So far I’ve been to 40+? This has led me to believe that the US has one of the most diverse ecosystems and landscapes in the world.

For the mountains, lakes, and waterfalls:
My favorites include Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Denali, Death Valley, Zion… so many more.

For the unique landscape:
Badlands is gorgeously bizarre. Arches and Bryce for their hoodoos and arches. I also love Wind Cave NP for its unique cave formations.

Epic Roadtrips

That one time I organized a Southwest roadtrip with 2 strangers I met on Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum.
The one year Jack and I spent in our converted Sprinter van.
My solo roadtrip down to Florida Keys and ended up swimming with wild manatees
Taking Highway One north of SF is always a great weekend getaway idea.

California

San Francisco has been our home for the past 8 years. I wrote a short post on what it’s like to live in San Francisco. Learn about San Francisco’s rich history through the ghosts of the pasts: SF Best Ghost Tours.

Winter activity: go skiing in Tahoe.

Lousiana

Mardi Gras, French Quarter, beignets… I liked New Orleans but I didn’t fall in love with New Orleans. I did LOVE my visit to Mardi Gras World where I got to see how the mardi gras floats are being made. So cool!

Nevada

I think Las Vegas is an ugly city in a beautiful surrounding. Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock are a must visit if you’re looking to escape from the artificial world that is the Vegas Strip. We go to Vegas for the climbing and the shows. Some of our favorite shows are “Ka” (from Cirque du Soleil) and “Absinthe” (so offensive in a good way).

In 2017 I finally made it to Great Basin National Park. I made the trip specifically to visit this remote park and I was so surprised to see that it’s has alpine lakes, snow-capped peaks, and a beautiful cave system

New York

“Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.”

I love New York City, but in small doses :)

Florida

See the mermaid show in Florida. Party in Miami. And of course, you have to take the classic American roadtrip, a roadtrip down the Keys to eat some conch and key lime pies. Soon you’ll find yourself weirdly entertaining the idea of moving to live there. Florida, please stay weird.

Colorado

We briefly entertained the idea of moving to Boulder, we loved the city and the state that much!

If you’re in Telluride, make sure to do the Telluride via ferrata. The exposure! The views!

Utah

One of my favorite states! Utah is home to 5 very popular national parks: Zion, Bryce, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonland. So much public land = so many outdoor opportunities: hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoning, rafting… it’s endless outdoor fun anytime of the year.

Winter Hiking in St. George, the mild weather of St. George makes it a perfect destination in winter.
Going canyoning in Zion, one of the funnest experiences I’ve had and I can’t wait to do it again.

Wyoming

The Wind River Range stole our hearts! Climbing Freemont Peak and the Cirque of Towers were both great adventures to be had at the Wind.

Hawaii February 11, 2013

Zip Lining Big Island, Racing Among Hawaiian Treetops

I love the sensation of flying through the air, seeing the blurry ground as we made our way from one tree to another hundreds of feet above the ground.

Maybe I’m getting in touch with my evolutionary ancestor?

Nevada December 11, 2012

Vegas for Non-Gamblers: Racing Exotic Cars in Vegas

Racing a sports car in a racetrack is one of funnest things to do in Vegas for non-gamblers. While Jack could barely contain his glee about getting behind the wheel of a Ferarri, I was understandably nervous about this. Visions of a scratch or a dent on these 300k cars were making me sweat.

Nevada December 4, 2012

The Valley of Fire – A Colorful Daytrip from Vegas

The Valley of Fire State Park is only an hour away from the gawdy light show of Vegas’ strip. But it sure feels like a world’s away. We might as well be on Mars.

Colorado November 20, 2012

Jack and Jill vs Snowstorm in the Rockies

Despite the looming ginormous grey clouds, I insisted that we kept on driving towards the Rocky Mountain National Park. As Jack often points out, I can be quite stubborn sometimes.

United States November 13, 2012

9 Reasons Why We’d Move to Boulder (and 1 Reason Why We Won’t)

We went to Colorado to see if we’d love to live there someday. We found many reasons why we would move to Boulder, Colorado. And one reason why we won’t.

Colorado November 6, 2012

The Secrets Behind Boulder's Beautiful People

Everywhere we look in Boulder, we see ridiculously good looking people that look they just walk out of REI catalogs. We think we know their secrets.

Alaska, Roadtrip, United States October 30, 2012

Glaciers and More, Scenic Road Trips from Anchorage

The surrounding areas around Anchorage were so beautiful it felt like a crime to stay in the city. So we never did.

Best Viewpoints on Highway One North of San Francisco

Roadtrip, San Francisco October 9, 2012

Ultimate Roadtrip! Best Stops On Highway 1 North of San Francisco

I’m embarrassed to say even after spending many years in California we’d never ventured far on Highway 1 North of San Francisco. There are rumors of redwood trees and gorgeous coastline. And lots of wine. Hmmm, wine.

I decided to do something about this situation.

California, San Francisco October 3, 2012

What’s It Like to Live in San Francisco?

We used to wonder what it’d be like to live in big metropolitan cities such as San Francisco or New York. After we unexpectedly landed in San Francisco a few months ago after our RTW trip, we’re slowly finding out the answers.

Alaska September 25, 2012

Alaska – We Could Live Here

The way north promises Talkeetna, “a historic, frontier town “. The way south would lead to Seward and the Harding Ice Field. We were afraid the weather would prevent us to see anything in Seward. Talkeetna it is!

Alaska September 10, 2012

Trekking on Matanuska Glacier – Anchorage

Matanuska Glacier is one of those glaciers in Alaska that you can easily drive to. You can see it from the highway. It’s also one of the few glaciers where you could, if you want, walk right across it, slip, and crack your head. And people do.

Alaska September 4, 2012

Looking for Sarah Palin's House in Wasilla

Wasilla, Alaska

Say you want about her, without Sarah Palin, Wasilla would only have been one of the many small towns we pass by that we never paid much attention to. I’d say that putting Wasilla on the radar of travelers like us might have been her biggest accomplishment.

It started as a joke

“Hey, we’ll be passing Wasilla. We should look for Sarah Palin’s house.”
“Hahaha, right. You.. funny… you.”

(15 seconds of thoughtful silence)

“Hey guys, it’s actually right by the road. I have the address right here,” Aaron chimed in from the back seat.

Then of course curiosity got the better of us.

It was amazingly easy (so easy it was scary) to find out exactly where she lives. Some other blogger has put up not only a satellite map, but pictures of her house so we knew exactly when we found it.

So we got off the highway right after Wasilla’s Best Western, following a nondescript dirt driveway parallel the road following the directions Aaron was reading off his phone.

What were we hoping to do there?

Jack was hoping to get a picture with her. We scoffed, “Yeah, that’s likely going to happen” (not). I’m not sure if he thought we’d spot her grocery shopping or cleaning her guns outside her house or what.

Aaron whined about Secret Service and this being Alaska everytime we got within 20 ft of a “No Trespassing” sign, so he was clearly just hoping not to get shot.

The voyeour in me was just hoping we could actually get close enough to see the house.

We couldn’t.

The driveway to the house was extra long. The house was partially hidden by trees and there were “No Trespassing” signs all over (which we respected).