In late December 2023, we started a busy travel year by leaving our home base in Michigan for a park-hosting gig in Texas.
More than 18,500 miles and 264 days later, we backed the Airstream into the driveway at our sticks-n-bricks. Well, at least for a few weeks. Now, not all those miles were with the Airstream in tow. We also have the van set up as our weekend getaway vehicle.
For the rest of 2024, we have an Airstream rally in northwest Michigan in October. And in November, we’re hauling the trailer to the Airstream Service Center in Jackson Center, Ohio, for some warranty repairs. (Watch for the update on this in another blog post.)
Along the way in 2024, we visited more than a dozen national parks and monuments, as well as numerous state parks. The national parks and monuments included (in alphabetical order):
Badlands, Big Bend, Cabrillo, Carlsbad Caverns, Casa Grande Ruins, Craters of the Moon, Grand Teton, Guadalupe Mountains, Joshua Tree, Lewis & Clark National Historical Park (and the Historic Trail), Mammoth Cave, Petrified Forest, Redwood, Saguaro, and White Sands.
To see the highlights of our national park visits, go to this YouTube playlist.
We experienced so many things in 2024 that they tend to blur together.
Our park-hosting gig in Texas was extended to four months instead of our typical three. That’s because we wanted to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse.
On our way out of Texas, we knocked out both national parks in the state. They are so remote that even many Texans have never been to both! While at Big Bend National Park, we even took advantage of being able to walk into Mexico.
By mid-July, we needed to be in California for a family wedding. So we meandered our way there from Texas via New Mexico and Arizona. We made numerous stops for national and state parks that piqued our interest. It annoys Jessi, but I like to point out that everything is “on the way” when you tow your house!
An extra special stop was at the Grand Canyon. While Jessi had visited the park as a teenager, it was my first trip there. I’m thrilled to say that checking off this lifelong bucket list item more than exceeded my expectations. Grand Canyon is now my new favorite national park!
Speaking of going out of the way, despite needing to be in the middle of California, we dove south first. That was to check out San Diego since Jessi had never been there. (Remember what I wrote about everything being on the way when you tow your house?)
As we headed north through California, we carved out time for the wedding, a trip to Disneyland, and a stopover to spend a few days visiting Jessi’s boss and one of her coworkers.
We eventually made our way up the coast en route to Portland, Oregon. That’s where Jessi ran the Hood to Coast relay. That detour allowed us to visit more friends in Washington, which wasn’t on our original travel plans. Flexibility is vital when traveling nearly full-time. Plus, remember what I wrote about everything being on the way when you pull your house behind you?!
Knowing we needed to turn east again eventually, we headed into Idaho, stopping to visit friends and coworkers. (Another huge benefit of our travels is keeping up with people in person instead of just online.) We then ventured north of our intended route to Ohio. That was to revisit the Badlands since it’s one of Jessi’s favorite national parks.
Finally making our way into Ohio, we stopped at Jackson Center to visit the Airstream headquarters and take a factory tour. Then, it was on to Mansfield for an Airstream rally at The Ohio State Reformatory. It’s now a historical site and the location where they filmed Shawshank Redemption, Air Force One, and several other movies.
The past nine months have included so many adventures that the words above just barely provide highlights. That’s part of why we travel so much.
We have been traveling in an RV since 2016, spending more months and miles on the road each year. If you have questions about how or why we chose and continue to live this lifestyle, please ask via comment or by sending a note via our contact form.
Next year will kick off with another trip to Texas, this time for a park-hosting gig at a different state park. And then we’ll be heading off to explore again, so stay tuned and keep on trekin’!