After hitting the road full-time in June 2018, we had a lot of things to figure out. What was our travel style? Where did we want to go? How long did we want to stay places and explore? It was pretty overwhelming those first few months.
We soon learned we couldn’t see it all, and we didn’t want to move every few days. Chances were we wouldn’t actually visit every National Park in the U.S. unless that was the only thing we planned to see.
As it turns out, we discovered what we really wanted to do was linger in places and explore. Sampling local restaurants and trying out lots of new microbreweries was as important as camping in beautiful places.
Plus, we needed to spend some effort teaching Finn algebra, and history, and science, and geography, and…everything else that would allow him to transition to high school after this adventure was over.
Simply put, we wanted to see America at our own pace and not just put check marks next to those places we were supposed to see. Once we realized our purpose, we changed how we traveled. And 2019 looked a heck of a lot different than our first six months on the road in 2018.
So, in keeping with last year’s model, we’re sharing our travels from 2019 with a few meaningful stats. Plus, at the end of this post, we share our big travel plans for 2020.
OUR BEST OF THE BEST LIST
- Favorite states visited: Maine, Alabama, & New Mexico
- Favorite campgrounds: Gulf State Park, Lake Gunthersville State Park, and South Beach State Park
- Favorite museums: National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN) and National Space & Rocket Museum (Huntsville, AL)
- Favorite adventure: Whitewater rafting & zip-lining in Costa Rica
- Favorite outdoor festival: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
- Highlights of Finn’s 2-week summer camp: Fencing & rock climbing
- Best food we ate: Chile rellenos in New Mexico
- Finn’s first live music concert: Sheryl Crow (Nashville, TN)
- Paty’s favorite memory: Sailing cruise in Costa Rica with friends
- Keith’s favorite memory: Fishing in Maine
- Finn’s favorite memory: Catching a 9′ dusky shark in Florida
WHAT ELSE WE SAW IN 2019
- National Parks/Rivers: 7 (Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, Petrified Forest, Bandalier, Petroglyph, Lassen Volcanic, Buffalo River)
- Historic forts: 1 (Alamo)
- Enormous dams we walked across: 2 (Hoover Dam, Fontana Dam)
- Presidential Libraries: 2 (Clinton, Bush)
- Microbreweries visited: 21
- New state high points summited: 12
- Multi-day events we attended: 2 (RVE Summit & MagicFest Portland)
- Weeks spent on vacation in Costa Rica: 2
- Number of cousins Finn got to visit in 2019: All 8 of them!
MILES WE TRAVELED IN 2019
- Miles driven in the RV: 13,180
- Miles driven in our toad: 21,600
- Total number of states we visited: 28
- Number of completely new states the RV drove in: 15
- Dollars spent on fuel: too many (especially at $4/gallon in CA!)
- Minor fender benders: 1 (the RV clipped a concrete bollard when turning at a gas station near Santa Fe)
WHERE WE STAYED IN 2019
- Public campgrounds: 27
- Private campgrounds: 33
- Military campgrounds: 4
- County fairgrounds: 1
- AirBnB rentals: 3 (Costa Rica & Colorado Springs)
- Nights in an RV dealership parking lot during services: 4
- Longest number of days we stayed in one place: 30
- Nomad personalities we unexpectedly met: 2 (Chris & Cherie from Technomadia)
FISHING TRIVIA FOR 2019
- Number of fish Keith & Finn caught in 2019: 3,448
- Number of different species caught: 82
- YouTube personalities Keith fished with: 1 (Bama Beach Bum)
- Ocean fishing charters taken: 4
- Biggest catch (other than Finn’s shark): 37″ redfish
- Different types of seafood Finn tried in 2019: 52
- New kayaks purchased: 1
- Out-of-state fishing licenses Keith purchases: 7 (click here for our fishing advice for nomads)
- Trips to Cabela’s or BassPro Shops: Oh so many!
HIKING TRIVIA FOR 2019
- Consecutive miles I hiked on the Appalachian Trail: 2,192
- States I had to hike through to complete the AT: 14
- Number of days it took me to finish the trail: 126
- Hardest part of my thru-hike: Southern Maine
- Best part of my thru-hike: Meeting so many awesome hikers
- Number of bears I saw on trail: 9
- Number of moose spotted: 0 (much to my disappointment)
- Other great hikes: Sangre de Cristo Mountains (New Mexico)
- Least favorite trail of 2019: Lone Star Trail (I bailed after 60 miles)
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR 2020
With so many great experiences under our belt, we definitely plan to keep RVing and traveling full-time around the U.S and abroad.
We spent our first summer up in the Great Lakes and Canada, and our second summer on the East Coast, so we’re finally ready to spend 2020 exploring the West Coast.
We have a few fun trips already planned this year, including a month in San Diego and some late spring visits to Big Bend National Park and the Grand Canyon. This summer we plan to travel north to see Glacier National Park and maybe even the Canadian Rockies (Banff and Jasper), before heading down to Utah in early fall to visit the many national parks there.
As for my big hiking plans in 2020, I am planning a 110-mile winter section hike on the Pacific Crest Trail as well as a fastpacking trip of the Trans-Catalina Trail during our visit to California. Then in April, I will be heading off to Turkey for a thru-hike of the 330-mile Lycian Way with my good friend Sean. And if all goes well, we plan to attempt a family backpacking trip of the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail this summer.