Our grand plan.

Road Trip USA

Our grand plan (or itinerary) started as us pipe dreaming about our trip. It included several bottles of wine, a whopping map of the US and hundreds of tiny 1cm x 1cm post-it note squares. We popped a post-it on EVERYTHING we wanted to see, and from that a reality (and possible route) was born.

From there, things got real. We had to provide a fully detailed itinerary along with my US visa application, and were lucky enough to stumble on the free, mostly user-friendly, road trip planning site Furkot. We mapped out possible dates and our most likely route – which looked like a lopsided infinity symbol across the country.

Our trip has taken many twists and turns along the way. Our original plan was three months in Indianapolis at the start, followed by an East coast loop, a three week break back in Indy, then a West coast loop. Then we found out Erik could only be out of Australia a certain amount of time if he wanted to apply for citizenship in the year after we returned so our trip got shortened…. then my sister got married in Australia half way through our planned Indy time… we were planning on crossing to Canada several times during our stay, until I was informed on arrival at LAX (despite differing advice received previously) that this was not OK, so Canada has now been crossed off and will likely be exchanged for a trip to London to get my visa renewed…  we had tickets to see Aretha Franklin at Chautauqua, then Aretha got sick and was replaced by Jay Leno who we have zero interest in seeing… the list goes on and things get chopped, changed and moved around. This is all okay: part of this adventure is learning to live life a little more flexibly, and not getting caught in the day to day.

We also want to be able to follow our gut instinct when we’re on the road and stop for a few extra days in one place if we are feeling the vibe, and move on faster if we’re not. Giving ourselves the room to be flexible has been a challenge. Not only because of our (my) inbuilt desire to plan, but also because some National Park camp sites require bookings about six months in advance, and, of course, people want to know when we’ll be landing on their door step.

But it is so exciting to be on the road after so much planning, planning, wine and more planning.

You can check out our up to date itineraries below, and follow along as they shift and change over the next six months.

June-September

Slinky Styles Adventure, Part 1

September-December

Slinky Styles Adventure Part 2

2 Replies to “Our grand plan.”

  1. Looks like StL in December. As that approaches, I can guarantee a great home-cooked meal for you. Let me know…

    1. That sounds great! Looking forward to seeing you. As it approaches and we get a little clearer on our actual dates, I’ll let you know.

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