Southwest USA Roadtrip: Itinerary

I’ve been unemployed for 9 months now. When I began this journey, I had no idea where I was going, just that I was going to get the hell off of the unhappy path I’d been stuck on for years.

Having all of this free time on my hands would be very conducive to doing some traveling, except a). No job = no money, b). Applying to jobs = potential job interviews = I can’t just take off and leave NYC, and c). I’ve been spending so much time building my new photography business and meeting with clients. Though to be fair, I have a decent amount of savings (which I’ve been living off of) plus some income from various photo gigs.

But lately I’ve been having an itch to get away for awhile. I just wasn’t sure where exactly I wanted to go, but I knew I should take advantage of this free time before eventually succumbing to a full time job again.

So a few days ago, I decided I was going to fly out west and embark on a week-long roadtrip through Southwest US. All by myself. I’ve always wanted to tour the area, and being immersed in nature, being outdoors, and hiking sounds perfect right now. I literally booked my flight one week in advance – talk about last minute!

And this is SO unlike me! I love to plan, especially when it comes to traveling. I get great satisfaction out of carefully planning trips and being super excited about them months beforehand. But you know what, it’s fun to be spontaneous too. I could use more spontaneity in my life. It’ll be fun for once NOT to have every day planned out in advance. I just want to get in a car and drive on the wide open roads, going wherever they take me.

And then, to add to the spontaneity, two days after booking the flight my parents told me they wanted Lauren to go with me. Despite having lived in Australia for a year and traveled around Italy for 5 weeks by myself, they were more nervous about me hiking alone in the desert (“there are more scary people in the United States!”, my mom insisted). Such wusses! Lauren totally would have been on board from the start, had her money situation been more accommodating. But my mom and dad are the most amazing parents, and with their help I’m now going to be road tripping with my most favorite person in the world! And I’m so much more excited about the trip now with Lauren as my sidekick!

So here’s the rough schedule for our trip. In the name of spontaneity, I only wanted to draft a general outline of the week, leaving us the freedom to fill in the blanks as we go.

Tuesday 3/30
Flight: Newark to Las Vegas, dep. 5:03pm, arr. 11:03pm
Accom: Las Vegas – Palace Station (near airport)

Wednesday 3/31
Zion Canyon
Accom: Zion Ponderosa (in a “cowboy cabin”)

Thursday 4/1
Zion Canyon
Accom: Zion Ponderosa

Friday 4/2
Bryce Canyon
Accom: ??

Saturday 4/3
Monument Valley; Hopi Reservation (Second Mesa); Painted Desert
Accom: Flagstaff

Sunday 4/4 (Easter)
Grand Canyon
Accom: Flagstaff

Monday 4/5
Grand Canyon
Accom: Flagstaff

Tuesday 4/6
Grand Canyon: Drive to Las Vegas
Accom: Las Vegas – South Point Hotel (4-star!)

Wednesday 4/7
Flight: Las Vegas to Washington, dep. 1:04pm, arr. 8:04pm

 
After the roadtrip, I’ll be visiting a good friend of mine, Jill, in Maryland for a few days. We’ll be spending a lot of time in DC, enjoying the Cherry Blosson Festival.