Category: Road Trip

Posted on by Clay Duda Posted in Europe, Road Trip

Two months, 15,000+ miles — Part 2: Backpacking Europe

NOTE: This is part 2 of a two-part series outlining travel plans for the summer of 2015. First we moved our lives across the United States. Now comes Part 2: Backpacking Europe. Check back for updates.

I’ve got at least another month before I need to act like an adult again. Before starting a new job in mid-July, my wife and I hope to make the most of this adult summer vacation and cover some ground. By my calculations we’ll transverse more than 15,500 miles over the course of 60 days, from trucking our meager belongings back across the U.S. to spending a month backpacking around Europe. Here are plans for the second leg of that journey, playing dumb American tourists as we wander around foreign lands.

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Posted on by Clay Duda Posted in North America, Road Trip

Dispatches: Trucking from Redding, CA to Knoxville, TN

Red Cliffs at Red Rock Canyon State Park (California). Photo by Clay Duda.
Our Penske Big Bird in front of the Red Cliffs at Red Rock Canyon State Park in Cantil, CA.

It was a grueling six-day journey to pack all of our earthly belongings across the United States from Redding, California to our soon-to-be new home in Knoxville, Tennessee, but by some miracle of fortitude my wife and I managed to survive the roughly 2,700-mile trek. We lost four tires on the Penske Big Bird moving truck along the way and — while we aimed to just spend eight hours on the road each day — some days the sun beat us to our destination as our trip ran long. (See our full trip itinerary)

Inevitably the days start to blur together when you’re punching the pedal for 500+ miles every day, so I decided to keep notes each night (or most nights, at least) during our travels. Looking back it’s a great experience to remember, but at the moment you couldn’t pay me to be stuck again in that 16-foot box truck in the middle-of-nowhere Texas. These are dispatches from our misadventures and ultimate salvation, from camping on the road back east and some of the sights we’ve seen along the way.

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Posted on by Clay Duda Posted in North America, Road Trip

Two months, 15,000+ miles — Part 1: The United States

NOTE: This is part 1 of a two-part series outlining travel plans for the summer of 2015. First we move across country, then comes Part 2: Backpacking Europe. Check back for updates.

I’ve got a two month window before I need to act like an adult again. Before starting a new job in mid-July, my wife and I hope to make the most of this adult summer vacation and cover some ground. By my calculations we’ll transverse more than 15,500 miles over the course of 60 days, from trucking our meager belongings back across the U.S. to spending a month backpacking around Europe. Here are plans for the first leg of that journey, driving California to Tennessee.

Continue Reading…