What is a Road Trip Local?
Jon and I (and our dog, Lincoln) have been traveling regularly since 2019. Over the years, we’ve figured out our style of travel as ‘Road Trip Locals’.
Essentially, that means we love road trips and doing our best to feel like locals everywhere we go. Here’s what it means to be a Road Trip Local (and how to know if you’re one, too 😉).
But First, Some Context (& Why Road Trips?)
Three years into travel and we’ve created what we call “travel seasons” where we plan one big road trip with the area(s) we’d like to explore before planning a bunch of smaller road trips for each location in which we stay.
Why road trips?
The short answer: With Lincoln in tow, roadtrips are the most accessible form of travel for us. And after 3 years of roadtripping around the US, we realized we really love exploring by car and seeing as much of an area as we can.
The long answer: We’ve got a dog who expects to tag along everywhere, so road trips quickly rose to the top of our list as a realistic form of travel. So in 2019, when both of our jobs were remote, we experimented with a road trip to Virginia Beach for a week, then a two-week road trip through North Carolina (one week in Raleigh and one week in Asheville).
We loved it. We got to see friends, explore cities we’d wanted to visit, and hike after work, making us - and Lincoln - happy.
Then, in 2020, as part of a full year of travel and a lot of pivoted plans, we experimented with a longer road trip: 6 weeks in New Mexico.
We still really loved roadtripping and learned that we enjoy going “all-in” on a state/area before moving on because it’s fun to find hidden gems, local hotspots, and less popular adventures (in addition to typical touristy things because we love that too).
We didn’t know it yet, but this is where the idea of the “Road Trip Local” was born!
What do we consider to be a road trip?
We consider a road trip to be the time spent “on the road” exploring without being at home. Road trips can be day trips, weekend trips, week-long trips, or multi-week (even multi-month) trips. It all counts!
Exploring Angel Fire Ski Resort during off-season (this was actually October 2020)
Hiking Simpson’s Rest to an overlook of the city of Trinidad, CO
The “Devil’s Thumb” hike near Winter Park, CO that we started after work… and finished in the dark 🥴
Putting The Local in Road Trip Locals
Because we both work full-time, we tend to stay in one place for more than a few days (month-long stays are our favorite).
We love that month-long stays give us enough time to sightsee so that we don’t feel rushed to go-go-go, but not so much time that we put off the activities we want to do. It’s that sweet spot for us traveling that gives us time to see and explore without leaving exhausted.
It also gives us time for another thing we love while traveling: feeling like a local.
That’s not to say we feel like true locals in any place we visit, but staying in one place for longer than a few days gives us more time to get to know an area, find favorite restaurants, and do the things we might usually skip in favor of the “bigger” and more touristy things.
Note: While a three-week or month-long stay works well for us to find this balance while working full-time, you certainly don’t need so long in each stay to create a similar experience. Keep reading for how to apply the Road Trip Local (RTL) approach to your next trip!
Taking the recommendation of a friend to have a beer at Alchemist Brewing in Stowe, VT
Climbing the Dundurn Stairs in Hamilton, Ontario
Looking for dinosaurs tracks outside of Kanab, UT
Our Definition of a “Road Trip Local”
We say this: A road trip local is someone who prefers to travel by car, stopping in small towns, big cities, and National Parks alike for long enough to feel at home in each.
But I think you could also say this: Someone who loves to go & explore, but also slow down & experience.
You’re always in for the top 10 highlights of an area, but also, sometimes, your favorite memories are the things that happen spontaneously in-between bucket list activities.
The Road Trip Local Way is just a way of traveling where the journey might be the destination (have you been to Colorado? the drives are an adventure themselves!), and experiencing an area is as important as seeing it (take a look at the photos in this post for an example of what we mean).
How to Know if You’re a Road Trip Local
You’re here and still reading so most likely you’re resonating with what we’ve shared so far, and you, too, enjoy this roadtrip local style of travel, but here are a few questions to ask yourself to be super sure you’re in the right spot.
Do you prefer to travel by car (or rent a car after flying somewhere new) so you can see more of an area? Do you love driving around a new town when you first arrive (or tend to drive through a national park to get your bearings before adventuring or getting on a trail)?
Do you love seeing as much as you can when you’re traveling, and love to do and see the big touristy things, but also you love finding local hiking trails or enjoying local restaurants?
Do you enjoy experiencing something new, but also having slow mornings just enjoying the view out your front door or back patio? Do your favorite vacations have a little bit of both - new and adventure, and relaxation and familiar?
If so, then you’re a Road Trip Local 😉 Welcome to the club… We plan road trips for you!
Capturing fall over the train tracks in our neighborhood in Winter Park, CO
Walking back from Coppera’s Pond in the Adirondacks
An early morning hike through the Organ Mountains in New Mexico
The Irony of Not Exploring Where You Live Until You Leave
I don’t know why we do this, but if you’re anything like us, we wait to explore where we live until right before we’re supposed to leave. (There’s nothing like an impending move date to get you up and about… except now there are dozens of boxes laying around urging you to stay put.)
We’ve done this plenty of times. Jon grew up in Virginia Beach and rarely went to the beach. Kelly lived in Maryland and hardly ever (never?) took the 2 hour roadtrip to Shenandoah National Park. Together, we lived near Houston, TX, but waited until friends came to town to visit the Space Center, Museum District, or Waterwall.
Whether it’s because we think there will always be next weekend or, in the moment, it feels better to rest on the couch and fire up Netflix, it’s normal to live in a place and not explore. (Right?!?!)
I guess… that’s why we travel?
But what if we could bring the things we love about travel - the new adventures, beautiful sights, and exploration - together with the things we love about home - the slow mornings drinking coffee on the porch, the local cafe that makes your favorite breakfast, a fall Sunday watching football on the couch, or the walking paths you take every day after work.
What if we could blend the new with the familiar until you feel like a Road Trip Local: someone who chooses to make a lot of places feel like home.
That’s what we aim to do as Road Trip Locals - and we hope you find something fun to do from our blog, whether on your next trip or in your hometown!
(In 2020, we spent one month in Charlotte, North Carolina, and while having dinner with family who lived nearby, my cousin said something to the effect of, “You’ve done more in Charlotte than we have.” We got to introduce them to new places (and, of course, they introduced us to many things)… and that’s what we hope to facilitate on a grander scale here!)
Walking along Waits River in Topsham, VT
Strolling through the rose garden in Gage Park, Hamilton, Ontario
Stopping to play in the river while driving the San Juan Scenic Byway
Not Like a Regular Tourist, But a Cool Tourist
If you’re reading this, that means Jon let my ‘Mean Girls’ reference slide while editing this post, ha! Of course we are tourists as we travel, but we also feel a sense of responsibility to the places we travel, and want to leave each stay feeling connected to it.
So what I should say is… Not Like a Regular Local, But a Road Trip Local. If there are tourists and there are locals, we try to land somewhere in between.
Sunday morning coffee strolls at a nearby waterfront park in Hamilton, Ontario
A snowy morning in Kanab, Utah
Dinner in Paris, Ontario
Becoming a Road Trip Local
While month-long stays have certainly helped us practice being roadtrip locals, you don’t have to travel for months at a time to feel like one. Yes, it helps to have more time than less time to do both: road trip to your heart’s content and find local favorites, but you can apply this style of travel to any trip you’re planning regardless of length!
5 Steps to Planning Your Next Trip as a Road Trip Local
Decide where you want to explore and what’s most important for you to get out of your trip. Do you want to experience a winter wonderland? See wildlife? Check off a bucket list adventure? Relax at the beach? Get outdoors and hike?
Search, search, search! Check out our Travel Guides and Blog, then hop onto Google and search for the best things to do in the area! Gather everything that looks interesting to you in one place. (We use Google docs for this, and then break down our desired activities by the day we plan on doing them to see how much we’ll be able to do and see.) RTL Tip: If photography or what an area looks like is important to you, search for the best things to do in the area you want to visit, then hit the “images” tab to see what catches your eye. And if you like to hike, make sure part of your planning time includes searching All Trails for hikes nearby the area you’re going to visit.
After you’ve gathered ideas, see what things are near each other. This is how you start to plan mini-roadtrips where you combine a few different activities together! We use Google maps to locate our top activities, and then see what’s close enough to do together for a morning, afternoon, or day trip. Now, you’re maximizing your time and getting to know an area more intimately by driving through it.
Once you get into town, ask everyone you interact with what their favorite things are to do or see in the area. Whether you’re at the grocery store, getting lunch, arriving at a state or national park, or checking out at a local shop, ask the locals what they love to do and recommend. Where do they like to eat? Hike? Explore? Grab coffee? What’s the #1 thing they recommend doing?
At some point early on in your stay, hop in the car and drive around. Where are a lot of cars parked on the side of the road? What do you pass that maybe didn’t show up on Google? Which restaurants look busy or interesting or dog-friendly? What activities, places, or trails are close to where you’re staying that you might want to check out?
And as you’re planning, think about the things you do in your everyday routine and how you can adapt them to the area you’re visiting.
Do you run each morning? Maybe you can find a nearby trail great for trail running. Do you love starting each morning with coffee? Maybe there’s a local coffee shop you can walk to. Do you have a dog that travels with you? Maybe there’s a neighborhood park or walking path you can check out. Do you love sports? Maybe the local basketball or football team is in town, and you can catch a game.
One more RTL Tip: Check out events in the area for the timeframe you’re visiting or see if there are any festivals happening nearby. Sometimes you can add a little local to your roadtrip by stumbling upon seasonal or yearly activities taking place while you’re in town!
Enjoying Canada Day festivities in Ontario
View from a trail run before work in Vermont
Stopping for lunch while roadtripping through Woodstock, VT
A Final Note
The pictures we chose for this post were intentional. These kinds of things are unique to our style of travel: to being a Road Trip Local.
We try to leave space for local things: coffee while walking around a neighborhood park, taking in the view after a trail run before work, catching the snow on your morning stroll before it melts, looking for things to do - like hunting dinosaur tracks or climbing a metal staircase - in your backyard.
These aren’t the kind of things that traditionally show up in guidebooks or a list of the top 10 things to do in an area. Yet they’re still beautiful and, for us, full of life memories: the things you’re doing in your daily, everyday life that are worth enjoying and remembering, too.
Yes, the big, touristy things we typically gravitate toward while traveling are pretty and absolutely worthwhile (you’ll find tons of national parks and Instagrammable spots here), but we also prioritize and value the things that make each place what it is in the in-between.
We hope you, too, enjoy traveling like a Road Trip Local… Happy roadtripping!!
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