Where ya goin'? Our Route.

Probably the most complicated question we have to answer is: “So, where ya goin’?”. The short answer is that it’s complicated because we’re going to many places.

First and foremost, the purpose of this trip was to get out of the rain darkness and rain of Seattle winters. We could not physically or emotionally bare another Seattle, pandemic winter. We really did not have too much of a problem with winters pre-pandemic, but being forced to stay inside, without being able to go outside because it’s raining, and not seeing the sun for days… we just didn’t want to deal with it - and we know that’s a privilege.

Additionally, in order to access discounts on Airbnb, you usually have to stay at places for 14+ days. Our goal was to do this as frequently as possible, and targeting places we feel comfortable and curious about. For example, we don’t want to spend more than one evening in Texas, and even that feels like too much. Plus, we are working and traveling. This means that we needed to spend a few extra nights in less desirable places because we need blocks of time that we can work. To that end, we prioritized places that we could pay a little extra for dedicated workspaces. Traveling during a pandemic is fundamentally isolating. Both because we want to reduce our exposure, but also because friendships, new ones, would be fleeting. So, we also made sure to target locations where we could see loved ones.

Finally, and most importantly, we adore Seattle summers and could not imagine missing out on one in 2022. So, we’ve looped right around the country to have our sweet summer in our city. We landed on a combination small towns, big cities, and stays that are a variety of lengths of time:

• Overnight: really a layover, just a place to crash for one night

• Short stay: 2-4 nights

• Long-stay: 4+ nights

So, friends, here goes, in order from Seattle we are going to:

• Newport, Oregon (short stay)

• Crescent City, California (short stay)

• San Francisco, California (short stay)

• Mariposa, California (long stay)

• Los Angeles, California (long stay)

• Clarkdale, Arizona (long stay)

• Las Cruces, New Mexico (short stay)

• San Antonio, Texas (overnight)

• New Orleans, Louisiana (short stay)

• Tallahassee, Florida (overnight)

• Lakeland, Florida (long stay)

• Miami, Florida (short stay)

• Cancun, Mexico (short stay)

• Coral Springs, Florida (overnight)

• Atlanta, Georgia (short stay)

• Chesterfield, Missouri (overnight)

• Salina, Kansas (overnight)

• Denver, Colorado (long stay)

• Moab, Utah (long stay)

• Twin Falls, Idaho (overnight)

• Yakima, Washington (overnight)

• Vashon Island, Washington (long stay)

I’ve created a little map (which does not include every stop because Google Maps has a limit) to help you visualize our route:

I was at first nervous about staying the desert. I associated the desert with hot weather (duh), but I associated hot weather with clothes sticking to me and being sweaty… all the time. I’ve since come to realize that the desert is not that hot in the winter, and in fact, is a lovely 60-70 degrees PLUS sunshine. I’ve since “warmed up” (LOL) to our desert locations.

As you can see, this itinerary also requires planning and packing for every type of weather! In Arizona, it’ll be sunny and warm, in Florida, it’ll be sunny and maybe a little muggy, but in Colorado, it’ll be snowy and likely freezing by the time we’re there. Needless to say, I struggled with packing, but more on that here.