2015 is quickly shaping up to be a year of compensation for the travel-dead year of 2014. Maybe odd-numbered years are just my best time to see the world?

In any case, I’ve got the California coast, Iceland, and Ireland under my belt already, I’ve got tickets to London in November, and now I’m stoked to announce that I’m headed off on a good ol’ American road trip in a couple weeks!

open-road1

I’ve always wanted to do the whole American road trip thing – like, the whole country, from sea to shining sea, Pacific to Atlantic kind of thing. I also want to explore the Southwest region in more depth, which will likely require a separate trip – I’m talking the biggest ball of yarn, the weird dinosaur statue things in the middle of desert nowhere, the strange UFO landing sites, ghost towns, and so on.

J.Lorraine-Ghost-Town

This trip is a mini version of that one, but it will still be amazing. Not only am I hitting the open road to Utah (a state I’ve never been to before), but I’m doing it with two of my girlfriends – making it my FIRST GIRLS’ TRIP EVER. (I know, right?!) We’re going with my dad and his friend, but we’ll mostly be doing our own thing and staying in our own tents in the middle of the Utah wooded wilderness.

15006648373_d57c9ca836_k

We’re making camp in the southwest part of the state, and will be traipsing to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park to get in some of the (arguably) best hiking and sightseeing in the country. So, you know, stay tuned for some crazy cool photos (and stores) I can’t wait to share.

Do you have any other recommendations for us? Must-visit places in that region? Stops along the route from San Diego to Utah? Leave them in the comments! 🙂