Table of contents for Thirty-One: June/July 2022 in ROVA

Alex and Libby In October 2020, Alex had multiple strokes two weeks after we got engaged. After going through a traumatic experience and other complications with Type 1 Diabetes, we knew there had to be more to life; life is too short! We decided to go full-time and live our lives to the max by exploring different parts of the country and sharing our story with others. Instagram and TikTok: @travelinthoms Sarah and Tanner After graduating college, we decided to pursue our goal of visiting all the national parks in the United States. We bought an old RV, renovated it, and hit the road. We now live and work in our RV full-time with our dog. We just hit one year of living on the road, and we have visited…

In the 1960s, my parents would pile my brothers and me into our truck camper for annual road trips. With fast-food restaurants few and far between, we cooked our meals at campsites or relied on my father’s unerring knack for finding the best greasy spoon in the towns we passed through. He was a traveling salesman and king of the road. Despite the current proliferation of neon signs that dominate America’s road-food landscape, I try to continue that tradition on the road trips that I now take. When it is time to eat, I stop and set up my RV’s kitchen, or I find an eatery where the food is made fresh. Surprisingly, that can be at a gas station, or even a laundromat. Loukoumades are Greek donuts—little pillows of…

You might think of the various regions of the United States in terms of their suitability for different aspects of road-tripping: the Rocky Mountains for wide-angle grandeur; the California coast for surfing and redwoods; the southeast for Southern hospitality; and the northeast for rugged coastlines and fall foliage. Wine lovers might also know that the hugely varying climates and geographical characteristics across the States contribute to a stunning range of wine varieties—so in each place that you roll into on your adventures, you’ll come across a unique style of wine. There are 11,000 wineries in the US, and we don’t expect you to research all of them. So, we’ve done it for you—here are some unique, picturesque, off-the-beaten-path wineries for you to explore on your travels. We’re not saying that…

I woke up one day and asked myself, “What do you want to do with your life?” The only answer I could think of was that I wanted to travel full time and be a photographer, but I knew that could never happen unless I just went out there and did it myself. So, that’s what I did. When it comes to the nomadic lifestyle, that’s the hardest—yet the easiest—thing to do: to just dive in headfirst. It’s terrifying and full of unknowns, but when you get going it can feel like it’s meant to be. Four years ago, I started to build out my 2007 Kia Sportage into a mini “van life” adventuremobile. I left Florida with a little bit of freelance work and $200 in my pocket. Best…

I was wary of the drive to Nevada—which is to say that I was afraid of Vegas. My mind was filled with images of drunken crowds, the constant hum of traffic, bright lights and their artificial pomp, strip malls and their kitschy offerings. But, lured by the promise of good climbing and a free couch to crash on in between ascents, my three housemates and I packed a car with the absolute bare minimum—climbing shoes; hiking clothes; toiletries; and a few books, being the devoted students that we are. After a four-hour drive that took us through California traffic; the desert flatland of Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley; remote, dusty hills; and finally, the vast and jagged landscape of Nevada, we arrived. Before settling in, our host, Zoe, took us…

It was the perfect plan. When our five-month-old, Andi, woke up, we would hit the road. She usually sleeps for three hours after her initial morning wake-up, which is generally around 4:30 in the morning. That departure time from our home on the Orange County coast would be early enough for us to beat LA traffic and be well on our way to visit friends in Lake Tahoe before the day had even broken. But Andi woke up at 3 a.m. “Let’s go,” I said. My wife, Amy, fed the baby. I made tea and scrambled to load the car. Space was at a premium, with our one-year-old black lab, Beans—who we were hoping had grown out of her car sickness—also along for the ride. Between the two of them,…

I don’t know about you, but it feels like I’ve spent more than one eternity stuck inside. Summer is always a great time to hit the road, but it feels even more important for this trip around the sun. If you’re itching to be on the move again, these road trips are for you. ALCAN Highway The Alaska-Canadian Highway, also known as the ALCAN Highway, is almost 1,400 miles long, and is one of the most intensely breathtaking drives on the continent. Your starting point is in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and from there, you’ve got 1,390 miles of open road. What to Know Expect road conditions to be pretty good on the whole. This is Alaska and Western Canada, so they won’t be perfect, but you don’t need a…

Like many people did when COVID-19 hit, we purchased an RV. But while our purchase happened during a seemingly never-ending shutdown of travel, it wasn’t a panic purchase in the face of an uncertain future. Ours was a long-time dream grown out of roots from deep memories. So ultimately, for me, the challenge wasn’t the purchase itself. The challenge was allowing the trips we would take with our RV to fall short of my expectations—and then learning to see that they were still absolutely everything we wanted (and needed). I grew up in a family of five, where summers began when we cranked up a rickety pop-up camper roof on whatever military base campsite we had booked. We’d see flocks of Canadian geese stopping on their flight north in May,…

In recent years, events like Cider Summit, Chocofest, Cultivation Classic, Feast Portland, the Oregon Brewers Festival, Seattle Beer Week, Taste Washington, and Oregon Distilled have attracted international visitors wishing to savor the Pacific Northwest’s food and drink offerings. Instead of trying to mass-market products that have a uniform, consistent taste, the majority of PNW growers and producers create wares that speak to the particular place where they were grown or made. While most of the media buzz tends to focus on the region’s beer and wine culture (and rightly so), according to Jason Parker, cofounder of Seattle-based Copperworks Distilling Company, the most compelling whiskey-related reason to visit the PNW is to witness the birth of American single malt whiskey. “It’s not often in one’s lifetime that you get such an…

Northwest Michigan is the perfect destination for nature-loving road-trippers. As if painted from a mariner’s dream, it invites legions of boaters, kayakers, and swimmers to enjoy the crystal clear lakes and rivers. Majestic sand dunes, forested hillsides, abundant wildlife, and webs of well-maintained trails populate the rolling landscapes, inviting people of all ages to lose themselves in the environment. I grew up in Northern Michigan, which means I spent my childhood immersed in an outdoor paradise. Daily drives with friends and family were highlighted by camping trips and escapades to small lakes. My friend’s Winnebago Chieftain and Volkswagen Transporter T3 became the vehicles of our summers. I loved my hometown and the journeys through its surrounding wilderness. Yet, I felt the drive to leave. I spent my college years in…

I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. The Smoky Mountains were my backyard, and an exit to the Blue Ridge Parkway was 10 minutes from my house. My friends and I spent most weekends hiking and camping, so we had all of the gear: tents and tarps, cooking sets, sleeping bags—you name it. We never minded carrying everything on our backs to a campsite, but packing five teenagers and their big, external-frame backpacks into one car to get there was impossible. So, we bought a trailer. It was a beat-up 4’ x 8’, and on Friday afternoons, we’d toss our packs in there, hitch up, and head out. On those occasions when we stayed at a campground where you could drive up to your spot, we’d go all out with…

Ten years ago, we were camping among the snow gums in the Australian bush, sitting outside our van eating breakfast, preparing for our day’s work. Sharing our space were several kangaroos lolling around in a casual, relaxed manner. This is just one of the many magical moments on the road that have come about because we play the long game. Many people “have a year or two off” to travel their country or the world, but living and working on the road indefinitely is a completely different mindset. It’s like one of those memes: What we think we do; what other people think we do; what our moms think we do; what we actually do. Here’s ours: - What we think we do: We explore the world helping others do…

For the last six years, spring turning to summer has been our cue to point our camper van west. My wife, Caroline, and I would set our sights on long-distance views and epic hikes; journeys past the gentle, old, familiar mountains we call home, past the Mississippi River, and on into the land of rugged peaks and public lands whose images danced behind our eyes when we’d shut them at night. But some family health emergencies, and the realization that I am moving into a caregiving stage of life for aging parents, had me pump the brakes on another cross-country trip. Caroline and I decided to stick closer to home in case we are activated into loving service, but the pull of adventure is still very much alive in us…

Crossing the bridge from mainland Massachusetts over the Cape Cod Canal immediately lowers my blood pressure and raises my giddy getaway vibe. Visions of sun-kissed sand, plump lobster rolls, and my favorite haunts fill my head. The Cape—as locals call it—is one of those special places on earth that is frequented by summer visitors who return year after year. In fact, it seems like the entire state of Massachusetts summers on The Cape for the Fourth of July. From the Bourne Bridge in Buzzards Bay to Provincetown, Route 6 carries you across The Cape in a bent-elbow-shaped drive encircling Cape Cod Bay. Along the way, you will find curiosities like miniature ceramic castles, lighthouse-inspired wine bottles, and toes-in-the-sand stays that revive your soul, ease your mind, and create a wonderful…