2022 Cross Country Road Trip Itinerary: Week 1
I’m back on the road! After a few months of planning and making campground reservations, I’m finally on my 2022 cross-country road trip.
Quick selfie in Alabama, on our way south :)
Today we drove from North Carolina to Louisiana, which is about a twelve-hour drive. Not too long, but still a decent stretch of the country. I’m a bit cramped from sitting in the van all day, but it feels sooo good to be back where I belong.
Meet Brockie, my road trip partner
Before I dive into describing my itinerary, let me introduce you to my friend and travel partner, Brockie. Brockie and I went to college together at UNCA, and quickly discovered that we were from neighboring hometowns. Apparently, we grew up about twenty minutes from each other…and even had some of the same friends. I don’t know how we didn’t meet each other earlier!
When I started planning my 2022 cross country road trip, I immediately started searching for someone to drive across the country with me. (It’s a lot of miles for me to drive by myself.) Brockie was up for taking a long road trip, so we decided to head west together.
Plus, it’s Brockie’s first time camping, so I get to give her the whole camping crash course.
My ‘Week 1’ cross country road trip itinerary
My itinerary for week 1 of my cross country trip is pretty exciting, because I’m visiting all new places (well, new for me). Generally on a road trip I try to choose a mix of new destinations and favorite places I’ve visited before. This cross-country road trip is about a 50/50 even split of new and old places, but the first week will be all destinations I haven’t visited before.
Stop 1: New Orleans
I’m not too big on cities. Lots of people, lots of traffic, lots of buildings…it’s not my kind of environment. But lately I’ve learned that cities can actually be a lot of fun, for a few days anyway. So the first few stops on my itinerary are cities. (Don’t worry though…it’s all trees and rocks after that.)
We have two days to spend in New Orleans, before continuing to drive west on I-10. I imagine we’ll spend most of our time in the French Quarter, but I don’t really like to plan activities in cities. I prefer simply driving or walking around and exploring until we find places where we want to hang out for a while.
Update: Click here to read my post on visiting New Orleans.
Stop 2: Austin & San Antonio
I’m pairing these Texas cities together because they are less than two hours apart…which is basically nothing compared to all the driving I’ll be doing on this cross country road trip! We have one day to spend in each city. It’s not much time, I know, but like I said before: I’m not big on cities. Plus, we have a lot of stops on this road trip and there isn’t time to stay anywhere for very long. We have enough time to hit the Alamo, the San Antonio River Walk, and a few other highlights. Then we will be back on the road!
Stop 3: Big Bend National Park
After hitting a few cities, we’re heading to the extreme opposite: the remote desert near the Texas-Mexico border. Big Bend National Park is about 7 hours or so west and south of San Antonio. This National Park has been on my bucket list for a while, but it is definitely out-of-the-way and far from the interstate, making it more inaccessible than most National Parks.
We’re going to try our best to stay well-hydrated, because it’s going to be HOT.
After Big Bend we will be heading up to Arizona…but that’s going to be another week.
