Introduction

I recently took a road trip across the United States, and it was amazing. I love seeing new places and meeting new people, but I’ve never been on a trip like this before. The whole thing made me think about how much the world has to offer us if we’re willing to explore it!

First Thoughts on LA

The first thing I noticed about Los Angeles was how different it felt from the rest of California. It wasn’t just that people were speaking Spanish to each other; there was also a different vibe to the city, possibly because the amount of traffic made it feel more like New York City than any other place I’d been in California.

Even though LA’s reputation as a driving city can be off-putting, it’s actually quite fun to drive through on your way from one place to another—and it makes for an excellent evening or overnight stop after driving for hours and hours through dusty desert landscapes. Plus, if you find yourself in need of some culture after all that nature (or just want something other than tacos), there are plenty of museums and art galleries around town!

After exploring LA on foot and by car over several days, I felt like this was definitely a great place to start my road trip—but not necessarily where I wanted it end up when all was said and done.

Thoughts After the Joshua Tree National Park

The Joshua Tree National Park was beautiful, but it didn’t have the same awe-inspiring feel as the other National Parks I had visited. Some of that may be because I was exhausted from my trip and didn’t have much energy left to be amazed by nature. It could also be because there were fewer animals than at other parks, or maybe it was just because Joshua trees are weird looking!

Regardless of why this wasn’t my favorite park, there were still some great things about it. One of the best things was hiking in Joshua Tree; we went on several hikes and really enjoyed them all! My favorite hike was Hidden Valley Trail Loop where we got some amazing views of the Milky Way Galaxy at night; this hike started at dawn though so we were able to see both day and night while hiking in Joshua Tree which made for an incredible experience!

Thoughts after Chicago

I loved Chicago. I mean, it’s a great city. The architecture is beautiful, the museums are amazing and the people were friendly—but there was something that kept me from loving everything about this city: the weather.

Chicago has all four seasons (or at least it felt like it), but summers are humid with temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above in July and August; winters are generally cold with lots of snow during December through March; spring brings warm days and cool nights; autumn brings cooler days but still some heat on sunny days.

So what does this mean for you? If you’re planning to visit Chicago during summertime, be prepared for lots of humidity (you may even need an umbrella). If you plan to travel here in wintertime… I’m sorry! Hopefully there will be no snow on your trip so that we can go sledding together!

As for me personally? I love this city because of its diversity—there is literally something for everyone!

Thoughts after NYC

When you are in New York City, you feel like you have arrived. It is an exciting place to be and it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the city’s energy. There are many different ways that people spend their time here, but no matter what they do they seem happy and relaxed.

The food was amazing! We had some of the best meals of our trip in New York City. We also enjoyed going wine tasting at a few vineyards around town as well as sampling some craft beers from local breweries (we did this during our visit).

We had a lot of fun riding bikes on the Hudson River Park path along Manhattan’s West Side Highway (or bike path). We saw many other cyclists doing the same thing which made us feel more comfortable about biking through NYC traffic on our own bikes later in the trip when we did ride through Brooklyn Bridge park towards DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights area during one afternoon before heading back downtown for dinner reservations at a restaurant near Times Square called ‘Vinh Mau’. The view looking out over lower Manhattan with skyscrapers all around was breathtaking!

It was a worthwhile experience, and it opened my eyes to a lot of new perspectives.

It was a worthwhile experience, and it opened my eyes to a lot of new perspectives. I learned a lot about myself and about other people, and also learned quite a bit about the United States as well!

I can’t think of any other way we would have been able to get such an intimate look at so many places in such little time than by driving across the country.

Conclusion

So, that’s the end of my story. I hope some of these thoughts have encouraged you to take your own trip across America, or maybe they just made you think about how lucky we are to live in such an amazing country. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true! There are so many things about our country that make me proud and grateful every day—our abundance of natural resources and diversity among cultures, for example. And even though there are still plenty of challenges ahead for America as a whole (climate change being one), we still have so many reasons why this place will always be worth fighting for.

n riding bikes on the Hudson River Park path along Manhattan’s West Side Highway (or bike path). We saw many other cyclists doing the same thing which made us feel more comfortable about biking through NYC traffic on our own bikes later in the trip when we did ride through Brooklyn Bridge park towards DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights area during one afternoon before heading back downtown for dinner reservations at a restaurant near Times Square called ‘Vinh Mau’. The view looking out over lower Manhattan with skyscrapers all around was breathtaking!

It was a worthwhile experience, and it opened my eyes to a lot of new perspectives.

It was a worthwhile experience, and it opened my eyes to a lot of new perspectives. I learned a lot about myself and about other people, and also learned quite a bit about the United States as well!

I can’t think of any other way we would have been able to get such an intimate look at so many places in such little time than by driving across the country.

Conclusion

So, that’s the end of my story. I hope some of these thoughts have encouraged you to take your own trip across America, or maybe they just made you think about how lucky we are to live in such an amazing country. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true! There are so many things about our country that make me proud and grateful every day—our abundance of natural resources and diversity among cultures, for example. And even though there are still plenty of challenges ahead for America as a whole (climate change being one), we still have so many reasons why this place will always be worth fighting for.