I’m excited to announce that I’m embarking on my second road trip on September 17–just one month from now. I’ll slowly make my way back to arrive in Orlando, FL on October 23. Yes, I’m celebrating by going to Disney World. Darnell, get ready.

I was originally just going to cut back through California and see The Grand Canyon, Arches, Yellowstone, and Colorado Springs before booking it back home. Then I saw some friends on Snapchat going to beautiful places in Oregon.

I thought there wasn’t really much in Oregon. I was wrong.

So now my plans are all different, and they’ll allow me to do more. Here’s the itinerary:

September 17 - 22 : Medford, Columbia River Gorge, Portland – Oregon

September 23 : Seattle – Washington

September 24-25 : Glacier National Park – Montana

September 26 - 29 : Bozeman – Utah

September 30 - October 1 : Yellowstone – Wyoming

October 2 - 6 : Salt Lake City – Utah

October 7 - 8 : Moab – Utah

October 9 : Grand Canyon – Arizona

October 10 - 11 : Colorado National Monument – Colorado

October 12 - 15 : Colorado Springs – Colorado

October 16 : Kansas City – Missouri

October 17 - 18 : St. Louis – Missouri

October 19 - 22 : Nashville – Tennessee

October 23 : Orlando – Florida

This is going to be quite the trip, adding eight new states to the list of places I’ve been. I will have seen a great portion of the American West, which is a big reason why I came out here anyway.

I guess I should add that I’ll be camping! I plan to camp in Glacier, Yellowstone, Arches, the Grand Canyon, and at the Colorado National Monument. I haven’t really been camping in a while, but I guess I’ll learn. It’s part of the experience.

I do plan to go back to Maryland, and once I get back to my home state I will have travelled a total of 12,000 miles in my little Mazda 3.

I will come back with new skills (preferably in camping), new perspectives, and new stories. I hope to come back a new person to my friends and family–but only a smidgeon new.

I must say I’m just as excited about this trip as I was my first one. I’m really looking forward to Glacier the most. It’s considered the crown jewel of the continent, and Montana is constantly spoken about by my parents all the time.

A few years ago I had no desire at all to make the trip out here to hike or camp. My parents did it and I guess I liked being in the city more than anything. But now that’s flipped.

I appreciate it all now. I guess I’ve come into my own a little bit more. When I see something spectacular it’s hard to think of a time when I felt more alive.

This trip was always about seeing my best friend in San Francisco, but it was also about using it as a test run before I jump into an extended trip to Europe come next year. It’s definitely prepared me for everything I’m about to face. Travelling to a foreign country is no joke at all.

Here I stand, one month out from another adventure–equally as exciting as the previous one. I’ve spent an entire season travelling, and I hope to spend many more doing the same thing as well.

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