What to do next?

Since the pandemic canceled our big plans of traveling around the world, we decided that we had to do something different. We tossed around many ideas and decided we would work remotely for as long as possible and do so from a new state each month.

Our first stint at our nomadic lifestyle landed us at an Airbnb in North Carolina for July. We had trouble finding something for August, so we ended up staying with Andrew’s parents, planning our next moves in Virginia, and wound up buying a new car. Finally, we ended up in Maine for September. After Maine, we came back to gear up to head west for the foreseeable future, with our first stop in Utah.

The drive from Virginia to the southern border of Utah is 2280 miles and 34 hours. While we could have done it faster, we decided to break the long trip into four parts and avoid taking time off work by stopping in the middle of the country for a week.

Virginia to Louisville

On October 24th, we said goodbye to the east coast and headed inland, passing through West Virginia, Kentucky, and finally stopping for the night just over the Kentucky border in Indiana. We spent Saturday evening checking out Louisville, KY. It’s a great town with great food (hot browns are excellent), and we hope to come back someday for the bourbon trail.

Louisville to Kansas City

On the second leg, we drove through the rest of Indiana, a bit of Illinois, and took a lunch break as we crossed the border into Missouri in St. Louis. We were astounded by the size of the Gateway Arch and how fantastic gooey butter cake is! By the end of the day, we ended up at our home for a week, Kansas City.

KC!

Kansas City is more than just BBQ, but the burnt ends and ribs were terrific. We did also have great beer, Pho, Mexican, and vegan food. The city has so many different areas, and we loved our neighborhood of Westport. People we super friendly and all around it seems like a happy place to live. We couldn’t find anything to hate on in the mid-west. Even the snow at the start of the week was hard to complain about.

Kansas City to Denver

The second half of our journey didn’t fly by quite as fast as the first. We left Kansas City Halloween morning and stayed on the same road for 530 miles! There isn’t much to see in Kansas, although windmills keep Andrew pretty entertained. We finally made it to Denver, CO in time to see the sunset behind the Rockies, eat dinner at the creepiest restaurant possible, and catch up with a friend. It was the perfect way to end the month.

Denver to Kanab, UT

Our last leg of the drive brought us through the Rocky Mountains and nearly the entirety of Utah. It was fascinating to see the mountains turn from foothills to ski resorts and then into Utah’s red rocks. We drove through Utah for so many miles without seeing gas stations or towns, it was the most remote part of our journey, and at times it felt like we were on another planet. Eventually, we made it to our new home base, Kanab, UT!

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