Road Tripping In America

A deep dive into our budget vs. actual spending for our first two months of road life and a tour of Dinosaur National Monument – the fossils, the canyons, the river, the...poems?

1:12 - How much we spend on #vanlife  

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional recording and editing by Paul Olson.

The Cataract of Lodore, by Robert Southey: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57951/the-cataract-of-lodore

The Lost Canyon Under Lake Powell, by Elizabeth Kolbert: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/16/the-lost-canyon-under-lake-powell

A special edition all about mountain biking in and around Colorado. We rank, we review, we get bruised (often). Find out how Hartman Rocks in Gunnison, the Thunder Trails in Norwood, and Turkey Springs in Pagosa Springs stack up with a few other trail systems in Colorado.

2:22 - Paul's trail-ranking criteria

This episode was written by Paul Olson and Lisa McNamara (but mostly Paul). It was recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara.

Do you have any suggestions for mountain bike trails we should check out – in Colorado or anywhere else? Let us know at [email protected].

What are ruins, really? A trip to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico digs up memories of Lisa's favorite childhood playground. And, Hartman Rocks is an amazing place to mountain bike in Gunnison, Colorado but...be prepared with rodent repellent if you're there in pack rat nesting season! It was a battle of Paul vs. the pack rats - and the pack rats won.

1:11 - Digging up my childhood playground in New York

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more. Share your thoughts with us at [email protected]. 

When traveling, do you like to plan every detail or relax and go with the flow? Lisa used to be a thorough planner, but found that all that planning did was make her miserable and stressed. She has learned that she can’t plan or predict when interesting or memorable things are going to happen, so she just has to put herself in the way for them to happen. How that approach to travel relates to our life on the road, highs and lows from the first month of road life, and the Road Tripping in America road trip playlist. 

0:48 - Over-planning my first international trip to Paris, France

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional recording and editing by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

Articles referenced in this episode: Grape disappointment: Colorado vineyards say an October freeze will chill their 2021 vintage (https://coloradosun.com/2020/12/21/hard-freeze-wine-colorado/) and Colorado mountain towns say they can’t handle any more tourists amid labor, housing crises (https://coloradosun.com/2021/07/13/colorado-tourism-marketing-resort-communities-housing-labor/).

Listen in on our first week on the road, as we leave Fort Collins, overland Colorado’s bumpy backcountry discovery route, explore Buena Vista, Salida, and Leadville, and search for the right pace for long-term travel.

Pace is important. We don’t want to fly through things too quickly. We don’t want to leave things undone because it’s not always feasible to go back. But there’s so much to see and do that even with unlimited time, it’s still impossible to do everything. Because you’re always limited by something – if not time, then weather, dirt road fatigue, the need for fresh vegetables, life maintenance duties. So we’ll be working on finding the right balance for us as we continue this journey.

0:00 - Intro and leaving Fort Collins

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

The true story of our worst travel experience...so far. 

Good trip stories are boring. There’s only so much you can say about that great meal you had in San Francisco, that amazing wine you tasted in Bordeaux, those three glorious days you sat on the beach in Cancun. Most of our travel stories are boring. We usually get lucky. But two years ago, we did not get lucky on our last day in Mexico City. Instead, we spent six hours in the police station on our last day of vacation. Listen to find out why...

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

We answer our most frequently asked #vanlife questions: what we’re doing with all our stuff and where we’re going once we start for real.

1:56 - What we're doing with all of our stuff

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing and recording by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

What we decided to name the camper, a tour of what it does and doesn’t have, and a dry run to find out what else we’re missing. Hey, just in case you didn’t get the hint, we’re going to talk about bodily functions in this episode. So, you’ve been warned.

In case you need a refresher on leave no trace principles: https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/dispose-of-waste-properly/

0:00 - Intro and what we decided to name the camper

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing and recording by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

Why we decided to live in a vehicle and what we picked: featuring palm readers, lots of research, box wine, and In-N-Out burgers.

0:45 - Working towards early retirement and full time roadlife

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing and recording by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.

Hi! Welcome to our podcast, Road Tripping in America. Follow along as we get ready to start our next chapter of full-time #roadlife. Thanks for joining us on this adventure - we're happy you're here.

This episode was written, recorded, edited, and produced by Lisa McNamara, with additional editing and recording by Paul Olson. Visit roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.