It would be an understatement to say that we have missed travel. I think I actually came to the realization that travel essential to our marriage, lol. Sounds silly but Will and I love the act of planning, preparing, and traveling together. Even if its not international, we felt we needed to plan something for the winter break. And so we are now going on a two-week road trip.
Here’s the story of the development of this trip:
I mentioned in our weekly socially distance drinks in the driveway that we wanted to go away for winter break but wanted to spend part of the trip more or less isolated from other people. My lovely neighbor piped up that her parents own a cabin near Ellijay, Georgia. And because I am always one to take up a (free) opportunity, I immediately asked “Can we stay there?” A few days later we got the response of “Yes!” and part 1 of our trip was in the works. Now to come up with the rest of it.
After that point, the trip evolved a million times. New Orleans, Ashville, Nashville, Mobile, Apalachicola, on and on. I can’t even think of all the iterations this trip took. This is the fun yet also frustrating part of planning any trip; the constant tweaking and changing, ebbing and flowing. Our choices this time were driven by one major thing: COVID. Where could we go and not be cramped by crowds? What could we see, in winter time, outdoors? What could we do for two weeks and not want to kill each other? All the important questions. 🙂
Read more: Travel Tips: Trip Planning during COVID
The trip eventually morphed into its current and final iteration: Ellijay, GA –> Washington, DC –> Philadelphia, PA –> Scranton, PA –> then back home to Central Florida.
Now you probably have a couple of things concerning the schedule above.
- Why a road trip? ummmm COVID. lol We are not interested in being stuck on a plane with people, even with masks on, right now
- How long are we traveling for? 15 days (Saturday, December 19 –> Saturday, January 2)
- Why Scranton? Will’s dad’s family is from there & we figured no better time than the present to dig into ancestry
- How expensive is this trip? My current estimate is $3,000 but I think I can get down below $2,500
- Where are you spending Christmas Day? Washington, DC in my cousin’s empty apartment
- Where are you spending New Year’s Eve? umm Scranton, PA…what we are doing that night idk
- What your longest driving day? 10 hours. Yikes. Ellijay, GA to Washington, DC
- What kinds of things are you doing to make this a COVID-smart trip? #1 thing is making decisions about staying in AirBnbs, cabins & apartments ourselves so we can cook more meals and not interact with others.
- What UNESCO Sites are you seeing? Independence Hall, Philadelphia & the pending UNESCO Site Historic Bethlehem
- How are we saving money this trip? Two of our accommodations are free, so that helps & we are not planning on spending a ton of money on attractions or eating out. I budget as if we are and then the cost will lower throughout the trip
JMF
