I miss taking road trips. With the weird way my life is organized right now, it means that I’ve spent the last couple years doing long drives from Toronto to Philadelphia or from Philadelphia to San Antonio—and I didn’t realize how much I cherished those moments until the COVID-19 pandemic took away the carefree nature of the whole thing.

It was honestly really cool. I juggle three jobs and a full-time dual-degree graduate program, so having three days to do nothing but drive as far as I wanted and listen to music was great. By the time I arrived at my destination, I usually did so with a better perspective, since I tend to get wrapped up in the chaos of everyday life. A road trip served as a nice little interim while I moved from one mini-chapter of my life to the next.

Before the pandemic started, I’d been planning road trips to new places. It seemed like a good way to celebrate that intermediate time between graduation and hitting the next step of my life. My husband and I were planning to do a West Coast jaunt all the way up to Alaska to enjoy the colorful local racing scene. We aimed to do a Canadian adventure to hit as many gorgeous parks as we could. And I really wanted to do an off-road excursion through the desert of the American Southwest.

All those plans have been put on hold for the moment, largely because we’re trying to avoid traveling as much as we can (with the exception of swapping from Canada to the US when one of our visas is about to expire, because the process of getting a green card has also slowed down considerably due to the pandemic). But I’m thinking our very first adventure is going to be up to Alaska. It’s the perfect mix of adventure plus things for me to write about, and it seems like a nice transition into the next phase of my life. Right now, I don’t have all the ties that will make a trip last that more difficult in the future.

What’s next on your road trip list?