Mar 1, 20245 min read

My First American Road Trip!

Updated: Mar 2, 2024

- Time for a Road Trip Rewind -

No matter how much time has passed, a road trip stays with you for life!

I am FINALLY ready to recap my first American Road trip! Follow along as I tell the story of how, my now-husband, Justin and I road tripped through 6 States. We drove almost 3000 miles, camped, and hiked for nearly 12 days, got engaged and SO MUCH MORE…

I miss this trip every day!

I am so excited to share this story that has been months in the making. As we plan our next road trip, I am so excited to share with you one of our first.

We started our trip at the Baltimore International Airport.

One thing you should definitely know about me and how I like to plan my airport travel; I must be at least 2 to 3 hours early at the airport, and an airport coffee and a snack is a MUST! I don’t know why, but that airport coffee just hits different!

TIP – Use the HOPPER app for the cheapest flights when booking in advance.

They say opposites attract and eventually marry each other... In this case, ‘they’ would be absolutely correct🤣. Justin is more than okay with showing up just in time to board the flight. He takes some medication for motion sickness and sleeps until it is time to land. On the other hand, I love to fly, and I make use of every second.

Our flight from BWI had one layover in Minnesota. One very groggy Justin and an almost missed connection later we arrived at the Las Vegas International airport in Nevada. You can thank, what Justin calls my 'airport walk' for us making it onto our connecting flight.

TIP - Unsure where to start with planning your trip? First choose airport to fly in and out of. Then plan itinerary.

Obviously, if you are on a road trip, the one thing you cannot do without is… a car! We rented a car through Dollar Rental, although there are more than enough car rental options to choose from. We chose Dollar Rental because they offered us the cheapest option for the longest amount of time. See, we needed a car with no mileage restrictions that we could pick up in Las Vegas and drop off in Colorado. We also didn’t want to have to Uber unnecessarily, so we found it very convenient that Dollar Rental had a shuttle taking you to and from the airport terminals.

If you need information on renting a car for your next trip:

The process was really easy and soon enough we picked up our home for the next 12 days, and we were ready to go, officially kicking off our ROAD TRIP!

First State: Nevada

Now, July in Las Vegas is the hottest month of the year, with day-to-day temperatures of about 105 °F (41 C) and record-breaking temperatures of about 117 ° F (47 C). It is HOT!

We love camping and making our own food while road tripping, so we needed the essentials that would get us through the next couple of days. Next stop: Grocery store.

TIP - Buy enough of the essentials at the grocery store. It is the desert, pit-stops are few and far between.

TIP - Camping is probably the easiest and most affordable accommodation while road tripping, especially in the desert.

Next, The Last Vegas Strip:

When in Vegas, you MUST go to the Vegas Strip. It would be a sin not to! The Strip is available to both drive and walk through. We chose the driving route, because believe it or not, our car said it was 118 ° F (47 C). We were not ready to brave the heat just yet.

This Strip spans over 4 miles and here you can see casinos, shops, and adventure parks. You can also see places like an Elvis themed roadside chapel, famous hotels, and so much more. While we would have loved more time in the Strip to explore, we needed to get moving if we wanted to tick all the boxes:

Next stop:

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign:

At the entrance to the Strip stands the iconic ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign, every insta girly’s dream. Aside from the insanely long line to take pictures in front of the sign and the heat, it is breathtaking to see in real life.

(Do not mind my husband, who turned to me and said “Hmm, I thought it would be bigger”).

Next, we headed away from the flashy and extravagant Vegas Strip and we are immediately met with the open road desert, and I love it! I am still shocked by the open road that met us.

Seven Magic Mountains:

21 miles away from the Las Vegas Strip you will find the majestic Seven Magic Mountains. Internationally renowned artist Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains are comprised of seven colorfully stacked towers, each standing more than 30 feet high. This exhibit opened in 2016 and was scheduled to be on display for only two years. Since then, it’s become nothing short of a “must see sight” for every traveler and tourist passing through.

With the open desert and the busy Las Vegas Strip, we could have spent countless days here in Nevada as there is just so much to see and do. However, we are on a mission and our entire trip is still ahead of us. If we are going to make it to all 6 states in 12 days, then we better get going!

Seeing as the majority of the 3000 miles that we would inevitably drive on this trip were still ahead of us, we crossed off our 1st State of the trip and headed over to the next, where we would spend our first night camping in the desert, but that friends… is a story for next week.

Picture of the entrance to the Mojave National Preserve.

A few extra fun ideas in Las Vegas you can add to your Bucket List: - I sure have! -

Las Vegas helicopter ride over the Strip at night.
Casinos – Las Vegas is known for gambling, even the airport has slot machines!
Bellagio hotel with famous fountains.
LINQ promenade for shopping.
The Fall of Atlantis show at Caesar’s palace.
Fremont Street Experience.
Neon Museum also called the “Boneyard”.
Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay – If only I hadn’t heard about this aquarium when we were already deep into our trip, I would for sure have scheduled a time for us to go!
The Golden Nugget’s Shark Tank Your – Here you can go down one of the most exhilarating slides through a shark tank.