How We Did a Road Trip in a Pandemic
Do Not Wait Until the Risks You Didn’t Take Turn Into Regrets…
Dare to be spontaneous and adventurous, while staying safe wherever your journey takes you
ROAD TRIP!!! Your friend or family member usually yells this as a spontaneous adventure ideas comes to mind. You probably haven’t heard that yell in a while in the midst of this pandemic…
It can be difficult to find motivation to keep things fun during these times, but my girlfriend and I made our road trip dream happen - and here’s how…
In mid July, I heard a podcast where the host mentioned it being possibly the most opportune time to visit many of the US national parks as the usual tourism and international travel numbers are down drastically.
My mind started working out the math.
Not only did we decide to go on a road trip, but we decided to move across the country from Seattle to New Jersey and planned a long route to get there. We sold our car in Seattle and rented a premium SUV from Hertz, who graciously gifted us a ride in exchange for our photography and social exposure, to ensure we had a dependable and practical vehicle for the long road ahead.
The process was unbelievably easy
We booked our rental, picked it up at our local Hertz, packed, and got on the road. With unlimited miles, 34mpg highway fuel economy, and a Gold Standard Clean vehicle, we were all set.
Watch this epic adventure and the beauty you could see on the road with Hertz
The best decision we made for our trip, besides renting with Hertz, was not making any specific or locked in plans outside of vacation homes in Utah, Key West, and Miami. We had an itinerary outline, but made sure we had flexibility to change on the fly because of potential weather and any potential Covid restrictions. For example, we planned on going to Portland and Multumnah Falls after Astoria, but the weather turned to cold rain and we found out that the falls would likely be overcrowded due to limited capacity. Instead, we chose to continue along the coast through Canon Beach and down to briefly see Thor’s Well then spend a day at Samuel H Boardman Scenic Corridor.
We originally planned to see Crater Lake and Yosemite, but again the weather wasn’t with us. Forecasted below freezing temperatures and snow meant that we would stick with the California Coast and take in Big Sur.
Luckily, Los Angeles remained accessible to us and we got to meet with some awesome creators and even see the Hollywood sign!
From the big city of LA to wide open roads through Joshua Tree, Mojave, and Death Valley, the Hertz SUV performed incredibly well. The ride was smooth and quiet, with great fuel economy and plenty of room for a month’s worth of clothes and supplies!
In one day, we saw joshua trees, massive sand dunes, a volcano tube, and Badwater Basin salt flat… we couldn’t believe the views at these amazing landscapes and further that we saw them all!
We finished our day in Fabulous Las Vegas and stayed at the Paris Hotel. This was one of the longest days on the trip between exploring and driving, but the freedom and flexibility Hertz gave us meant we didn’t have much fatigue.
The biggest part of our trip would be Utah and the Southwest. We actually bought a small gas container in case we ever ran out of fuel on our route knowing some roads were extremely long without stops. In the end, we never even filled up the container! Didn’t need it at all!
It’s incredibly hard to choose the best places we saw in the Southwest. There were gorgeous night skies, Mars-like bentonite clay hills, incredible canyons, astounding arches, monumental plateaus, and pink sand dunes… Even the simple turn-outs on park roads had incredible views.
After the Southwest, we were really put to the driving test going straight from Arizona all the way to the Southernmost Point in Key West Florida. It took about 4 days, but the car handled incredibly well and we were incredibly comfortable in our seats the entire ride. I’m not just saying that either. I own a compact car that I know would’ve been terribly uncomfortable for such long drives. I’m really happy that we went with an SUV and even happier that Hertz upgraded us to a larger premium ride.
Once in Key West, it was time to chill and vibe at the tropical beaches
From there, we spent a few more nights in South Beach Miami before heading up the I-95 to New Jersey.
We even got to collaborate with Olympian, Danell J Leyva at his gym. We were so happy to be able to get to all these places on our own without flying where we would’ve been in close, confined quarters with strangers and have restricted destination freedom (we couldn’t afford or imagine hopping on plane after plane to get to half as many cities). To be able to book contactless with Hertz as well as having their Gold Standard Clean seal meant we were completely free to explore the open road with confidence in our safety and completely in control of our trip. We were even able to simply drop the car off at our local Hertz upon reaching our final destination and since we paid ahead, we dropped it off after hours via a key drop :)
I would highly recommend booking with Hertz, even now, to go on a local family retreat or even a long road trip!
Check out my ratings on our entire experience:
Customer Service - 10/10
Cleanliness - 10/10
Vehicle - 10/10
Price/Value - 9/10
Convenience/Flexibility - 10/10
Overall - 9.8/10
I gave price a 9/10 as there may be cheaper solutions out there depending on where, how, and what you’re renting for. At the same time, I imagine booking that way would likely lower scores in other categories like service and flexibility. For us, we genuinely had a seamless trip with the vehicle. Click here to rent with Hertz