Taking a year off of work to travel and photograph the country-where and when to go?

[EricTober]

I am most likely going to be taking a year or so off of work beginning in April and take my mini rv and travel the country and Canada. I'll have my photography equipment and my bicycles with me. Where should I visit and when? The only real definite places I want to visit is Washington DC on the 4th of July and I would like to spend August or September in Alaska. Everything else is negotiable. All advice is greatly appreciated. THANKS!

[RandyMN]

I always love touring the National Parks.

I left Minnesota for Black Hills, Yellowstone, Glacier and then Banff.

Left Seattle for Olympic which includes rain forest, Mount Olympus, Mount Ranier and ocean beach wilderness. I then left to drive down the west coast with stops at Mt St Helens, Oregon's sand dunes and Mt Hood, Redwood forest in Northern CA, San Fransisco with Golden gate, Sequoia with the huge trees, Yosemite with plenty of people but beautiful sites.

Traveling through Smokeys is also a very nice place to visit which can lead you up the Appalachian Trail all the way to New Ypek and then Upper State NY.

[Win]

The Southwest in either late May or October seems be near perfect.

Win

[The_Camera_Poser]

Savannah, Georgia during Spring/Summer- go to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge just over the border- they got huge alligators, and tons of birds! All those Squares with Spanish Moss-laden oaks- yummy! Bethesda has an amazing oak-lined drive. \

Better yet, the Okeefenokee Swamp is simply awe-inspiring. Also, Cumberland Island (reservations need to be made ahead of time) is great too.

Waterfalls- there's some awesome ones in the Blue Ridge Mtns.

For Autumn colour- the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Don't forget to do some cave photography too.

You'll need to publish a book when done.

[ryandood]

Dood i am sooo jealous! A year off to travel and ride!! That sounds like the life. Make sure you make your way out to California. There is literally every kind of landscape you can think of within the state. I tend to like being around water more so I suggest Big Sur coastline, Lake Tahoe, and I guess anywhere along the coast. The weather is pretty good year round so I guess it doesn't matter much when you come.

Also make your way up the Oregon coastline - an amazingly beautiful coastline. Good luck and have fun.

[Tumeg]

I have been working on a plan, to drive across the United States, including several stops in Canada, that will take me 45 days. But that is only if I spend 12-24 hours at each spot. (I was thinking I can get there for sunset, stay the night, and get sunrise, and I will be there for the best lighting scenarios)

Driving, with 24mpg, it would cost a total of $10k (including hotel, gas, and food). This is just to help you get a rough estimate of the cost. My plan was\is, driving from Southern California, up to Seattle, up to close to mid-Canada, then down to northern USA, and then drive over to New York, then go down to Florida, and drive back in Southern USA, lol... So it literally is\was around the country.

Anyway, good luck with this! I plan to be carrying out my plan (I might extend it to 24-48 hours per stop) in a few years (lol, I am only 15, so, I will probably do it in 2011 when I am 18, or 19.). Again, good luck :)

[The_Camera_Poser]

Tumeg- in the good old days people used to hitchhike across the US to see it like that, and they'd take a heck of a lot less money. Come to Australia and go hitching!

[EricTober]

Tumeg - good luck with that! I was 18 when I went on my first adventure. It was to Rocky Mountain National Park, the Four Corners area and Arizona. It was only for 2 weeks, but it was a blast. I would suggest getting a tent and roughing it a bit. You will save loads. I plan on keeping a blog and posting quite a few photos here. Keep posted and maybe you can learn from me a bit before you go on your trip. Thanks for the advice so far guys, most of what has been said I have already planned on, but it is good to get a confirmation. I am really looking forward to this!!

[ryandood]

I have been working on a plan, to drive across the United States, including several stops in Canada, that will take me 45 days. But that is only if I spend 12-24 hours at each spot. (I was thinking I can get there for sunset, stay the night, and get sunrise, and I will be there for the best lighting scenarios)

Driving, with 24mpg, it would cost a total of $10k (including hotel, gas, and food). This is just to help you get a rough estimate of the cost. My plan was\is, driving from Southern California, up to Seattle, up to close to mid-Canada, then down to northern USA, and then drive over to New York, then go down to Florida, and drive back in Southern USA, lol... So it literally is\was around the country.

Anyway, good luck with this! I plan to be carrying out my plan (I might extend it to 24-48 hours per stop) in a few years (lol, I am only 15, so, I will probably do it in 2011 when I am 18, or 19.). Again, good luck :)


10k seems like a VERY generous total cost for a road trip that will only last up to a couple months. I did a road trip from SoCal, up the coast, and ended in Vancouver and then back down. My total trip was much shorter than you plan on (two weeks) but my individual cost was only $225 (gas/hostel/hotel/food costs included). Not sure if you plan on doing this trip alone but your predicted 10k would have to be quite the extravagant trip in order to spend that much money.

Important factors for cost;
How many people you have to split costs with - I had 4
What kind of car/mileage you'll be getting - our truck got about 12mpg, ew
Cost of gas - was around $3 when I went
How much you'll be willing to rough it in order to save money - we slept in the truck a couple nights to save money, also one of the worst nights of sleep.

If you or the OP has any questions feel free to PM me, i love to talk about road trips/traveling in general.

[Mike55]

I have been working on a plan, to drive across the United States, including several stops in Canada, that will take me 45 days. But that is only if I spend 12-24 hours at each spot. (I was thinking I can get there for sunset, stay the night, and get sunrise, and I will be there for the best lighting scenarios)


That won't work. Soon you will come to realize that not all spots are created equal. Also, you will be spending too much time on the car when you can be out on the trail getting pictures not everyone else has.

Also, to cut down on costs, get a nice tent and a good sleeping bag. Many public land campgrounds are free and provide great scenery for photography. Staying at the Motel 6 in Omaha is mundane by comparison.... Stay in a nice hotel once a week and camp the rest. You meet far more interesting people and have a more interesting trip camping in the national parks and forests.

[argyle]

If you're interested in shooting the Southwest, I'd recommend a series of books by Laurent Martres (3-volume set that's available on Amazon), titled "Photographing the Southwest" (oddly enough). Volume 1 covers Southern Utah, Volume 2 covers Arizona, and Volume 3 covers Colorado/New Mexico. The books are invaluable for a landscape shooter....cover everything from necessary gear, locations, best times of day, directions, even GPS coordinates. Well worth the money.

[Vaggeli]

A must go Glacier national park,Yellowstone,...if your going to be in Alaska a must is Denali..Oregon
coast..
have fun!

[krs2fer]

Follow the sun, stay warm and start a blog so us stay at home people can travel along with you.

I forgot to add, have fun..

[Tom Reichner]

So, Eric - how are your trip plans working out? Are you in the middle of nowhere, or still planning things out? We'd love to know how it's going!