Don’t you think there’s just something so amazing about packing up the car
and hitting the open road?
The beautiful scenery, the roadside attractions, the food, the perfect soundtrack, not knowing what’s around the next turn – it all combines to create the perfect opportunity for adventure and discovery.
Welcome! It’s nice to meet you!
My name is Stef, and I’m the creator of Open Road Odysseys! I started this blog to help you through every step of your travel journey – from figuring out where you want to go, to how to plan the perfect itinerary, to figuring out what to bring along, how to troubleshoot along the way, and everything in between – while also showing you how to do it on a budget so you can experience more on the road without breaking the bank!
I think I fell in love with road trips when I was in college. My parents, my brother, and I flew out to Arizona and drove to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and ended up in Las Vegas. We did so much in only a week, and I think it was then that I realized just how much you can see and experience on a road trip.
Fast forward a few years and I met my now-husband Sam. We both love to travel, but neither of us had much money back then, so we drove to all our vacations. From our home in Pennsylvania, we took trips to Vermont, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and lots of places in between.
To save even more money, we found out about Couchsurfing (of which we quickly developed an avid love!) and also used Airbnb and camped a lot too. Since we’re pretty outdoorsy, we would always look up the best hiking trails and find the best free attractions around so that when there was an experience we really wanted to do (like a Grand Ole Opry show in Nashville, hot air balloon ride in 1000 Islands, or coasteering in Wales) we could afford to do it!
We quickly realized how much flexibility and opportunities we had by driving everywhere instead of flying, not to mention just how many amazing things we would have missed if we had taken an airplane to get from point A to point B. We discovered how much we love being on the road, so we started to specifically plan road trips as our vacations. We travel together and also solo, visiting friends and family along the way and creating amazing memories.
We also found out road trips don’t have to be limited to our own country (even though there is so much to see here in the US). We also love to travel internationally and so far have road tripped in the UK and Iceland. These experiences have only made us want to explore the world by car even more.
I’d love to hear from you!
Connecting with my readers makes me happy! You are who I’m here for, after all! What questions do you have? What can I help you with? Drop me a line, say hello, and let me know – what’s the best road trip you’ve ever taken? Or, if you’ve never taken a road trip, where would you go on your first one? I’d love to help you make it a reality!