Road Trip!

An image from last fall's road trip to the Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest.  This was made a dawn in the
Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, CO. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II; 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens

Its well after Labor Day here in the United States.  All of the schools have reopened.  Most working families are back to their regular schedules.  Traffic has now subsided from the summer season.  The weather is a bit cooler.  All of these are signs that my wife and I have another road trip upcoming.

We try to take one to two extended road trips each year, mostly in the months of April/May and September/October.  Some years that works out and some years it doesn't.  It depends upon what else is happening in our lives.  

I started planning this road trip right after returning from our fall road trip last year.  This year we decided to drive up through New England and into the Canadian Maritime Provinces.  We were last in New England about three years ago and enjoyed it immensely.  Our plan is to visit a good friend and his wife on the way north, then spend about four days in Maine exploring the coast then north through New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia for about five days.  We may stay longer depending upon if we have seen what we want to see.  We will be meeting lifelong friends in Nova Scotia where we have jointly rented a house.  It should be a really good time.

On the way south, we will take a different route.  I don't like to have a real "schedule" unless necessary so I have not yet decided which way, in general, we will return home or even when we will return home.

There is lots to do before an extended road trip.  I have developed a list over the years of things that need to be done a week or so prior to leaving, within a week of leaving, the day before leaving and things to check as we walk out of the door.

Also, there are things such as acquiring medical insurance for outside of the U.S. as Medicare only covers true emergencies.  Credit card and debit card companies need to be advised that we are traveling (most don't require it now but I like to err on the side of notifying them) and well as various other considerations.  As I said, lots to do.

In the past, I've provided pretty detailed lists of what I do to prepare for a road trip, from researching things to see and do to what gear to bring.  I won't repeat those lists here but you can find them in previous posts.  If you type in "road trip" in the search bar a couple of older posts will pop up at the top of the list.

I haven't yet decided what photo gear I will take.  However, I have decided that I am going to go very light this year.  Going light is different than I have traveled in the past as I have taken two full kits with me.

Road trips are nice as we we try as much as we can to stay off the main multi-lane highways, take secondary roads, drive through smaller cities and towns, stop and see things along the way, eat at local restaurants, and enjoy the journey as much as the destination.  One other consideration in favor of road trips as opposed to flying is that we can take as much "stuff" as we want.  No restrictions on weight, the number of bags, how much gear I want to take, etc.  I like options!

More about the upcoming road trip on Friday.  I'm excited about once again being out wandering, discovering new places and seeing things I've not seen before.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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