Last week I made the bold, if not stupid, decision to venture out during the Great Pandemic Summer 2020. This decision did not come easily... at least it came much easier when I initially cooked up the idea in May. Since then, the US has deteriorated on the Pandemic front, and I needed to decide- could I still adventure and live out of my car until ski season? Safely? Ethically? Legally? These were my main questions upon which I based my decision. These questions will elicit different answers from everyone you ask. I noticed that people in my parents' generation did not think I should go, while people in my generation thought it was fine.
Ultimately, I decided to journey forth, because I feel that I can conduct outdoor recreation while living from my car, in much of the country, in a safe way. To me, safe means planning attainable and small backcountry objectives, limiting exposure to few other people, wearing a mask, general risk mitigation in all activities to avoid injury. Campgrounds, national parks, climbing areas etc. are open as of now, so I am going to take my summer off from Outward Bound as a great opportunity to see the country and do cool things in amazing landscapes. ​So here is my blanket statement for all future blogs while on this road trip... I know it's not a good time to be out! Although, it seems like life is still going on here in the US. I very well may look back on this trip in a year, or heck maybe even two weeks, and say "what was I thinking." But I have been thinking very clearly on the subject for well over a month and I am staying out with MAJOR CONTINGENCIES regarding the state of the country. If I need to abort, I will cross that bridge when I get there. I'm going to be safe and flexible. For now, I plan to be chugging along slowly all over the country until I wind up in Big Sky in November.
A quick recap, what's going on here...
​I am adventuring around the U.S. in my 2010 Toyota RAV-4 from the beginning of July until the beginning of November. I am fully outfitted for hiking/ trail running, backpacking, climbing (sport, trad), mountain biking, and swimming (no really, like swim cap and everything). I will be camping most nights. The whole 4 month trip itself is really just a bunch of mini trips with friends around the country linked together. For more details read my previous post.
Ok so digest everything you just read and get ready for this next part. Now hear me out on this... The first 3 stops (1 week) in my journey were definitely more social than the trip was intended to be. It started with the 4th of July weekend, for which I went to my family friends' lake house on Lake Waukewan in New Hampshire.
The following weekend, my crew friends from college planned a lake weekend on Lake Wallenpaupack in Pennsylvania.
So I linked the two weekends together with a visit to another college friend in NYC midweek. I know what you're thinking... *gasp*. It actually felt very safe in the city. Masks everywhere, zero tourists, friends I trusted. Friends who are nurses and definitely made me feel safer about the situation. All was good, and I got a COVID test on the way out just for peace of mind, and it came back negative *sigh of relief*.
This week was honestly pretty hard to justify based on everything I mentioned in the first few paragraphs. I objectively took a pretty big risk by doing these three social visits, and I'm super thankful that it all worked out safe and fun. Guilt aside, in comparison to the past few most boring and lonely months, this week was a highlight of my year. From here on out though, I'm into the woods!
Alright there's the update. I have like 4 confirmed regular readers that I know of. If you're one of those people, or maybe a secret fan, and want to see more on the trip here is where I'll be posting...
- This blog, probably shooting for once a week or every two weeks. - Instagram, @adwitz for mostly stories with the occasional post. ​- Polarsteps, a sweet app my dad showed me that will track my stops and show them on an interactive map with photos. I have embedded it below as a half decent preview so you get the idea. For a link to it, click here. This will be updated every few days, pretty much real time. ​ If you read this far, thanks for following along! That's all for now. Next up I head to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive for some lovely solo car camping, followed by a climbing trip with NCOBS ladies at Hidden Valley, VA. Stay tuned for those updates in the coming weeks! Comments are closed.
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