Honeymoon trip in America

“Honeymoon” style… adventurous

Our honeymoon adventure started with just one key principle: freedom. We wanted to set our own schedule, see what we wanted when we wanted, and let the world unfold before us as naturally as possible. So there were no reservations, no travel agents, or anything else that would stop us from living in the moment.

After looking at all the usual options like car rentals, buses, trains, flights, hotels, hostels, Airbnbs, etc., none of them were suitable for us. They all required a fixed time commitment, activities had to be planned weeks or months in advance – there was no room for spontaneity, adventure, or exploring new things.

We started thinking about more adventurous options, and eventually found a company that rents campervans – passenger vans that have been converted into mobile living spaces, fully furnished with fridges, solar panels, bed linen and curtains. And what’s more, the vans are beautifully painted by local artists!

34 days on a mobile home

We picked up the Red Fox in San Francisco. A friend from Google invited us on a series of fun activities in the Bay Area, so we just hung around town for a few days, getting used to life in the van.

The Red Fox has a bedroom in the back that can be converted into a living room during the day (with a dining table!), and behind the cargo door is a kitchenette with a full range of cooking utensils, a camper gas stove, and a 10-liter fridge powered by solar panels on the roof. There’s plenty of room for food, clothes, gear, and vehicle parts. This being a Ford E-series van, there’s plenty of room up front for two people, a large box of snacks and drinks, and living space. This purpose-built campervan has pretty much everything you’d need for everyday living (even the sheets fit into the fold-down bed), which suited us perfectly.

However, there are still many other things that you have to worry about: Where to sleep? How to shower? How to take care of personal hygiene in the morning after waking up and at night before going to bed? These are all important questions and everyone has a different answer, but two things are certain: one, this life will be very different from normal and two, everything will be fine. It is also difficult to do anything wrong, just make sure that where you park is legal and everything will be smooth. Many people feel scared when suddenly switching to a different way of life, but "the boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge"!

Celebrate America's Independence Day at Disneyland

We stayed in San Francisco for a few days before deciding to move on. For months, we had planned to go from San Francisco straight to Yosemite, but we realized that July 4th was coming up and decided to completely change our plans: turn around and drive hundreds of miles in the other direction to celebrate July 4th at Disneyland! Such a last-minute change usually entails hundreds, even thousands, of dollars in additional fees for transportation, reservations, and all sorts of tickets, but since we were already staying in a “hotel room,” we didn’t have to worry about that. The change of plans didn’t cost us anything (as it turns out, Disneyland tickets don’t go up during the holidays) and we started driving down the scenic Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to Los Angeles.

PCH alone was a destination for many. We drove along the beautiful winding road, chased sunsets on the Big Sur coast, marveled at the giant redwoods, had breakfast at Oprah's House in Santa Barbara, and even had time to meet up with some friends.

When we arrived at Disney, we asked a few people near the park if we could park in front of their houses for the night, and they gave us tips on where to avoid, and during the day we parked in the Disney park lot. Many people who lived too far away from the park to go home for a nap and then come back were exhausted and flat by mid-afternoon. We arrived early in the morning, explored the park for 6 hours, took a 2-hour nap in our air-conditioned bed, then came back and watched the Fourth of July fireworks. We even got to take a secret path through the Disney backstage.

Another fork in the road

On our campervan honeymoon, the only thing we were guaranteed was that we would get to Denver within 34 days, and everything else was up to us. So after leaving Disneyland, our choice wasn’t “how to get to Denver?”, but “where to go next?”

With no restrictions on where or how, we realized we had plenty of time to detour south and visit Mexico. We stayed in Tijuana, saw some aircraft carriers in San Diego on the way there, then headed south to Rosarito, staying at a beautiful seaside resort nestled into a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. From there, instead of returning to the US, we headed east along the US-Mexico border, and discovered a cool mountain road called La Rumorosa. Even if you Google its name, it doesn’t come up much, it doesn’t appear on any Tijuana travel blogs, but its natural beauty is indescribable. An alien landscape, rivaling any of the US national parks we’ve driven through. So we spent a little more time in Mexico before heading back to the US.

We plunged into the desert, spending two and a half weeks there, and then from La Rumorosa, right next to the Gulf of California in Mexico, we followed the Colorado River up 2,500 kilometers. We saw majestic mountains and cacti in Joshua Tree and passed through the Hollywood resort of Palm Springs. We saw magical hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park and watched magnificent purple sunsets fade into the night away from the city lights, nights so dark that the sky and earth merged into a mysterious sea of ​​darkness and nights filled with stars more beautiful than a thousand diamonds.

Facing the "irrational" beauty

The Grand Canyon is a place many people make a point of visiting at least once in their lifetime and we were lucky enough to have a few days to ourselves. We rode a mule cart along the canyon, halfway down (if you want to go all the way to the bottom, it has to be arranged years in advance) and saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen on the Bright Angel Road.

The sight of the sun rising over the opposite canyon rim and the first rays of light hitting the west wall was indescribable – the majesty and splendor completely overwhelmed us. Tears filled our eyes, peace filled our hearts, and all we could do was hold each other, grateful to be on this Earth and to share this moment with each other for the rest of our lives. Pablo took out his saxophone and played a few bars of “What a Wonderful World” to accompany the beautiful sunrise – a concert for us and our fellow hikers.

There are times in life when we encounter moments that are not only priceless, but also so absurdly beautiful that we feel like we don't even deserve them - and this is one of them.

However, as grand as it is, the Grand Canyon is not actually the most impressive canyon. Yes, it is the widest and grandest, but it is simply too big for human perception. Is something 23 km wide much more impressive than something 20 km wide? To the human senses, they seem the same. We can only perceive things on a much smaller scale. At Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, just a few meters up the side of the 500 m vertical cliffs, it felt much more intimidating than the Grand Canyon because we were closer and the ground was not as far away as it seemed.

It’s safe to say that Canyon Country is more than just the Grand Canyon. In fact, there’s a lot more to it, and the place to go to see deserts and red rock canyons is Moab, Utah. This is where we spent the most time on the trip, because it has everything a wilderness explorer could want. There are two national parks of outstanding beauty and international acclaim within a short drive. But much of the natural wonder isn’t in the national parks. There’s more freedom to do there: mountain biking, off-roading, camping, cooking, free-roaming, and more. It’s sometimes described as “summer camp for adults” or “desert paradise.” But for us, Moab is where the toughest adventures with the best friends come from.

The last pass

We ended our trip by driving east, from the red rock canyons of Utah to the majestic heights of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Equally as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains lure visitors with their lakes and mountain passes. With the freedom of our campervan, we headed to the famous Vail ski resort, meandered through old mining towns and even played in the snow on the mountaintops – in July!

Every day, even the little things like where to sleep and what to cook for breakfast are exciting adventures for us, with new experiences waiting around every corner and nothing planned in advance. Not only does this suit our personalities perfectly, it is also much more cost-effective and opens up a lot of exciting experiences and opportunities. We are now thinking about a campervan trip across Europe in the future!

MORE INFORMATION

• The cost of renting a campervan with a bed kit, kitchen kit and 2 camping chairs for 34 days is approximately 5,000 USD (including tax). Additional items will be charged extra.

• For young people or modern families (2-5 people), you should rent a campervan from Escape Campervan. Their campervan is invested in design and appearance, making the campervan look youthful, modern and colorful.
• Campervans are usually redesigned SUVs or 12-seater vehicles, so the size of the vehicle is quite large, while parking spaces in cities in the US are often quite difficult to find, especially at night, when you need to find a safe enough overnight parking space to sleep in the vehicle.

• Be sure to research the locations you will visit and find safe and convenient parking areas. In tourist areas and national parks, parking reservations are often required several weeks in advance.
• Americans consider cars as "mobile homes" so campervan services are very popular in this country.

Pablo & Chi