The early morning dawns fresh and inviting, warm light creeping over the hill across the road and beckoning me to rise and get on with it. No need for further encouragement. I’m up—my mind already far ahead of my unfolding and increasingly creaky body. Today is The Day. The car waits, packed like a stuffed sausage, and I hear Lexi the Golden shake herself awake in the growing light, knowing instinctively that something is about to happen. She’s anxious to confirm she will not be left behind.

Every Day One of a road trip starts like this: senses heightened, excitement palpable, the promise of impending adventure, and an undeniable desire to chase and embrace both freedom and wonder. My heart pounds a little just typing the words. Can you feel it too?

Lexi the Golden clearly understands wonder.  She often heads to the backyard to watch the sunset over the valley below our house, and paused here at the beach for the same purpose. 

The Mystery of Solo Travel

Embarking on a road trip is akin to reading the most gripping mystery novel. Every bend in the road is a page with a new secret to uncover, character to be introduced, setting to be soaked in. There are hints as to how it may play out, but complete immersion is the only means to unveil the layers of the not yet known. That’s where the joy lives—in the daily unfurling of the journey itself.

I begin every day of a road trip with the same eagerness—seeing each as a new chapter in the mystery of the adventure. The analogy fails in regard to pace, however. Unlike when reading, I do not anxiously speed ahead to the next bit of discovery, but, rather, leisurely relish every sight and sound. Slow and easy. This gentler pace allows every day of every road trip I’ve ever taken to etch itself in my memory—where each day begins, where it ends, engraving countless details from sunup to sundown. The impressions are deep and permanent, each passing mile providing increasing clarity of spirit and mind.

Being on the road by myself creates daily opportunity not only to slow down, but to be purposeful. And in that wide open space, I am able to embrace the two greatest gifts of the solo adventure—unending possibilities to find freedom and to find wonder.

The Freedom and Wonder of Solo Road Tripping

I find freedom on the road. The freedom of mind—freedom from regular life, freedom to see the details of the world outside my moving window or on a slow walk where my feet tread the unknown. The cobwebs of normal busyness dissolve in the wind, left behind in the dust, usurped by a freeing clarity. I look ahead, above, beside, but not back. I look down, not at my own little self, but at the road beneath my feet. The world widens and grows, and I become smaller within it. And in that vastness, I feel it—Freedom.

And, ultimately, wonder. It emerges in varied forms. Wonder may take the unexpected and powerful form of a grizzly running across a Montana road, the purples of a sunset blazing fire across the waters of Lake Superior, or the simple sweetness of a wizened shopkeeper sharing morning greetings with customers and friends as he likely has been doing decade upon decade. Like freedom, wonder is found in the looking-out part, eyes wide open, heart anticipating each new discovery. I find wonder around every turn.

In my road tripping world, freedom and wonder preside over each day, each moment. Traveling taps into my senses and awareness like no other experience and inscribes permanent souvenirs into my soul. It’s where I learn the most about myself while not paying myself any attention at all.

Views from high above the Blue Ridge Mountains, from my first solo road trip in 2018.

As a Christian, I experience each of these moments with gratitude for God’s perfect creation. That I have the privilege to witness so much of it, firsthand, brings me to my knees and leaves me breathless. And in my smallness, I marvel also in knowing that our God declared all of His creation to be good, yet, somehow, His love for us, His people, is such that He created us in His own image to be very good. Grace upon grace. Mystery. Inexplicable and humbling.

And, also, intoxicating. God’s unending love and care for my completely undeserving self leads me to know that it matters how I spend my time, what I think, and how I engage with His creation. Travel emerges as a most natural response, an act of worship, and I have embraced the realization of this dormant passion to revel in what He has made. It becomes a quiet and powerful way to seek Him, to be in communion with Him, to be thankful and grateful for all He has done. As God reveals Himself to me around every bend, I learn more and more about who I am called to be. Resting in the surety that I humbly bear His image, I begin to discern and embrace the gifts He has given me.

Solo Road Tripping - it's not just a vacation!

A road trip is a freedom journey that moves you from wandering to wonder.

The words “road trip” likely conjure visions of windows down, hair flying, destination unknown without a care in the world. We love the romantic notion of wandering without a plan—the appeal strong, as it stands in stark contrast to our everyday structured and plotted days. And it is worth dreaming about. We want that feeling. Reckless abandon maybe? Carefree with no schedule? Perhaps a bit of escape? Yes, yes, and yes.

But I believe there’s more. I know there is. Carefree escapism and reckless abandon can be an incredibly fun piece of it, but shortly after returning home, you’ll likely feel lost and empty and back in the mud puddle you left in the first place. In fact,  my own journey began as an instinctive desire to wander, but ultimately propelled me toward wonder.

The Choice to Just Go

Not long before my initial road tripping adventure, much of the decades-long familiarity of my world disappeared. My children were mostly grown, and my husband of a quarter century on to another life and another wife. Everything seemed to shift from the familiar, if not always comfortable, to a landscape akilter, propelling me into unexpected and unknown territory.

I doubt I could have eloquently expressed why a road trip was such a clear and natural next step in my life. I just did it. Somehow it emerged as the most logical, comforting, and right next thing to do, and not because I had a history of solo road tripping. Somehow, in my newly disordered world, the simple ribbon of road beckoned. And I just went.

My very first day of my very first solo road trip ❤️ (about 60,000 miles ago!)

What I know now: that first solo road trip filled a deep need. A need to be other-focused. To look out and not in. A need to let the creation of my great and glorious God wash over me, as He protected and provided for me each mile marker and step of the way. Despite my uncertain future, extended time on that journey turned my focus away from myself. I didn’t need more of me, but less. I needed more of Him.

I slowed way, way down, took time, opened my eyes and my ears. I shut my mouth, turned off the noise in my head (and on my phone), and began to look around. By looking out, I slowly discovered all those lost parts of myself. Little by little, mile after mile I took the back roads. I noticed every little thing. Even the smallest details of that first trip are burned in my memory forever. The experience was healing, intoxicating, and transformative.

The pursuit of wonder has altered my perspective. began to shed layers of dust, daily grime, heavy burden, fear, and loss. I became lighter, awake, aware, and free. I could taste joy and touch wonder, both as real as the afternoon sun.

You Can Write Your Own Solo Travel Story

Your story is uniquely your own. My own narrative may or may not resonate with you, but hopefully it inspires you to see a way forward—a path to dream. Your life may not be undergoing a seismic shift—you may be in search of a fresh perspective or you ache to recover a sense of purpose or to uncover the art within your soul or to see anew. All of these are reasons to pursue wonder.

If you do choose to embark on your own unique journey, the most wonderful thing will happen. You will begin to breathe more deeply, see more clearly. You’ll discover that you are surrounded by wonder. You’ll regain the lost art, not just of noticing what’s around you, but likely discovering that the formerly mundane or unremarkable bears the mark of the sublime.

I consistently learn that purposeful and slow doesn’t have to be a lost way of living. The opportunity to engage in our world this way is a standing invitation from our Creator. After all, it’s all right there in front of us, waiting to be noticed. In my world, that deserves declarations, both whispered and shouted, of “Thank You, Jesus!” At the very least, I’ll put my money on you being reduced to stillness and, it may surprise you, tears at least once.

Wonder is where we begin.  It remains the driving force to ensure transformational travel.  I hope you’ll embrace the inspiring bit and do a deep dive to create your own journey. 

Each week I’ll add a bit more of the story as we plan the perfect solo road trip. I will share:

📍An on-topic video to accompany the weekly blog post.

📍A new blog post with content pulled from my #1 Bestseller, There’s Wonder Around the Bend:  An Inspiring Guide to Solo Road Tripping

📍 You can pick up my book HERE.

📍Grab the ➡️ FREE Super Simple Guide to Solo Road Tripping Safety