Our One Year Travelversary.
Holy crap! We have officially made it one year and it's been quite the adventure.
It’s crazy to think we’ve been living in hotels and traveling full-time for one year already! It seems like only yesterday we walked away from home ownership for the last time and began our new journey.
So many travel blogs and videos only show the good side of traveling. You don’t know what to expect until you experience it for yourself.
Will it be as fun as content creators make you believe?
Will we end up in the desert with no gas or cell phone service?
Will we regret our decision?
These are just a few of the questions we asked ourselves as we headed out on this crazy adventure, but we decided to risk it all to find out for ourselves, and right now, all I can say is it’s been nothing short of amazing!
Not only have we survived being together, but we’ve thrived on moving around to new places. Waking up to see the ocean or the mountains is edifying to the soul. Meeting people from all over the country has been rewarding. And discovering new places like National Parks has been exhilarating.
Our road life adventure has been incredible.
There have been no regrets in our decision, even when people thought it was stupid to do so during a global pandemic. We are thankful to God for this opportunity — and we don’t intend to stop anytime soon.
Travel Stats for Year One
We’ve tried to keep up with a variety of stats as we travel the country and blog about the experience. It’s not always easy to do while balancing work, play, and driving days, but we do have a few details we can share.
26,000 Miles Traveled
28 States Visited
69 Cities We’ve Stayed In
73 Hotels Crashed (Estimated)
36 National Parks or Monuments Visited
60+ Destination Stickers Purchased
15 Arguments Had. 90% Started by James. Zero Winners.
I’ve also managed to drink hundreds of craft beers and espressos without expanding my waistline or blowing up my heart. So that’s good news — though Donetta is not as happy with my financial investment in the beers. LOL
What’s It Like Living in Hotels?
Hotel crashing, as it’s become affectionally known to us, is something we have come to enjoy. We love moving to new places, and aside from hauling in buckets and stupid hotel guests, it’s been great. Not having to do home maintenance puts a massive smile on my face, as does having access to nice pools and other typical hotel or resort amenities. We’ve managed to stay in really nice, budget-friendly places and even gotten free or discounted rooms because of our travels.
But it’s far from perfect. There are pros and cons to hotel living and hotel guests can be the rudest humans you will ever come to know. Regardless of those inconveniences, we still prefer hotels to hauling a trailer or owning a fifth wheel.
A Few of Our Favorite Things
We often get asked questions about the best places we’ve visited so far or what we’ve discovered that we absolutely loved. So why not share those in our one-year anniversary post?
Our Favorite Place to Visit
This is really tough because there are so many places we’ve loved and each for different reasons. Both of us would probably say Colorado Springs and Rocky Mountain National Park are the best overall, thanks to the mountains, hiking, outdoor lifestyle, and peaceful vibe.
San Diego will always be my happy place, and we were in awe of Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park. And we can’t forget the magic of Sedona.
Our Favorite Hotel to Stay In
Living in hotels has given us a broad range of experiences and properties. We were huge fans of Staybridge Suites in Colorado Springs because we could look out at the mountains and the location to the Garden of the Gods and other hiking areas. It was a very nice place!
But I would choose Scottsdale Links Resort as my favorite because it was spacious and peaceful, with an incredible pool and perfect temperatures in February.
Our Favorite Excursion or Activity
There’s certainly nothing quite like hiking in the mountains or tanning on the white sands of Coronado Beach, but I have to say that renting a Polaris RZR and hauling ass on the trails in Sedona was probably the best memory and fun. We spent an entire day traversing rocks and spinning tires in the mud. We cannot wait to do this again!
Would We Change Anything?
Donetta and I have had dozens of conversations about traveling full-time and whether we’d change anything now. And we’ve been asked if we plan to stop and settle down again.
Right now, we wouldn’t change a thing.
OK, I’m lying a little. I’d be super happy if other travelers would be courteous to other people around them and would practice common sense. That’s my biggest pet peeve about living in hotels or traveling. Humans can just suck. Other than that, life is good, and we’ve been stoked to visit with so many of our friends across the country.
There are also no plans to quit traveling anytime soon.
While we do miss being able to see our kids and other family, we love our life, and we can’t imagine doing anything else at this point. Not many people get the chance to pursue their dreams. Every day we’re blessed to be on this adventure.
Cheers to Our One Year Travelversary!
We thank everyone who continues to support us by reading our blog, sending words of inspiration, or offering recommendations on our Facebook page. It really does mean a lot to us, and we appreciate it.
If you have any questions about the digital nomad lifestyle or hotel living, we are here to help. It would be awesome to see more people exploring the world (quietly, of course) and living their travel dreams.
So cheers to living in hotels year one! We look forward to the next year and sharing more with all of you. 🍻