Year-Long All American Odyssey -- in 2013!

Hi Jamie,

I am looking at taking a year off after I complete my university degree in 2013. In that year I plan on driving all around America. I want to visit remote country towns and explore the heart of America.

Do you have any advise for places like that?

Regards,

Lana

>>

Hi Lana --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope you are still planning to take the trip, which sounds like a major adventure.

The sort of travel you plan to do -- visiting small towns and the "real" America -- is exactly what I explore in Road Trip USA. In the books I have nearly 1000 pages of characterful Americana, hundreds of small towns and fascinating places linked by some 40,000 miles worth of country roads and two-lane highways.

Enough to keep you busy for a year, or more, for sure.

Besides checking out my books, and the website, I'd encourage you to look into establishing some contacts over here, so you have some focal points to your travels. Finding a job gets complicated (because of legal issues and high US unemployment), but maybe your university can link you up with some sort of position (or at least get you a student visa, so you are eligible for a longer stay and perhaps some employment?).

A year is along time to be on the road, and I think that having some structure to your time over here will make it a much more positive experience.

But as you are not hitting the road until 2013, you have plenty of time to sort things out -- and to plan a fantastic trip.

Good luck, and Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA