The summer of 2010, I was visiting my Aunt Suzy in Washington DC. I remember one morning we were sitting at breakfast reading the paper. I opened up to the travel section of the Washington Post and there it was—Haystack Rock—on the front of the section. I was in a daze reading about all the quirky, not-to-miss stops for those lucky enough to make the journey. “Man, I really want to see that rock myself, in person,” I thought to myself. I tore out the article and tucked it away, in case I mustered up the courage to plan the trip solo.
Over the years following, I was busy working a retail job with Apple, moved to Boston, went through 3 years of grad school, moved to California and back for work. In other words, I was always pressed for spare time. I also started making up excuses why I couldn’t do it.
I guess I wanted a friend or a boyfriend to go with. But why wait on someone else? I could be waiting for a long time. Why not just do it myself?
Living solo and traveling all over California for 3 months killed the fear. California taught me to stop freaking out in difficult situations. Shit happens, it’s not the end of the world, you figure it out, and move on. I finally gained the confidence and in true self-proclamation said to myself—“I’m totally ok with this. I can go anywhere or do anything I want. There’s nothing to stop me but myself.”
July 2015— I had accepted a new job that month and saw that this was the perfect opportunity to just go for it. Instead of taking time off between jobs, I put in for vacation time in September and within one week booked my flights, and started mapping out how I was going to make it all happen. I had lots of practice traveling solo in California. Why were my trips there so fun? Keep it loose, make a list, and let everything else unfold naturally.
Budget
Working for Apple Retail for 7 years, juggling the business’s black-out dates, I was never able to take a long vacation. So when I left Apple, I had 88 hours of unused-vacation time to cash out. Cha-ching! A nice chunk of change to use for my trip. Do I try to spend all that money? Hell no! I’m Kim Maroon, queen of living on the cheap, looking for free food, and bargain everything.
I realized if I had a companion on the trip, it would significantly lower the cost of lodging and car rentals. And there it is—you have to decide what’s more important to you: saving money OR doing what you want, when you want, and how you want. I prefer traveling solo 10 to 1 because total personal freedom is worth every penny.
Favorite travel apps: Kayak, Delta, Airbnb, Geocaching
Full disclosure. Here is a breakdown of where my money went (excluding meals):
Delta- $360 RT (1 stop) / Marriott- $29 parking (booked with rewards points) / Airbnb- $109 Seaside (1 night), 95 Tillamook (1 night), 174 Portland (cost includes 2 nights) / Hertz car rental- $523 + 60 (fuel) / Checked bags- 0 / Uber (Boston)- $50
Total accommodations= $407 / Total air + ground transportation= $993
What would I Do differentLy?
The largest expense was the car. Next time, I would look into even more car rental companies and alternative rental insurance options (AAA, my credit card policy). The Hertz rental was originally $295 with my AAA discount, however at pickup Oregon state law requires everyone on the road has full insurance coverage. I do not have my own car insurance and was forced to add the full package bringing the total cost of the car rental to $523—more than it cost to fly! Another option would be to plan the trip with Portland as a central hub, coordinating car rentals only when traveling outside the metro area, utilizing car shares (Zipcar, Truro) when possible. Portland has great public transportation and is very bike friendly.
Preparation
I dug out that old article from the Washington Post, started a Pinterest board PNW Adventure, and pasted a map of Oregon to the door of my apartment. I also referenced a Lonely Planet feature story about the drive of a lifetime—Hwy 101 from Seattle to San Francisco.
What did I want to see and do? What did I want to photograph? What did I want to experience?
I had to get real about my driving stamina on mountain and forest roads and the windy coastal highway. How long am I good for? 5 hours tops. I plugged in miles and estimated time between the points I chose on the map. I noticed there weren’t too many roads between Portland and the coast so I would be less likely to get myself lost in the woods with no service (or so I thought haha).
I learned how to pack light for 6 days. Traveling with camera gear is like towing a small child. Pretty shocking that I was able to get all my gear (including a tripod!) and personal items into 2 bags— a Patagonia Black Hole 60L duffle bag and an Ortlieb waterproof backpack with camera kit cube. Everything was a carry-on and fit within the airline rules, saving me 25 bucks. My favorite was the Patagonia duffle, just right for 6 days of travel. Besides the fact that it’s waterproof, indestructible, and has a lifetime warranty, it fit perfectly in the overhead and had tons of loops making it super easy to grab and go. Toss your giant suitcase, this is your new bag.
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