It’s a new year (and a new decade, whee!) so time to look back at my Vagabond Life in 2019 and celebrate the stats!
States Visited
Only two new states this year: Montana (three nights in Missoula) and Ohio (a one-nighter at a KOA in transit from PA to CO, but it still counts). So my count is now up to 40 out of 48 states (because I’m never driving to Alaska and the Alto can’t swim to Hawaii).

This year’s map includes Canada, since I hit up British Columbia (mostly Vancouver Island). Let’s be honest, though, and admit that I’ve only seen the southernmost parts of BC, Ontario, and Quebec, despite the map making it seem like I’ve toured them all more extensively than I have.
Campground Stats
You might be able to figure out that I really like state park campgrounds. They vary in quality and price, but overall, they are a good deal, especially in the South, where hookups help battle the heat and humidity and boondocking opportunities are harder to come by than in the Southwest.
Type | Count |
State Parks | 210 |
RV Parks | 46 |
Driveway Surfing | 33 |
Corps of Engineers | 27 |
National Parks | 23 |
Tenn Valley Authority | 11 |
County Parks | 2 |
Total | 352 |
You might also notice that I’m short about 13 days. Yes, even vagabonds take holidays so I don’t count those in the mix.
Campground Stats by Year
Year | Campground Count |
2016 | 58 |
2017 | 100 |
2018 | 67 |
2019 | 99 |
TOTAL | 324 |
Favorite Campgrounds of 2019
Of all the new places I stayed this year, these five were the standouts:
- Modoc Corps of Engineers (COE), Georgia – kayaking from my site, good cell, and well-spaced sites about an hour north of Augusta. Also nice concrete block bath houses for tornado warnings.
- Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia – Wonderful hiking trails (including the AT), dense green foliage, and well-spaced sites. Cell signal in one area only, but I was on vacation so I didn’t mind.
- Albeni Cove COE, Idaho – Tiny park about 20 minutes from town, great boat launch and good paddling.
- Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island, BC – Long, windswept beach with huge logs weathered silver by the elements, wild surf, and blue skies. It was coming home to the Pacific Ocean for me and I hated to leave.
- Wright’s Beach State Beach, California – Another Pacific Ocean beach, with camping right on the sand. Listening to the surf all night? Priceless.
By the Month Stats
Gas prices were all over the map this year. Biggest hit was paying more than $4 a gallon for California gas, ouch. The highest month for both trailer miles and gas was July, where I went from Pennsylvania to Denver, Colorado, in one grand burst of roadtripping. Lowest month for all three categories was February, where I was once again in residence at Huntington Beach State Park for the month, and their half-price deal definitely helped the Lodging budget in 2019.
November and December lodging was crazy for two reasons: California State Parks cost a lot and I ran into a stretch of cold and rainy weather. I bailed out of two dry (no electricity) campgrounds and holed up at an RV park on the Russian River that had nice electricity and even better free wifi. It cost more, but in the end it was worth it, both for my comfort and for my contract work.
Trailer miles for these first four years of my vagabond life:
Year | Trailer Mileage |
2016 | 7532 |
2017 | 13889 |
2018 | 9422 |
2019 | 11010 |
TOTAL | 41853 |
I guess that table explains why I did more trailer mods and upgrades this year than in the previous three years combined. With the help of generous and talented friends, I added a permanent surge protector, switched to a Lithium-Ion battery and solar controller, installed a new table mount that has changed the way I feel about my table, and bought new cushion covers for all the cushions. Oh, and a new set of tires, too. I’ll write more about those changes in a separate post.
Things That Went Well
The Southern Tour was a deep and hard look at US history from post-Civil War to present day, and the racism that pervades every aspect of every day. I’m still learning, still working on my own racism and white privilege, both things I did not understand at all until last year. I’m late to all this, but determined to work on myself. If you didn’t catch the posts, here is a link to them, along with the reading list of books I’ve learned from over the past two years.
The year’s other theme was more ad-hoc, what I call in retrospect the “Hanging with Friends” tour. From Gainesville, FL to Asheville, NC, Pennsylvania to Indiana to Colorado, and then returning “home” to the Pacific Northwest and California, I managed to catch up with a lot of friends, old and new this year. I camped with Alto owners a lot, sometimes planned and sometimes accidental meetups that found two of us at the same campground. I’ve realized once again how rich my life is because of the people, so if I met you on the road in 2019, thanks for sharing your company.
I stepped out of my solo ways and my comfort zone to attend two women’s weekends, one for writing and one for, well, social fun and flamingos. I loved the flamingo ladies so much I’m planning my Spring around a week of camping with them again.
Things That Didn’t Go So Well
Passing that last gas station in Kansas on my way to Denver. I was so sure there would be another gas station in the next 150 miles and my tank was more than half-full so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. I coasted into the eastern edge of the Denver metro area with 20 miles left in my tank. Never again will I pass up a gas station when I’m near half-full and unsure what the road ahead holds.
Driving across the LA Basin with a trailer. It took me over three hours to go the last 80 miles, so just imagine how much fun that was. For those who know LA, I went from the 101 to the 134 to the 210, passing through interchanges with the 405, the 5, the 605, and the 57. With a trailer on the back of my car. Try that sometime if you want white-knuckle excitement.
Looking ahead to 2020
Wait, we’re already IN 2020! I kicked it off on in the desert southwest, where I’ll hang out a bit longer before trekking home to Gainesville for a respite before my Big Summer Adventure (TM).
I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.
Great post Annie! I went and read your blogs about your Southern Tour and they were so powerful I was crying! Thank you for talking about things that are hard. My grandfather was a black soldier from WWII and my grandmother was Irish and living in England. My mother was the result of their affair and grew up the middle child of 9 in a family that was otherwise white and Irish. My biological father was from a white racist Virginia family and married my mother in an act of rebellion. For the most part, I look white. But it’s amazing what I’ve seen through my mother’s eyes! She wrote a memoir called “Fudge: the Downs and Ups of a Biracial, Half-Irish British War Baby. Thanks again! – Tina Cannon Leahy
Tina, that is an amazing family history, and one that shows what a melting pot America is, and racism that affects us. Thank you for sharing it with me and my readers. I hope someday we meet up and can talk about this (and Altos, too!) because I’d love to know more about your family.
Also, just bought her book on Amazon Kindle.
Looks like a really nicely balanced year of travel – a mix of historic sites and nature, state parks and other types of campgrounds (the COEs are often our favorites!), higher and lower density, social and solo time. Really awesome… and it’s always interesting checking out other travelers’ stats, so thank you for sharing!
As for the gas thing, we were in for quite an education once we got away from the East Coast and realized that 24 hour gas stations that are always available are not “a thing” everywhere. We never take them for granted anymore! I can imagine how freaked out you were. Glad you made it.
How did you miss Vermont. We’ll be here for awhile now that we have a granddaughter here so if you get back up here one year I hope you will let us know. Maybe if it is summer we can bring out outrigger canoe and check out one of the lakes with you.
I was going to stay in VT in 2018 for five nights, but it was wicked hot and humid and I opted to continue to New York State, where I could get hookups for electricity and be able to run my A/C. VT Parks seems to avoid hookups 🙁 so I have to time my visits to better weather, I think!
As usual, I enjoyed your Wynne World post. Mary and I are looking forward to seeing you when you get back to Gainesville. Mary still suffers angst about being a Florida Girl. She will flatly claim that she’s a SouthWesterner even though her current address says otherwise.
I still laugh inside when people see my plates and say “Oh, you’re from Florida”… Totally get Mary saying she’s a southwesterner/westerner, as I still think of myself as a Californian despite what my plates and legal voting residency say!
Would you consider switching to an electric TV to reduce your personal contribution to climate warming? This has been a concern for me in my own travels with my Alto. Buying carbon offsets is not a solution, in my opinion.
I can’t afford an electric tow vehicle, and I would be constantly worrying where to charge it up when traveling in non-urban places for weeks at a time. I do think I live pretty low on the American standard of living, as the Alto is my whole domicile, and the footprint is smaller than at least 90% of the homes in the US.
Happy New Year! Priceless Post!! Thank you & Happy Trails 🙂
Happy New Year, Daniela, and thanks for reading and leaving a comment!
Fantastic data! Just I one more way you inspire me!
Emma, are you two plotting adventures of your own? I’m aiming to be in the Hudson Valley in mid-June. If you’ll be around, I’d love to see you!
So great purusing your recap! I long for the time I can getaway for a weekend. I wonder how you do it. I’m glad you were in touch with so many friends, and it was great to see you this year.
Luanne, just make a date with you and Paul to take a weekend at Costanoa or Monterey or someplace close. You definitely deserve a break after all you’ve been through in 2019! It was great to see you, and here’s hoping the house cleanout/closeout goes well in 2020.
Hello Annie, I’m with Gary, driving to Alaska is wonderful! I would strongly recommend the land of the midnight sun. There are amazing sites and camp sites to see and it gives you the opportunity to understand the North a little better. Alaska definitely rates in my top three of American states.
I might go in a caravan or take the ferry, but mostly I’d go sans Alto because it’s a lot of mileage to cover (both for Alto wear and tear and me driving solo). Never say never, but it’s a long shot that Bella, Breeze, and I would get up there.
Loved reading this and I appreciate all your stats! I walk 4 -5 miles everyday and how I wish I’d kept a record of how many days I’ve honored my pact. Your accounting makes me realize that a few moments of logging stats can give satisfaction and sense of achievement! You are a marvel, though, not for your statistics, but for your adventure. I live in Oklahoma and notice that you have not gone through our state. One of our favorite places is Robber’s Cave area. Try it someday!
Thanks for the sweet comment, Patti! I do like stats, I think I learned from my last job that data is knowledge is power, and can drive better decision-making. It does also give a sense of achievement (if not disbelief that campgrounds, etc. can cost $11K in a year, because people think camping is cheap!). OK is on my list, I have a niece there now, so someday, when those tornado things aren’t in season, I’ll get to it, so thanks for the tip about Robber’s Cave.
Why will you “Never drive to Alaska?” We did it with our Aliner. Great trip. We’d do it again!
Never say never, I guess, but it’s a long way to go for a solo driver who doesn’t like to go more than 3-4 hours a day 🙂
This is so FANTASTIC! I want to do this so bad (buy an alto and camp for a living!).
I thank you for spending time in my hometown, too (Huntington Beach), and for your comments on racism and white privilege.
Just a brilliant recap overall!
Thanks for reading and leaving me that great comment, Sandie. I’ll be back at HBSP this Spring, because I love that beach. I envy you having it as your hometown!
Always look forward to your end of year reports. I’m a bit surprised that haven’t been to Utah yet with all those wonderful National Parks within the state and endless photo opportunities.
My timing hasn’t been good for Utah, I’d kind of like to go shoulder season not high season, so still thinking about when that might be. The USA is huge, meaning lots to see – sometimes it feels like I’ve not seen even a quarter of what’s out there!
Holy Moly! What stats! Are you an accountant by trade, per chance? Or just OCD like my good former Marine Corp friend? He can tell you exactly how many miles he’s traveled the past 23 years, the price of each gallon and fill-up during that time, and where it was. Just kidding!
You really make a lot of Altoistes envious. Not me since I’m trying to emulate you to an extent. I admire your independence and adventurous soul.
Hi, Walt! Part of the stats are to make sure I’m under budget for the year, since that is a crucial thing for me being partly subsidized for healthcare via the ACA marketplace. The whole “how many campgrounds” stuff is a longer-term thing, to see my trends over time; someday it will make a really interesting post 🙂 Hope to see you on the roads at some point!