About Road Trip Locals

Road Trip Locals is your go-to guide for road trip planning across the U.S. and Canada.

We help travelers turn dream trips into road-ready plans through detailed Travel Guides, our comprehensive Travel Blog, cozy Yellowstone Getaways, and behind-the-scenes stories from our own adventures.

Whether you’re planning your very first road trip or working your way through every state or national park, we’re here to make roadtripping easier, more fun, and full of magic.

We’re Jonathan and Kelly, the founders of Road Trip Locals. Back in 2019, we hit the road with our pup, Lincoln, and quickly realized we loved the freedom that comes with road-tripping. It wasn’t long before we packed up our lives, moved across the country (to be MFFLs - Mavs Fans for Life 🏀 - when we’re not exploring), and committed to adventuring more.

With Lincoln in tow, road trips became the most realistic form of travel for us, & since we both work full-time, we tend to stay in one place long enough to settle in. This is how Road Trip Locals was born!

We soon realized how much there is to see stateside, and that’s why we created Road Trip Locals: to help you experience the magic of these places, too. Think of us as virtual tour guides—the ones who’ve already driven the route, found the best photo stops, and figured out the logistics, so you can spend more time enjoying your travels and less time stressing over the details.

Our Story

Start With One of Our Favorite Trips

Featured in

How We Got Here

2019: Digital Nomads

In August 2019, Jon started a fully remote role. I’d been working from home for a few years, but now we both could work from anywhere. Around the same time, some friends of ours hit the road in an RV and were working from all over the U.S.

Inspired, we decided to test this out for ourselves (minus the RV) with one week in Virginia, then two weeks in North Carolina. We worked from short-term rentals, traveled with our dog Lincoln, and explored after hours and on weekends. Something clicked.

2020: The Full-Time Travel Experiment

We decided to take the leap: one full year on the road. We mapped out a dream year with stops in Canada, the Pacific Coast, Europe, and more.

Then 2020 happened. We scrapped the big plans, stayed entirely stateside, and road-tripped through quieter, nature-focused destinations instead. A mountain cabin in North Carolina. A spontaneous six-week New Mexico road trip. A lot of figuring-it-out-as-we-go.

That year, we:

  • Drove 9,532 miles

  • Visited 10 national parks

  • Stayed in 19 places

  • Went on 22+ hikes

And we realized: we loved this way of life.

2021: The Travel Season

We also realized: traveling full-time while working full-time wasn’t sustainable for us. We needed a home base and some rhythm.

So, we created two seasons:

  • The Basketball Season: At home in Dallas, TX, cheering on the Dallas Mavericks. (Because where better to recouperate from traveling than one block away from your favorite sports team?)

  • The Travel Season: Summers spent on the road, exploring new places.

For our 2021 Travel Season, we spent 3.5 months road-tripping through Colorado and Utah, covering:

  • 11,771 miles

  • 10 more national parks

  • 59 hikes

  • 8 cities that felt like home

We came back knowing we’d found something special.

2022: 5 Months in New England + Ontario

This was the year of our longest Travel Season to date! We chased foliage, spent Halloween Night in Salem, and took on the EdgeWalk at the CN Tower in Toronto.

We also camped under the stars with friends in Acadia, fell hard for Wine Country in Niagara, and built a Vermont foodie road trip so good we’re still talking about it.

2023: Alaska + The Rockies

2023 was an all-around bucket list Travel Season. We:

  • Visited all 8 Alaska national parks in 21 days

  • Followed the U.S. and Canadian Rockies from Dallas to Jasper National Park

  • Saw the solar eclipse at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

  • Watched Yellowstone change across all four seasons

But the biggest surprise of 2023? At the end of our season, we stumbled upon a fixer-upper property in Gardiner, Montana… and we said yes.

2024: The Cabin Chronicles

This year flipped everything upside down. We made six trips to Yellowstone, juggled active construction while Jon’s remote job returned to the office, and launched the Cabin Chronicles to document the chaos, the beauty, and everything in between.

Between plumbing disasters, 1000 lb boulders, and game trails we had to preserve, we still chased a little magic:

  • A mom & daughter birthday road trip to Lake Louise

  • One week in London and 24 dreamy hours in Paris

  • A 5-week Southeast road trip to the Florida Keys & beyond

It was messy, meaningful, and the beginning of something entirely new.

2025: Travel Season At Home

With Jon back in the office full-time, we’re bringing Travel Season home. This year is all about:

  • Mini road trips through Texas and the Southcentral U.S.

  • State parks, scenic drives, and weekend getaways

  • Slow dinners, sunset cocktails, and rediscovering what’s in our backyard

We're calling it Travel Season: Texas & The Southcentral, and treating our home base with the same excitement and curiosity we’ve brought everywhere else.

Oh, and we’re still finishing those cabins in Yellowstone while welcoming guests!

Where (Exactly) We’ve Been

In 2019, we spent: one week in Virginia Beach, VA • one week in Raleigh, NC • one week in Asheville, NC

In 2020, we spent: one week in Houston, TX • 10 days in Dallas, TX • one night in Scranton, PA (any Office fans here?!) • two weeks near Winsor, CT • one month in Charlotte, NC • two months in Virginia Beach, VA • two months in Bryson City, NC • one week at a Llama Ranch and Rescue outside of Houston, TX • one week in New Orleans • plus we took a 6-week road trip through New Mexico!

In 2021, we settled into two distinct “seasons” for our lives: a basketball season and a travel season. During our 2021 travel season, we took a 3.5-month road trip through Colorado and Utah, spending: one week in Trinidad, CO • two weeks in Durango, CO • 10 days in Carbondale, CO • a long weekend in Denver, CO • one month in Winter Park, CO • one week in Moab, UT • one week in Salt Lake City, UT • one month in Kanab, UT

In 2022, we spent the basketball season’s All-Star break with one week in Napa Valley, CA, and one week in Yosemite. For our 2022 travel season, we took a 5-month road trip through Ontario and New England, spending: two weeks in Ohio • one week in Ocean City, MD • three weeks in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (between Toronto and Niagara Falls) • two weeks in VT • a long weekend camping at Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park • three weeks near Lake Placid, NY • one month in Campton, NH • three weeks in Ellsworth, ME, near Acadia NP • three weeks in Attleboro, MA (including Halloween night in Salem!)

In 2023, we spent All-Star break in Yellowstone’s winter wonderland. (We went back to Yellowstone for a long weekend in mid-May to visit Yellowstone in all four seasons in one calendar year!) Part 1 of our 2023 Travel Season was a three-week Great Alaskan Road Trip to see Alaska’s 8 national parks. Part 2 was a 2.5-month Rocky Mountain Road Trip, spending: one week in Denver, CO • five days in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks • three weeks in Calgary, Canada • 10 days roadtripping the Icefields Parkway • one night in Waterton Lakes National Park • one week near Glacier National Park • three weeks in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks • one week in Grand Junction, CO • one day at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (during the 2023 solar eclipse!)

In 2024, after falling in love with every Yellowstone season, we bought and renovated Lincoln’s Lodge, just one mile from the park's North Entrance. After a quick winter road trip to Big Bend National Park, we visited Yellowstone in January, February, April, May, July, and November, with a 10-day summer road trip back to Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Glacier, and Grand Teton National Park. Then, we switched things up for our 2024 Travel Season, taking a winter road trip, with one night in Lafayette, LA • one night in Biloxi, MS • one night in Sarasota, FL • two nights in Key Largo, FL • two nights in Florida City, FL • two nights in Marathon, FL • three nights at Harry Potter World in Orlando, FL • three nights in Charleston, SC • 4 nights in Virginia Beach, VA • three nights in Ocean City, MD • one night in Columbia, MD • four nights in Frederick, MD • and 5 nights in Charlotte, NC

candy shop building, beach view, cider flight, and dog looking into sunset
man standing on porch overlooking trees and dog standing in White Sands National Park
dog sitting on Great Sand Dunes National Park and man hiking on edge of cliff
man and woman on side of building and man with umbrella looking at rainbow

Meet the team

Jon

Kelly

Lincoln

  • Jon’s the behind-the-scenes hero of Road Trip Locals. He leads the charge day after day and somehow stays calm when travel plans (inevitably) go sideways. He’s got the patience of a saint, a soft spot for animals, and a sixth sense for spotting wildlife before anyone else.

    When he’s not fixing something in Gardiner, driving us around the country, or building a spreadsheet to keep our lives in order, he’s probably watching one of his favorite sports teams or dissecting a playoff bracket.

    Here’s what you should know about Jon:

    • There’s a 99% chance he’ll be a Yellowstone Wolf Watcher in retirement.

    • Guilty pleasure? Caring a little too much about the Dallas Mavericks. No regrets... except maybe that one trade.

    • He moonlighted as a DJ in college and now runs the aux on every road trip. Ask him to break down the perfect playlist sometime. (It’s equal parts art and science.)

    • If you see a beautiful wildlife photo on our blog or hanging in one of our cabins, that’s Jon. His patience pays off behind the lens.

  • I’m the voice behind Road Trip Locals and the planner of our routes. I've been writing professionally since 2016, and once we hit the road, I had to start telling our stories too. Like the time we bought a Yellowstone fixer-upper and got in way over our heads. Or the time we road-tripped across Alaska to visit 8 national parks in 21 days.

    Here’s what you should know about me:

    • My favorite food in the world is boardwalk fries. Specifically, Thrasher’s in Ocean City, MD. Yes, with vinegar.

    • If I’m not in a small town with twinkle lights, you can bet I’m watching one on Hallmark.

    • I feel most like myself walking the halls of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise… or halfway up a cliff on a via ferrata.

    • While Jon's captures the wild things, I’m all about the views. If you’ve seen a photo of a sunset, a winding road, or a mountain on our site, that one’s mine.

  • Lincoln is our rescue pup, equal parts nap enthusiast and trail scout. She’s a large part of why we started traveling, and is also how Lincoln’s Lodge got its name. (Read that story here.)

    Though her job title as Chief Morale Officer is unofficial (and paid in pup cups), she takes it seriously: providing emotional support on long drives, standing guard at campsites, and reminding us to get outside and touch some grass.

    Fun facts about Lincoln:

    • If you get coffee while with her, she expects a pup cup. If you pass a Starbucks, she expects to go inside.

    • Lazy Sunday tradition? Morning squirrel patrol at the park.

    • She feels most at home on her seat on the couch. (Yes, she has her own seat. No, you may not borrow it.)

    • Guilty pleasure? A tattered duck toy from puppyhood. It’s barely a scrap of fabric now, but she chooses it over the newer ones. Every. Single. Time.

2019

2020

man, woman, and dog in front of national forest sign
man, woman, and dog outside of restaurant
man woman and dog standing on top of mountain summit
man woman and dog standing on Coral Pink Sand Dunes

2022

2021

2024

2023

Travel With Us!

Whether you have three days or three weeks, we’ll help you turn your travel dream into a doable, unforgettable trip.

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