Roadtrip West: the Pinnacle of Travel in the USA

We here at the Travel Guide picked a road trip west because it's the best thing American tourism has to offer. (it's also affordable . . . keenly important these days). You pack your bags, maybe a tent or camper, fill up with gas and head west. With your arm hanging out the window you get to see the landscape change and you realize you're doing it. You're going out west!

Some of my best memories as a child were from our family road trips. Especially to our National Parks. National Parks are an American invention. At least that's what the PBS documentary on the parks said. That fact struck me as odd, but it's great cause we have things like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite preserved for generations to come. But we don't discriminate, I'll look at any mountain. It doesn't have to be federally protected to impress me. I'm just glad it doesn't cost any money to look at a beautiful sight (thank God some things are still free!). Sharing such natural beauty with family can be the most rewarding of all.

There are few things as magical as seeing a sunrise while on a roadtrip in the western U.S. For some reason the colors are richer, it's like they have more pixels in their sky. It's such a shame that Americans are taking less vacations every year!!! It really is sad because the children of today are not getting to make the lasting amazing memories of the classic "family roadtrip". The workaholics of today are stealing great memories from their kids!! People won't even take the time to check into the prices of vacations, but some vacations aren't too very expensive!!


Where might you start your trip out west? How about Big Bend National Park. This park is in Texas and sits along 244 miles of the U.S./Mexican border.

Big Bend National Park has the biggest protected space of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in these United States. I'm told that this includes more than 1,200 species of plants, 450+ species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals. This sucker has 801,163 acres. You should not miss the Santa Elena Canyon. It looks pretty cool. As to be expected, there are waterfalls as well, the Pine Canyon Falls look amazing.

While Big Bend is a nice starting point, the big daddy of them all is the Grand Canyon. If you were to google "best sites in U.S." or "top things to see in the U.S." there's an article which the Grand Canyon dominates. Various tours around the majestic beast take about 10 of the top 25 spots. While this could be the result of a lazy travel guide writer, methinks it also could just be the result of the Grand Canyon's awesomeness.



The Grand Canyon was formed by, er, by some boring process, but not to worry it makes for great pictures. Honestly, I don't care how it was formed (that's what Wikipedia is for) what I care about is hiking in it, doing tours of the canyon, and taking amazing pics of the big guy. It seems that one of the best ways to see the hole is by a helicopter tour. You would obviously get a bird's eye view, and probably best appreciate the grandeur. So for all you rich people out there, definitely do the helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. For the poor people, you can still appreciate this massive rift from its sides.

Any trip out West would be lame if it didn't include a stop off at Yosemite National Park in California. This park has an area of 761,266 acres and lies along the western parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The most popular of the parks features is El Capitan, (spanish for Sgt. Slaughter).



You definitely would not want to fall off this guy. Can you imagine peering over the edge of this cliff? Well that's the plan for us. Thanks for tuning into the Go West Travel Guide!

The Story of the Travel Guide

Why a travel guide?

First, I hate travel blogs. I loathe them. I've used them for travel research but they are unfailingly ridiculous. The writers are the most important, enlightened people in the world. They think they're the first person who has ever: backpacked Central America, stayed in a hostel, visited a busy market . . . etc. etc. Travel bloggers are impressed by everything and state the obvious .. . "OMG, I left the airport in Mexico City and there were people and taxis everywhere!" or "I went to the local market and I had to haggle over prices". Someone get me a bucket, I'm gonna hurl.

So, I'm going on a trip and I want to keep a record of my journey but I refuse to have a travel blog. Therefore, I am writing a TRAVEL GUIDE. Manly men don't write travel blogs. They hike shit, kill stuff, and then talk about what they have done at the local watering hole. Guides lead tourists to places where they could die if unguided. That's more like it.

Second, I'm nearing 30, have lived in the US my whole life, but I've never seen the Grand Canyon. I have never seen much of the West. That's a shame. So myself and my brother decided to remedy that. We will start our journey in Texas, go to Colorado to visit some friends, go west to California, see Grand Canyon, and then head back to Texas.

First up is Big Bend, a park down on the Mexican border. There's supposed to be some amazing, quintessential western landscapes. We're gonna see desert! No travel deals involved here, we're independent travelers. Going out on our own,oh god this is sounding like a travel blog. Focus. Focus.

I've got high hopes: Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Old Faithful. We're going to see it all!

So, that's the story of our Go West Travel Guide!

Travel Out West

Welcome to Go West Travel Guide! This site provides information on travel in the Western U.S.

There are few things as American as the classic road trip out West. We are two men who decided to do it on their own. No travel deals, no travel websites, we make it up as we go. We hope the end result will be useful information for others who are in need of a Travel Guide for the West!