Crossing the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway into New Orleans. Edited with Huji film. Image credit: Leona Caanen

Traveling Through the United States

A European’s first American road trip and how I survived it.

Taking a road trip from Northern Virginia to New Orleans, LA with my boyfriend this summer (June 2019) was incredibly exciting; visiting the United States for the first time in my life. Being from the Netherlands and growing up in Europe, I still met a lot of Americans. No matter how much they told me about the U.S., the experience left me amazed. While some speculations were confirmed, such as how big everything is, others, like that everyone speaks with a loud valley girl accent, were proven wrong.

A camper in southern France or a small apartment in southern Italy did not prepare me for road-tripping in the United States. Camping does fit with the post-university-but-still-a-broke-student budget. Cooking your own food and paying $20 per campsite is not just a good deal, it’s enjoyable too.

Google Maps layout of the route. Left: Road trip down to New Orleans. Right: Road trip back home.

The route down to New Orleans was decided by three factors:

1. The amount of hours we wanted to drive every day;
2. Being able to stay in National Parks or Forests;
3. Being able to visit some friends along the…