Road Trips 2020: A year in the rearview

One antidote to isolation in 2020 was the open road

Around the third month of March in 2020 lots of folks felt a little bit of cabin fever. The urge to head out on the highway hit in different ways. The record for the New York–LA Cannonball Run fell quickly and repeatedly. Some were lucky enough to have road-worthy wheels sitting outside and the means to take it a little slower. Vintage VW vans, Range Rovers, spry Sprinters, old Celicas with seats that go all the way back, battered Dolphins, that Mutt Cutts-mobile from Dumb and Dumber —you name it they packed them up and headed out looking for a taste of the magic and freedom of the road. Lucky for us, they brought their cameras… and their dogs.

Amelia le Brun

Shot on 120mm film on the North Northumberland, UK, coast. The pup, a rescue, is Nancy.

Will Bompey

Cross country in a gap year. Pretty good year for a gap.

Ryan Brown

Drove across Baja California Sur, Mexico, in a vintage VW Kombi van and a not-so-nifty rental. We managed to complete a leg of the Baja 1000 in the dark (by accident), explore remote surf villages that try their damndest to remain hidden, and stay in an even more remote village hidden inside an oasis in the middle of the desert.

Thomas LaGrega

This dog followed me home in Rockaway in mid-February 2020 and has been along for the ride since. She now goes by Chew Dog Millionaire aka Chewie. 35mm, taken in Morro Bay, CA.

Alex Krowiak

I am on the tail-end of a road trip along the entirety of Baja. From Utah to Cabo in an attempt to escape the dumpster fire. In addition to a Covid escape, this is also partly research and trial phase for a long-term project I am working on to retrace the route of John Steinbeck’s 1940 expedition around the Sea of Cortez. The eventual goal is to document the change that has taken place in Baja in the 80 years since and highlight conservation issues in the region.

Ryan Struck

Nature is always perfect. There’s always a place for it and things are always how they should be in the natural world. I never look at a mountain and think “hmm that ridgeline should have a different angle,” or “that river should flow the other direction.” When you sit and observe, you see how everything is interconnected. How everything plays off of one another. That rockfall belongs there, because the cliffs above are cracking. Without even trying, nature is perfect.