Road Trip round 2- inexperienced driver

Hi all!

My friends and I took a road trip around the country last summer, and we had a blast! This summer, though, I want to do one alone. I have a lot I need to figure out, and just need an escape, with my camera and a big stack of books. I will primarily be camping out.

I'm planning on about 3 weeks of July.

Here's the dilemma.. I am 24 years old, but don't have a driver's license yet! I have only driven a few times, but will be spending all of June behind the wheel working towards it (I do have a permit). The reason: relied on public transport when living at home, and now I live in rural Alaska primarily, where my transportation is my snowmobile!

Anyway, so I'll be a very inexperienced driver, and don't want to be traveling on freeways- and I'd also like to avoid scary mountainous drives. I would love to just drive around without a plan on back roads, etc.. with my GPS, but am too afraid I'd run into unsafe areas.

First, are there books out there on scenic backroad drives? I want to visit some beautiful places again- I loved the southwest, but even from the passenger side those drives were scary.

If there's no way this will work, I guess my backup will be flying out somewhere and just backpacking around an area.

Or maybe hiking the Appalachian Trail? Or something like that? I'm not looking for "Into the Wild" type fun, but just want to get out there on my own, boldly, connect with nature, be at peace, and I know it sounds cliche, but, find myself.

Any suggestions on any of these thoughts, please send them my way! Yeah, I'm definitely a dreamer. Please don't totally shut me down, but give me the cold hard facts if you got em!

Thanks!

Sounds great. I'm planning a similar solo trip myself for this year. I'm a little older than you but I have similar intentions for my trip!

One website I've spent a lot of time exploring is byways.org. Click on each state on the map and there is a list of "America's Byways" for that state with descriptions, maps and photos of each byway. There are other scenic byways (not considered "America's Byways") listed on the bottom of each state's page that you definitely don't want to miss. Some of these roads sound a bit scary though -- you'll need to be careful driving them as an inexperienced driver.