25th Anniversary of RoadTrip America is February 14th

[Mark Sedenquist]

A couple of years ago, we started saving for a party we planned to host in Las Vegas the second weekend in February to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of RTA.

But as everyone is keenly aware, the Coronavirus is still rampant in the United States, in general, and in Nevada in particular.

We have thought about hosting a Zoom call where anyone could join in and share some roadtripping tall tales. The tricky part is finding a time that works in North America, Australia and Europe at the same time.

Anyone have suggestions or even an interest in talking to your fellow road trippers on the 14th of February?

Perhaps, we'll just post messages here.

I will go first....

[Mark Sedenquist]

Most of you know the story of the founding of RTA. If you want some background --

"On the road and online" since 1996, RoadTrip America offers advice, inspiration, resources, and camaraderie to all those who hear the call of the open road. RoadTrip America was founded by Megan Edwards and Mark Sedenquist. They hit the road after their home was destroyed by wildfire in 1993, and lived on a roll for over six years. One fabulous side effect of their full-time roadtrip is that their concept of home was forever changed. As Mark puts it, "Our front yard stretches to the Gulf of Mexico, and the back goes all the way to Prudhoe Bay." That expanded view of home has contributed to RoadTrip America's governing philosophy read more here.

RTA's trip planning advisors hail from around the globe. As a group, they've covered millions of miles road tripping around North America. They're online daily, generously sharing their knowledge, expertise, and discoveries. (see their bio's here)

For 25 years, it has been my joy to host this site and to share road trip discoveries found on the road.

Some of our closest friends to this day are people we met either through this site or on the roads of North America. The community of road trippers have enriched and enhanced our lives in countless ways. RTA led directly to the founding of the book publishing house founded in 2016 known as Imbrifex Books We also host and produce content for 19 other web sites.

To put RTA's early start on the Web in perspective.
* RTA was founded and live on the Web nineteen months prior to the launch of Google.com (Google.com launched on 09/15/1997) and was the very first Travel Blog on the Web.

* Yahoo.com is six months older than RTA, (Yahoo launched on 01/18/1995.) And Yahoo was an early advertiser on RTA and instrumental in keeping us afloat in those early years.

For all who have joined us on the adventure -- I thank you and wish you another 25 years of adventures and good times on the road!

-- Mark

[AZBuck]

Mark,

I'd be more than glad to join a virtual 'party' to celebrate the founding of RTA! I agree that sharing stories about any memorable RoadTrips we've taken would be a welcome conversation, as would relating how we got into RoadTripping in the first place. I would say that my most memorable trip did not involve driving at all, but rather hitch-hiking. It did result in my being 'detained' by a foreign army for a couple of days, but also resulted in my getting an A for the course the trip was a part of. In any event, count me in for whatever you and Megan decide to do (except driving to Las Vega before I get vaccinated).

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

25 years is one heck of a milestone ! I'm a bit of late comer to the party having "only" joined up in 2007 for our first ever American Roadtrip, which we thought would be a once in a lifetime event at the time ! The welcome I got and the advice that followed was warm, friendly and second to none and we have now completed 5 amazing trips, which in part is due to my enjoyment and involvement of being part of RTA ! It really is with great credit to you, Megan and the rest of the gang who offer such amazing advice and help to make dreams come true for others, that RTA has endured so long. It's a real shame there will be no party gathering to celebrate in person, but Lezli and I will certainly be raising a glass and should a virtual meet happen, we will try to join in.

Here's to the next 25 ! Cheers.

Dave

[Rick Quinn]

Well, if SW Dave is late to the party, that makes me a regular babe in the woods, coming up on a mere 5 years since I joined RTA and hit "submit" on my first tentative post. I've felt like part of something larger than myself since that moment; at this point, you folks are like family! Here's to 25 years as one of the world's best resources for planning the perfect road trip! As for 25 MORE years--let's see--25 years from now it will be 2046, and we'll all be tootling around in self-driving all electric runabouts. Some of us will be closing in on some pretty serious old age, maybe thinking about emigrating to Mars...but what the heck! Count me in for any and all of the upcoming celebrations. (I still don't have a webcam. I'll try to figure something out.)

Rick

[DonnaR57]

I'm coming up on 10 years with RTA (in May) so I'm a little "older" than Rick in that regard but Dave still has me beat.

I'd love to Zoom with you all. That's a 4-day weekend for me!


Donna

[Mark Sedenquist]

And a special 25th Happy Birthday to our friends and colleagues at RA -- Doug & Susan Kirby, Ken Smith and Mike Wilkins who launched the incomparable RoadSideAmerica.com on September 1, 1996.

RoadsideAmerica.com was the companion site to the those extraordinary Roadside America books in 1992 and 1986.

New Roadside America: The Modern Traveler's Guide to the Wild and Wonderful World of America's Tourist (1992)

Thanks for sharing your road trips and odd & wonderful discoveries with us!

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Another colleague and early Web adopter is Stan Ruis who created Spiderlink.com in 1996. So, happy 25th to Stan and a thanks for all of the support and technical expertise you have provided over the last couple of decades.

Mark

[Rotetrip]

Happy 25th birthday to the folks at RTA! I will now upload a digital gif image and text file on a 14.4 modem from a truck stop landline. The file will be named provocatively to attract more clicks. Welcome to the World Wide Web!

[glc]

I just installed Zoom on my laptop and tested it out, ready to go.

Rick, if you have a laptop that's not an antique, it probably has a built-in webcam. If you have a smartphone with a front camera, that would also work.