Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond

Triptipedia USA roadtrip review

USA Roadtrip by Edi Biasutti from Sydney Australia

(over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA Roadtrip and beyond)

Since returning from my mega Odyssey, driving 29,000 kilometres (18,000 miles), through all the continental USA states, people ask me what was my favourite place.

I find it difficult to answer because every place has something special.

However, this last trip to the USA included the majestic Mississippi River. I discovered the Great River Road https://experiencemississippiriver.com/

A series of roads which run along the Mississippi River through 10 states. Below are photos of some of the towns on the Mississippi as well as a photo or 2 of state highlights. I captured a lot more on this trip than I have on any trip to the USA. However, this is such a miniscule part of this great country. I can’t wait to share the rest of what I have explored.

Wisconsin -Pucketville

Enjoying some fishing. And no, I didn’t catch anything this time.

Wisconsin-La Crosse

Captured this beautiful sunset after a free concert in the park.

Wisconsin – Hager City

Quirky sculptures with the Mississippi backdrop

Minnesota – Wabasha

National Eagle Centre on the Mississippi

Iowa – Dubuque

Iowa – Guttenburg

Kentucky – Augusta

The place George Clooney spent a lot of his childhood with his aunt Rosemary Clooney.

Tennessee – Memphis

Mississippi

Vicksburg

Arkansas

Crossing the Mississippi

Louisiana

New Orleans

Bedwick – not on the Mississippi River but the bridges in this state are incomparable

Minnesota

Red Wing – the home of the famous Red Wing shoes

Red Wing Famous boot

Minnesota

Northfield – the town which defeated Jesse James

Illinois

Arcola – the birth place of Raggedy Ann and RAggedy Andy

Home of the only hippie memorial

Missouri

Hannibal – the home of Mark Twain and the “Unsinkable Molly Brown

Meet Mark Twain’s through this must see show at the Historic Planters Barn Theater

The birthplace of the Unsinkable Molly Brown

This is just a taste of the amazing places I have visited in the USA. You can check my blog for more of my adventures.

More Triptipedia to come.

Thank you Triptipedia for your interest.

Kruger National Park

For previous trips from 2018 to 2024 please refer to my blog edibiasutti.au.

I just returned from an exciting solo trip in South Africa. I had many people make me doubt my ability to continue travelling as I have done for the past several years. I feel I did more research than usual. I found one friend who has done safaris in all African countries with his wife, and self drove, who gave me the most support. He understood my ability and I thank Arun for this support and advice. I also accessed information on a highly informative FB page of Solo Women Travellers Over 50 and asked the following specifically to local women in Johannesburg: “Hi fellow travellers. I have everything booked for my drive from Joannesburg to Kruger as well as accommodation. Can local people provide tips on where I can stock up on what I should buy for the roadtrip. Thinking snacks, a food cooler etc. I am staying first night at the airport hotel. I normally use my phone GPS but been told not to have my pone in view. To leave my handbag in the trunk (boot – I’m aussie). I am aware of the high statistics of car jackings. What areas to avoid? Any other tips? Thanks in advance“.

I knew there are 20,000 car jackings in South Africa per year so I needed to take care driving the 500km (300miles) from Johannesburg to Kruger.

I arrived in Johannesburg airport at noon on 7 February 2025 and picked up my rental car at 1pm. I knew that I did not want to start a 6 hour drive and be driving through dusk or night so stayed at the City Lodge Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport. I felt very safe as I walked from disembarking the plane, to my hotel, to the car rental pickup, to restaurants and Woolworths all in the same building complex without going outside. I signed for my car rental with Europcar which I had booked with my usual broker billiger-mietwagen.de whom I use around the world. I always pay for the cheapest vehicle I require and almost always get an upgrade. This time I was given an upgrade to a Suziki Swift which was perfect. I would like anyone to see if they can get a better rate from any other company. I paid $165AUD for 8 days and that is including all full insurance.

After preparing my supplies for my roadtrip I left at 9am on 8 February 2025 to drive to my first lodge Kholiwe On Kruger Lodge & Safaris. There are so many places to stay inside and outside of Kruger National Park (KNP) as well as private reserves. A lot of the private reserves have now joined Kruger so that the animals move across everywhere and there is only one big electric fence around Kruger. Kruger is 350 km (217miles) long and 60 km (37 miles) wide. Some reserves are still separated though. There is so much varied accommodation available from basic tent sites to 5 star lodges. You can find any type of accommodation you want and availability from the South Africa National parks website. Although I just found my two from booking.com because I like the reviews which come with the site and I also get a decent discount because I have used them enough.

My drive to the first lodge had me take only one stop at Milly’s as everyone recommended this. It’s a restaurant, fast food, fuel, truck stop which took me 2 hours.

2.5 hours later I arrived at the entrance to Marloth Park which is a wildlife sanctuary and shares a boundary with KNP.

New Years Eve Wolli Creek 2024

A New Year, and my first New Year’s Eve celebration in my new home in Wolli Creek felt like a good time to commence a new blog.

This is my first post on the blogger site. I have a blog edibiasutti.au which I have been running since 2018 when my older son, Carlos, suggested I document my travels. In 2018 I did a 5 month roadtrip of back roads of every contiguous USA state and can proudly say I have been to every USA state. I then added my travels around Australia and other countries.

After 16 years in a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom 115 year old house in Sydenham under the Sydney Airport flight path, I decided to downsize to a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom 20 year old unit in Wolli Creek, 5 minute drive down the road.

I now have spectacular views of Sydney Airport and water views of Wolli Creek and Botany Bay out to the ocean.

For several years I spent NYE somewhere on Sydney Harbour or its foreshore to enjoy the spectacular Sydney fireworks. This year I thought we might enjoy my new home and perhaps find some entertainment by some illegal fireworks as the lead up to NYE, there have been many fireworks going off in this area. I have many fond and scary memories of “cracker night” where we let off fireworks at home, in local parks, had parties and BBQs and let off fireworks anywhere. The Government banned fireworks in NSW in 1986 due to pressure from the Royal College of Physicians because of the many injuries and deaths caused by ignorance and accidents. However in my new home we had some unexpected entertainment.

Just prior to the above lot of fireworks, 3 firebrigades were called to a fire caused by illegal fireworks which could have caused a lot more damage. My pickleball centre was nearby and was at risk!!

Happy New Year to all and may 2025 bring wonderful memories, joy with people you love and many exciting adventures.

Hobart Tasmania

In September 2024 I finally got to explore my final state of Australia. A little embarrassing considering I have been to every USA state on a roadtrip in 2018, most of which you can check out here edibiasutti.au.

Well Tasmania was a delight and a surprise. So much to see and do that I will break it down into areas. Tasmania is often forgotten on maps, but this gem should never be considered an inferior place in any way. I would put it on my list of first places to explore after Sydney. I would be so happy to go back there, even though I am not a fan of cold weather, Tasmania is beautiful, quirky, stunning, historical, modern – a must go to place.

I had wonderful company on this almost 2 week trip with Tess, who had started as my Airbnb guest in October 2023 and she just never left. Tess was on a work holiday visa and used my Sydney home as a base to live and learn the Aussie city culture but went off on trips around Australia for weekends and a week at a time. I was fortunate to have her company for her last few days in Australia on this wonderful trip.

We picked up our rental car at Hobart Airport. I get my rental cars through the broker billiger-mietwagen.de with whom I always get amazing deals. They are a German company and most of the information is in German but I have had no difficulty getting translations with Google and communication by email is efficient in English.

We based ourselves in the Waterfront Lodge Motel just outside of Hobart city for the first three days. Warm, clean, comfortable and good communication with management.

Hobart has it all. Great food, history, culture, beautiful waterfront, mountains and wildlife. A must do is the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). You can either drive or I highly recommend taking the ferry and you can go as a Pleb or a Posh. Tess and I decided to go Posh.

This Museum requires a bit of a warning that some things may offend if a bit prudish, but we loved it all. I loved the resident composer. It was his last day. He had been there for 360 days. Every day he composed a piece of music for a quartet. Every day a new quartet would come in and perform the piece he composed. What an amazing piece of art!

There are many walks around Hobart including the Battery Point Sculputure Trail or the In Bobby’s Footsteps are self guided walks. These walks show you some beautiful old residential areas, Salamanca Markets area and the beautiful waterfront. And it is where the Sydney to Hobart yacht race ends on New Year’s Eve.

We got up close and fed some Aussie wildlife at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Highly recommend the after hours tour.

Mount Wellington is an amazing drive. Be aware not to look over the edge of the road if you suffer vertigo. It is bitterly cold and windy but the views are spectacular.

Puerto Rico

My flight from Houston to San Juan was delayed by 8 hours as the copilot did not present for work. United Airlines provided a $250USD credit for accommodation but I have requested it for a future flight credit. Once on the flight at 8am I arrived in San Juan without a hitch.

As I have been to all 50 States of the United States I am now trying to tick off the territories. Although Puerto Rico is on my list because I love salsa dancing and this is another must go to place for latino dancing. An example of this is the local bus has “loud” salsa music playing. As I mention in the clip, the bus fare is very cheap, 75cents US but there is an election coming up and all fares have been scrapped until August for everyone. So free bus rides!! First off I did the free walking tour with Old San Juan Free Walking Tour and if you get Carmen you will get the best tour guide in Puerto Rico. You will even get a salsa dance class with her. She is fabulous. She also does private tours Explora Daily Tours. Th e weather was great, 32degrees, felt like 38degrees. I find it amusing that I am often the oldest in most events I go to (I am not that old) and everyone was always checking I was ok. Mainly because they were sweltering in the humidity and heat. I was fine. They do not realise that Sydney heat is exactly the same in summer.

I went searching for sea turtles at Escambron Beach. I was hoping I might see some turtles come up to the sand but these turtles remain in the water and you can only see them snorkling but I was not prepared. It was pouring with rain. I was so drenched I could have gone into the water though. I caught the bus, free of course and walked through the Luis Munoz Rivera Park.

The highlight of the Puerto Rico was a kayaking bioluminescence tour with Eco Action Tours. I was prepared for disappointment as I was warned that I may not see much luminescence as it was close to the full moon. However, it was an enchanting experience kayaking in the dark, seeing the flickering of fireflies and the splash of the luminescent water. Once again I was the oldest and the organisers were impressed with me keeping up with the “young” ones. I gave up long ago reacting indignantly. I am pretty lucky I am able to travel and do things no matter what my age. I did have a tandem kayak and Dee was my partner and she was pretty strong. I will say I was the steering and control strength of the team. It was wonderful to have met Dee on the Host a Sister Facebook site.

I stayed in the Condado area which is a bit pricey but I stayed in one of the cheaper style apartments La Mona Loiza. Very clean in a great area with easy transport, lots of restaurants bars and cafes and a 24 hour supermarket 2 minute walk. My room was at the front so on the road and Puerto Ricans drive with their car windows down and their music “loud” so it is noisy but nothing that earplugs didn’t fix. There is a wonderful community library right out the front.

I finished off the trip with looking for dancing at La Placita where there are so many dance venues to choose from. This area is a market through the day and then opens up to dancing at night but true to latino style does not start until 10pm. This video above was just around 10pm so still very early.

Mexico

Had a wonderful day in Tijuana with a walking tour through Border Tours. I first tried to do this tour 6 years ago when on my roadtrip but when I parked my car at San Ysidro at the USA/Mexico border I actually cancelled as I found the area so seedy I got worried and did not go ahead with the tour. I was concerned about leaving my rental car with all my belongings for my roadtrip in this area. This time a friend dropped me off at San Ysidro. Border Tours met me and the other clients at the front of McDonalds, they provided us details of the tour guide who would meet us at the Mexican border and then walked us to the USA side of the border entrance.

Once through immigration we were met by the tour guide, Carlos, at the Mexican border and were escorted by local bus to downtown. We were taken through some wonderful markets and food venues. Of course the famous home of caesar salad.

But the best was the Tequila. What a shame I cannot take the Mescal home to Australia

Roadtrip Caloundra QLD to Warwick QLD

I left Sydney 9 days ago to go to a rock n roll festival Cooly Rocks On held in Coolangatta Queensland. I won’t go into that here much yet except to say I spent 3 days at the festival, then drove to Caloundra, the Glass House Mountains and then drove from Caloundra to Warwick today. I have been to various things in Queensland many times but I have never travelled this part of Australia the way I am today, as a “real” traveller. Queensland is such a pretty state and there are quirky and beautiful sites all along the way. I will just pop a few in here.

The hinterland has the Glass House Mountains which are made up of 7 mountains which, from a distance, they look like they are lined up in a row but they are actually the rim of a very old volcano. My school friend Toni Nosworthy took me to a lovely Cafe Mount View Cafe to see the lovely view. However, you decide which is the better view. The first photo is one in the distance of all 7 mountains, and then there is the view from Toni’s verandah.

I stopped at Kilcoy in the Queensland hinterland because I heard of Aboriginal folklore of a Yowie. The Australian equivalent of a Yeti or Big Foot. Yowie Park has its own Yowie statue

Mystery Island Vanuatu

I am on the Carnival Luminosa which has a stop at Mystery Island. I have been to Mystery Island many times and it is one of my favourites in the South Pacific. An island belonging to Vanuatu and it has no inhabitants. The locals come over from nearby islands to sell their wares, braid locks and provide massages. You can have some “kava” a local hallucinagen which tastes like dirt. You can hire snorkeling gear and check out the lovely fish, rays and turtles. Get a photo in the cannibal pot, walk around the island which takes 45 minutes. There is an air strip which was used during WWII.

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Today I experienced another “first”. Born and bred in Sydney, only 15 minutes from Sydney Harbour, I finally attended my first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race start . It is known as the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race for the past 77 years. This race commences in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day and finishes in Hobart on New Years Eve. I normally am too hungover on Boxing Day to get to this event. Not this year though. A friend, Brian, purchased a ticket for me on the Sydney Princess Cruises MV Jerry Bailey. It is ticketed as a Boxing Day Cruise so most may not realise that it goes to the yacht race starting area. The race is across 1,000 kilometres (628 nautical miles) and there is no prize money. Many of the sails are now black as they are made with carbon fibers, the strongest material for sails. I will try to do this again as I don’t need a reason to sail on Sydney Harbour because I love it so much, but it is quite the experience watching this race start and all the boats trying to get a great spot. It is very dangerous and you need to be on a boat with an experienced captain as there are many small boats on the harbour who are so inexperienced they can cause havoc. I highly recommend Sydney Princess Cruises as the ticket was $75 for 3 hours and included a lovely hot buffet of pasta, beef stew, chicken, salads, tea, coffee and dessert. The boat only had 70 people (can take 150) but everyone had a table allocated. There is a top deck but you could view the race from any part of the boat. This was a very unexpected surprise.

Solo Traveller

Today I bought the Magazine That’s Life Mega Monthly, an Australian publication. I had a personal reason, I have an article in this month’s issue!

I was approached by the Editor, who has been following my blog, to do a story on my travels. It was decided to start with information for solo travellers. So, as my niece stated “you are a published blogger!”. How exciting is this! “Travelling Solo”

In my travels I meet so many solo travellers who inspire me and then I find I inspire them in various ways also. I never thought that my travels would inspire others. I love how Peter Nicklin, a fellow solo traveller I met on the Norwegian Jewel in 2019, on a B2B (that is back to back in cruise talk), 26 days Transpacific cruise, would include me in his first book he wrote during Covid.

Seen by Peter Nicklin at 20:34 — Peter Nicklin

I am not the main character, just a mention, but it is very flattering to be included in a book. “This Girl: The adventures of a fun loving twenty something in the seventies”

And then I was the inspiration for a character and a couple of cheeky events in “Bob and Sofia: Bobs chaotic travel adventures with Sofia”. Again, I am not the main character, although some of my friends may think so.

I hope you get to enjoy my article, Peter’s books and my blog. Perhaps I will see you on one of my future cruises. I’m already booked on another for November.