Travel is, by its nature, all about the unknown. You can’t plan a trip without essentially booking yourself in for a lot of new experiences. Isn’t that what every traveler is chasing?

In this issue of ROVA, Michelle Devereaux shares how to enjoy an unfamiliar place—by engaging with the locals; Juniper Finch finds that a solo life on the road is the best way to heal past hurts; Patrick Coleman looks at the types of adventure rigs that can take us to places that very few people have the opportunity to see; and Greg Vinci gets off the main road in his photo essay, Side Roads of the Eastern Sierra.

And that’s not all. Melinda Wright looks at wineries that offer more than just wine; we learn about culture and creativity on some epic road trips; Amber Brinnier adds time to her road trip to investigate a new-to-her ghost town; Brenda Huynh faces a range of fears to raft the Grand Canyon; and Diana McCarthy learns about Amish culture on a visit to Pennsylvania.