To Fly or To Drive - That is the Question!

I’m flying to Los Angeles as I write this, starting my obsessively-talked about “Snowbird Plan” to escape Colorado’s winter cold. Unfortunately, it appears to be the one week of the year that southern CA is experiencing a lot of rain. Better than the snow that’s expected in Boulder this week, so I’ll take it.

This trip is just the first in a series of trips I’m planning for the winter.. a week-long-vacation to visit my sister and friends and not really in contention for the sought-after “perfect warm-weather-winter-spot” that I might retire to some day. (Too expensive and crowded, but great for a visit.)

But let me get to the point. I’m coming back to Los Angeles on Feb.3 to compete in an escape room competition and from there, I’d like to spend a few weeks in Arizona. I need to be back home in Colorado for the final week of February before flying to Florida for the next in my series of snowbird excursions.

I need to decide today whether I’m going to:

Fly: Fly to CA, Fly from CA to AZ (rent a car or use public transportation & Uber), Fly Home to CO

Drive: Road trip to CA with my son, Drive to AZ (have my car while there), Drive back home to CO

Here are the advantages of both options:

Fly Option: Low-stress; Someone else does the driving (not my strong suit). No need for multi-day road trips in winter; (My phobia about winter-weather-driving is one of my primary reasons for doing the snowbird thing in the first place!) Road-tripping (sitting for several hours at a time) is bad for my back.

Drive Option: Overall, cheaper (but may be a wash, when you consider the road-trip time.) More of an adventure; Much more convenient for getting around and exploring a new place; Ability to transport more of my stuff when I hole up for a few weeks. Would have a memorable road-trip experience to CA with my son. I’d possibly be able to find someone who would road trip back to Boulder from AZ with me which would be fun. I’d be getting out of my comfort zone (which is always empowering for me!) If I fly, I’d probably end up renting a car, and stressing about driving in unfamiliar place with unfamiliar car--better to drive with my CARpe DM-mobile!

What say you, O-Wise-Readers? I especially want input from family and good friends who know both about my driving “issues” (too slow, fear of being sandwiched between big trucks, prone to provoking road rage from neighboring drivers, being directionally challenged, phobias about winter weather), but also know that I get excited about facing my fears and accomplishing something that’s a challenge for me.