I last went on a solo road trip back in 2007. I am planning to finally do something similar this year. It is scary to set off alone, especially when all the preparations you make still can't anticipate every possible obstacle or emergency, but there comes a time when planning must end and action must begin anyway. In your case, the deadline was bureaucratic. In mine, it's literally cosmological. I want to see the solar eclipse in totality. That is hundreds of miles away from where I live.