U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Spent 7 Months on Family Road Trip for Reality Show

Sean Duffy, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, has spent the majority of his tenure not overseeing America’s transportation policy, but on a seven-month road trip with his family. Duffy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2025.

Since then, he has spent nearly half of his time in office traveling across the country. The trip served as the basis for an upcoming reality television show titled The Great American Road Trip, which Duffy announced on Friday.

The series is a collaboration with Fox News and will be released on YouTube in advance of America’s 250th birthday. However, not all 50 states were included in the journey. Duffy’s trip covered just eight states—most of them conservative strongholds—as well as the nation’s capital:

• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Florida
• Texas
• Arizona
• Montana
• Massachusetts
• Washington, D.C.

Duffy’s Vision for the Road Trip

In a promotional interview on Fox News, Duffy explained that the trek was his idea. He said:

“I wanted to lean in to America’s 250th birthday. And so over the course of seven months we just kind of found these moments where I might be able to do some work, take the kids with me, do a road trip—and our motto is, ‘To love America is to see America.’” Duffy continued, “There’s so much to see in this beautiful country.”

Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, met on a road trip for MTV’s Real World spinoff, Road Rules: All Stars, in 1998.

Inspired by Donald Trump

Rachel Campos-Duffy later clarified that the family vacation, which was released directly to streaming platforms, was inspired by a prompt from former President Donald Trump. Trump urged his Cabinet to find ways to celebrate America ahead of the 250th anniversary.

“We thought we were going to do it on our iPhones and just do little reels, but then we started talking about it and we were like, ‘Let’s go back to our roots! Let’s do this one for free, we’ll put it onto YouTube, we’ll let the whole country see it,’” Campos-Duffy said. “Just one more family says, ‘Load up the car and let’s go spend time together, let’s make these memories, let’s see America during her birthday year.’ Then we said we’ll have done something wonderful.”

To preempt potential criticism of the extended trip, Campos-Duffy described the content as wholesome family entertainment.

“This is really wholesome, good family stuff,” she said. “We live in a ‘PornHub world.’”

The couple encouraged American families to embark on their own road trips in 2026, though the practicality of doing so amid rising costs remains unclear.