voyager 1 enters space

[Metryq]

I was thinking going "up" in relation to the plane of the solar system

Then we'd find the Gateway asteroid.

 

[sojourner]

That would take way over 40 years. Couldn't they just go "up" and accomplish the same thing?

The influence of the sun extends outward spherically from the sun in all directions, so going "up", or I would assume you mean perpendicular to the current direction voyager is traveling, would not decrease the distance a vessel would have to travel.

I was thinking going "up" in relation to the plane of the solar system might get one clear of the "clutter" PurpleBuddha was talking about much faster.

That "cluttered" area is still purer than the purest vacuum ever created on earth. It's not really an issue.