TheKid is currently on a road trip. They left Minnesota, drove down to North Carolina, are now on their way to Orlando, Florida.
At no point have they stopped to sightsee. All meals have been at fast food joints (I take that back - they went to Golden Corral in Lexington, KY. Whoopie).
To the leader of the trip, it’s all about getting there. Period.
This is wrong. So very wrong, in my opinion.
To me, it’s about the journey. It’s about taking side roads to see what’s there. It learning about where you are. The majority of people on this trip have never left Minnesota.
Suffice it to say, TheKid is very frustrated. She’s been IM’ing me along the way, and I’ve been telling her the history, neat info of the places she’s been whizzing past.
Now they have a little time to waste before they get to Orlando. The kids all want to see the ocean - they spent last night just outside of Savannah, didn’t actually go through the city or anything. The leader has agreed they can stop somewhere and walk in the ocean. Swimming would take too long.
I just don’t understand.
If you’re a destination person, please explain it to me.
I would suggest they pull off I-95 just inside the Florida line and go to Fernandina Beach, but that would take at least an hour to get to/enjoy/get back to the interstate from.
I can’t explain the phenomenon–I’m guilty of it myself sometimes.
(Nine times outta ten, Golden Corral makes me APPRECIATE fast food joints)
Are they going to Disney, et al? Cripes, even Florida has better places to stop and enjoy.
They just landed at Fernidadina Beach. She saw her first dolphin, outside of a zoo.
They’re spending a few days at a nice hotel in Orlando, and all but TheKid are going to Sea World tomorrow. She refused. But, instead of exploring, like she wants to, she has been told she must stay at the hotel. She’s 21. She will have a nanny. Seriously.
Vacations generally have hard end dates. If you have a destination in mind, why not get there quickly so you can spend as much time there as possible?
Hahahahahahahahahah, does that bring back memories of when we first arrived there–trying to pronounce that name.
If they have a few extra minutes, they could go up into the town itself, it’s nice.
I’m a mixture of both sides. Going somewhere I pretty much want to get there and fast. After all, that is why I planned the trip in the first place. But if I get to the destination and it falls short for some reason, I’m quick to bail and just free-style it for whatever time I have. I will also routinely add a day or three to the return trip for (as I put it) following after shiny things. That way I get the best of both worlds.
Sea World is still fun but, sadly, they turned it into Disney, Jr. some years ago: the animal shows are played like cartoons instead of displays of animal/trainer talent. To each his own.
Because there’s so much to possibly see and explore on the way there?
By what power can they command a 21 yr old to stay at the hotel?
Is she on vacation or has she been kidnapped?
That sounds crazy. Who is “they,” and by what authority can they tell her that? This sounds like a high school trip instead of a road trip by young adults. What would happen if she just walks out of the hotel and explores on her own?
Get the nanny drunk and then the two of them hit the town. It’s safe enough during the day.
Depends on the destination. Real locations I’m about the destination, otherwise I wouldn’t be leaving home. In life in general I’m all about the journey.
My wife and I avoid the interstate whenever possible on road trips. On a 4,000 mile trip from Dallas to Reno we drove just 70 miles in the interstate.
On a different trip 9,000 mile from Reno to Michigan to Arkansas and back we drove only 500 miles on the interstate.
Fast food makes sense on a road trip with a decent-sized group. There are always picky-eaters in any group, but they can usually find something on a fast food menu to eat. And you’ll never reach a consensus with the more adventurous eaters. If you settle on The Olive Garden, then the food snobs will complain. If you settle on hole-in-the-wall place off the main strip and it turns out to be horrible, then you will never hear the end of it. So fast food on the way to the destination just make sense. (Plus, fast food is cheap. I’d rather save up my money for nicer restaurants at the destination, where I hopefully won’t have to rush through the meal.)
I’m with you on the journey being just as fun as the destination, though. I don’t enjoy road trips anyway because I hate being stuck in a seat for hours on end. But if I’m going to subject myself to this experience, I’d rather it be interesting. Just taking the more scenic route for certain stretches of the journey can do a good job of breaking up the monotony.
She’s with a church youth group. The leader is the youth director, who is the boss. TheKid learned long ago to pick her battles with the YD, and knows the retribution that would come with defying her would be way too much for our family (she doesn’t play fair - she’d take it out on my mom, the only religious one of us).
She won the battle to wear shorts that were above her knee (she has a large tattoo on her thigh) and to listen to non-religious music. That’s as far as she will push it.
That’s not a “road trip,” then, at least the way I would understand it. The OP makes it sound as if it might be a group of friends on a holiday together, with the “leader” just one of the group. On a road trip, part of objective is exploration. I can understand how on an organized trip, an official leader with responsibility for the well being of the participants might want to stick to a strict itinerary and limit options (and thus uncertainty or the risk of something going wrong).
For me, whether I head straight for a destination without stopping vs. exploring on the way depends on a lot of variables. Some destinations might offer a lot to do compared with attractions on the way, so I might want to get there as directly as possible. However, I do generally explore and stop at places along the way. Some trips I just wander around without a definite itinerary.
I’m guessing the leader doesn’t really like traveling or taking road trips. He doesn’t want to give the kids any more “experience” than what’s in Orlando.
Get the leader drunk and then everybody else hits the town.
It depends.
When I roadtrip, I do tend to stop along the way. I pull over and check out pretty much every “Historical Site Marker Ahead” and “Scenic Lookout.” I stop at visitor information booths, ask for suggestions, and follow them. If I’m not worried about getting lost, I’ll take side roads just to see where they might go.
That is, unless, I’ve got a limited time at the destination and can barely fit in everything that I really want to do there. In that case, I don’t stop for anything but gas.
I’m not a food person at all, so I do tend to default to fast food. It’s cheap and consistent and uncomplicated.
Is this youth group college age, high school age, even younger, a mixture of all ages? Is your daughter there as a leader/mentor or just one of the group? How big is the group?
Maybe.
But on the other hand, Minnesota to Florida is a pretty long drive anyway you make it.
I’d be pretty annoyed if I was invited on a trip to Florida, and found out that I had only a couple of days in Florida, because we spent most of the trip driving down and back, checking out every historical marker by the side of the road, visiting a zillion roadside attractions (and maybe an outlet mall or two), bickering endlessly over where to eat lunch . . .
I don’t object to some sightseeing time, and I’ll agree that there are more interesting places to eat than Fast Food or Chain Restaurants. But if I’ve got only a limited amount of time for a journey to someplace far away, I’d rather spend the time in the Destination, getting to swim and explore, rather than explore all the theoretically interesting places in the middle.
And while, yes, it seems a little absurd to tell a sensible 21 year old that her choices are Sea World or the Hotel, . . . I can have some sympathy for the trip leader who has visions of one of his charges starring in Girls Gone Wild 2015.