I just turned 33. That means I’ve been dreaming of taking a road trip–not just travel by road, but an actual cut-loose-and-hit-the-open-road trip–for around 15 years. I’ve never done it. I’m too safe, secure, stable to do that. I even owned a '69 VW camper/bus for a year, but I never took it anywhere. I could barely keep the thing running, and I never learned to work on it much.
I have always thought that pretty much everyone dreams of taking this kind of “hippy road trip,” or their version, anyway.
Is this true? Or am I just a deluded suburban thirtysomething who wants to escape from modern American life?
Has anyone out there done this? Cut loose and hit the road, like the movies show us and Kerouac wrote to us. (BTW, I didn’t read Kerouac until last year, so ON THE ROAD wasn’t an influence until just recently. Even then, it didn’t paint all that great a picture of his travels.
It’s well-established in the American fantasy, I’m sure. Money of course could be a problem. You’d get tired of sleeping in the car and eating McDonald’s, you’d get bored listening to old CDs and talk radio, but doing anything else means even more careful budgeting- something most people are very bad at and even worse at following through on.
I left the US over a year ago and have no plans to return… It took a leap of faith to actually get rid of the apartment in the States and buy a one way ticket to the other side of the world. Best thing I ever did.
I spent about 9 months travelling across the US and Canada by road. It is an incredible experience and something I would recommend to everyone. The ability to just turn up in a small town or big city, have a wander around and meet new people really can’t be beaten. I’ve also done the same thing across Australia and Europe. Next on the list is Asia, then South/Central America.
It takes a while to get used to it. Most people like the feeling of having a base and a close group of friends who you can call up on a whim to do something. When you start travelling, that goes out of the window for the most part. On the plus side though, you can end up with groups of friends all over the world. It is also virtually essential that you are an outgoing kind of a person. I would imagine that the shy and retiring type of person would absolutely hate travelling. Money is also a problem for most unless you are the kind of person who can pick up skills, and therefore a job, quickly.
I love driving down the open road, with no particular place to be at the end of the day. Last year I drove from San Diego to Key West, back up to Chicago, then home again on Rt. 66. A “road trip” to me isn’t defined by time or distance drive, it has more to do with seeing and experiencing new things.
Still, the rear end does get tired of being in the driver’s seat after a couple of months, and no matter how much hospitality I encounter, the place I call home always pulls me back. This was especially true this summer on my trip out to North Dakota’s Theo Roosevelt Nat’l Park. After 3 weeks of 100-degree weather, I found myself daydreaming the beach and body surfing in the Pacific…
I love driving down the open road, with no particular place to be at the end of the day. Last year I drove from San Diego to Key West, back up to Chicago, then home again on Rt. 66. A “road trip” to me isn’t defined by time or distance driven, it has more to do with seeing and experiencing new things.
Still, the rear end does get tired of being in the driver’s seat after a couple of months, and no matter how much hospitality I encounter, the place I call home always pulls me back. This was especially true this summer on my trip out to North Dakota’s Theo Roosevelt Nat’l Park. After 3 weeks of 100-degree weather, I found myself daydreaming the beach and body surfing in the Pacific…
I looped the country in 35 days as research for a book I wrote about famous UFO sites in the USA. I went with a friend who I could get along with. Some notes:
I, too, get a hankerin’ for a road trip every once in a while, but I’m also too comfortable with my secure job, regular paycheck, nice house, etc.
So do what I do when the call of the open road starts up:
Use the holidays as an excuse to travel. Instead of flying across country to be with family for Christmas, drive for once. Be sure and spend at least as much time there as you will be on the road.
DO NOT take a VW Bus, or anything else nearly as unreliable. Take a nice, warm, safe car or van with a warranty and a roadside assistance package. You do NOT want to be stuck in BFE with a broken vehicle and a choice of ONE predatory mechanic. And choose a vehicle that gets decent mileage.
If you’re going to use a motorcycle, well, Pirsig said it best in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, so go read that first. And wait until spring.
In nice weather, take a week off and go for a scenic trip u[ the coast, or thru the mountains, or to the lakes, or whatever the local geography offers. Heck, make it a camping trip, if you’re game, and spend a couple days at your destination sleeping under the stars. There are many campgrounds that are inexpensive and still have amenities like showers and indoor bathrooms, and with just a tent and a couple sleeping bags and a couple of camp chairs, you can do an OK job of camping out of the trunk.
Join AAA. It’s one of the best membership deals in existance. Go to the AAA office and get maps before you go. If you call in advance, or visit their website, they’ll even put together a custom map package for you (a “triptik”).
Did it once, in my mid-20s. Two weeks on the road, Los Angeles to Louisiana to Las Vegas and back. I had scoped out the major cities beforehand and what I wanted to see, but I didn’t commit myself to any schedule. No reservations, either, just drive into a city, find a motel, and check in. Ended up taking 700+ snapshots, which was around 30 rolls of film in those days.
Before I had a kid, every March, I’d take two weeks off. As a Minnesotan, winter kind of drags on and on by that month. I’d get the local paper the first day of my vacation, turn to the weather page, and drive to the red.
I have this dream every six months or so. And I’ve acted on it every couple of years. One of my most memorable was driving across the Nullabor from Sydney to Perth. Awesome.
Getting away, free from your responsibilities, and all the things that drive you nuts. the open road, stopping when ever you want for as long as you want. Ahhhhh… I’m there now!
The only thing that stops me now is that I have a job that I love and can’t really take anymore than 4 weeks off at a time, plus a child that can’t be left alone (and nor would I want to leave him) then at the same time It would ruin it to take him along.
“Mum can we have McDonalds”… “Mum Can I watch TV”… “Mum, I miss Granma”… oh yeah, and schooling is important.
About 7 or 8 years from now he will be able to look after him self, I’ll probably have been fired by then and then I’m outa here.
I’ve been wanting to drive across Europe since forever. Sadly, when I’ve had the time, I’ve had nowhere close to enough money. And for the short period of time I did have enough money, I didn’t have the time.
But I’m only 26, so I still have plenty of time. Earning now in rupees means it’ll be a while before I can afford to make that trip, but one day I will.
I’ll rent (or maybe buy second-hand) a Saab 9-3 cabrio (love that car), start off in mid-July from Copenhagen, drive through Germany, Austria, Italy (must go to Calabria), the south of France, Spain, Portugal, back into Spain, through France, Belgium and finally end it in Holland.
I did it once, right out of college. I spent the summer driving around the U.S.
Went from Detroit, up the UP to see my friend, back down to Chicago, over to Omaha (another friend) met up with my parents for a few days in Boulder Co, saw Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone, Vancouver, down the coast to L.A., through Death Valley, into Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, made it to Arkansas then decided to head for home.
I planned very little of the trip, each day I would get out my map and decide where to go the next day. If I liked an area, I stayed for a couple days.
I’ve been in 48 of the 50 states so far and hope to pick up the other two (North Dakota and Alaska) within the next few years.