Nine Reasons To Love Road Trips!

Spring gets me itching to get outside more . . . to plant flowers . . . to have a picnic with my grands. It also reminds me that it’s a great time for a road trip.

I credit (or blame) that on fond recollections of yearly beach trips we took when the kids were younger. Or even further back, to when I was a kid and my single mom took her five girls on cross-country adventures.

Sure, planes are faster, and cruises are cool. Still, a good ol’ road trip calls my name every now and again. Here are nine reasons I heed that call:

• A delicious sense of freedom. Road trips come without the burden of flight schedules, luggage restrictions, or TSA lines. They offer a break from routine and  time for unscheduled pit stops. Want to take the next exit to see the world’s largest penny in Wisconsin? On a road trip, you have that option.

• The joy of anticipation. Road trips remind me of Christmas Eve as a kid. Not Christmas Day itself, but the childlike anticipation leading up to it. I’m never sure what to expect, but I’m quite sure that magical moments await.

• The delight of local delicacies. I confess, certain things will never touch my lips, like pickled pigs feet, sold at country stores in more places than I’d have expected. I  have sampled maple-flavored martinis in Vermont, muffulettas in New Orleans, and pasties in Michigan’s upper peninsula. (I’m talking Cornish meat pies here, not those fancy adhesive covers for nipples.)

• Amazing views. Scenic overlooks do serve a purpose. I’d rather my driver gawk at the road rather than stare down the side of a canyon as he’s driving at the speed of light. That said, views from the passenger seat of a car in motion are kind of cool. Shorelines aglitter as dusk grows near. Colorful mazes of farmland pre-harvest. These views amaze me as much as a scenic overlook. Every time.

• Open windows and loud music. The music we liked in high school supposedly brings on a sense of well-being and happiness. I believe it. Luckily, Rice is not that much older than I am. When we want to switch things up, we rotate who gets to pick the Sirius XM station during the next stretch of highway. (Psst. Don’t try this with teenagers. They may be the very reason that God created earbuds.)

• Down time to think or nap, or perhaps to talk and bond. Road trips provide an opportunity to get unplugged. I always travel with my trusty steno pad, just in case the muse strikes. It’s also handy for notes on random topics Rice and I discuss, like things to buy for the garden, or how many of the United States we’ve seen as a couple.

• Fun places to stay overnight. When we were younger, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) were our go-to for when it came to lodging choices. We’ve stayed at Victorian houses—one in Annapolis on the historical register—a farmhouse in Santa Rosa wine country, and an old elementary school in Portland, Oregon, converted into an inn with a  restaurant, a bar, and a movie theater, too. These days, a firm king-sized mattress tops the list of musts when we choose our lodging.

• Random roadside attractions. Sites like TravelAdvisor are full of suggestions, and Pinterest comes in handy here, too. Pinterest convinced Rice and me to forego the quickest route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and follow the Turquoise Trail. We had some idea of what we’d discover along the way, and we weren’t disappointed. It led us through old mining towns now hopping with gift shops, saloons, arts-and-crafts spots, as well as fun places to eat. The view wasn’t too shabby either.

• Wrong turns that bring delightful surprises. Okay, you may think wrong turns sound a lot like seeking out random roadside attractions. But they’re different. A roadside attraction is the destination itself. A wrong turn is the surprise of what happens along the journey, depending on which fork in the road we choose. For example, in Italy years ago, our airbnb host pulled out a map and circled half a dozen small villages nearby. We chose a road that led to Montalcino and arrived to a huge festival underway. Hundreds of villagers dressed in medieval garb waved colorful flags as they paraded through town. We watched as they re-enacted a centuries-old post-hunting celebration, complete with boisterous competitions. Oh, and we joined them in sampling some of the best wines of our trip. Maybe that's why sometimes—and definitely in this case—I think wrong turns are precisely the point. They get us to where we’re meant to be, even when we don’t know it.

What about you? What are your thoughts and feelings and memories when it comes to road trips? I’d love to hear your stories. (And you know you have some!)

P.S. If, like me, you enjoy reflecting on where the wrong turns in life can lead, check out my upcoming nonfiction humor book—One Wrong Turn at a Time: How We Navigated Fifty States, Forty-Five Years & One Marriage.

The e-book’s available for pre-order on Amazon now. The paperback version will be available on May 16th wherever you like to order your books.