One of the iconic American adventures is the cross-country road trip. Americans find road trips enthralling and glamorous, romanticized by ideas of the wind blowing, music playing, taking photographs, and bonding with your road trip companions, gas stations, rest stops, the middle of nowhere, adventure, no time commitments, and freedom. So many people imagine just packing up the car, driving away from the “real world” and having the time of their lives. The automobile and the highways have always given us tangible freedom.
Begin dreaming about the open road. Answer this: which roads would you drive? Would you take the interstate or small highways? Would you have a destination (or is the journey the destination)? Would you plan ahead? Would you know how to begin? It’s a lot to consider. What constitutes a road trip? How do you define it? To me, a road trip should be as little interstate as possible, stops off the road, sightseeing on the way, staying in a town just because it’s a good place to stop, good music, belongings packed into the car … you get the idea.
I don’t like interstates, unless there is not another option or it’s necessary to squeeze in a weekend trip and a long drive. Interstates are efficient and practical with rest stops, but generally, interstates are boring, incredibly boring. Driving across I-20 & I-85 in South Carolina & Georgia to and from Birmingham was one of my least favorite long drives (barring terrible traffic on I-95). The most exciting vision was the Gaffney, SC peach. However, I imagine that off the interstate would be a wonderful trip through small towns, big towns, the country, and a much better meeting with the states that the two – four lane interstates with billboards and shopping strips. Keep this in mind.
So, you are any average American citizen planning to travel across the country. Most of us will get directions from Google, MapQuest, AAA (and get free maps!), or the now common GPS. Very few of us can just start driving and use an atlas as we go; hence, the directions. Plus, having directions already can you plan for stops, saving time, energy, and money. The problem is that all of these methods send you by way of interstates, even if it’s not the shortest route. My mother recalls that AAA used to give scenic routes and helpful information, but in all of our recent experiences, it’s purely highlighting the route that MapQuest offers on the computer.
How are you supposed to see the best parts of America from the interstate? What if you want to take the scenic route, but don’t feel comfortable with just a map to guide you? As soon as you veer from the GPS’ directions, it tries to get you to turn around and head back to the intended route as soon as possible.
Consider a GPS program that would offer road trip ideas, itineraries, and routes. This would give people road trips who do not know where to begin or want something different. Or it would help to fuse the journey as part of the adventure. In fact, travelers can download turn-by-turn directions for a Route 66 adventure. And there is a Microsoft software program, Streets & Trips, that allows travelers to create their full trip itinerary, stops and all, ahead of time. It is a GPS receiver that plugs into a laptop, which needs to be plugged into your car and allows for rerouting and other alterations en route. Another GPS directed trip is from the GaperGuide, which allows people to take the driving tours of Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons National Park, offering information (history, stories, statistics, facts) about what visitors see along the way.
I can’t speak for any of these programs, but at least there are options for road trippers. However, if GPS scenic routes were created and people started traveling just a few roads, then problems of traffic, infrastructure, bypassing other places, etc. would possibly arise. Granted, there would be many issues to resolve. Perhaps the GPS programs could start with historic routes in addition to Route 66, like the Lincoln Highway or the Dixie Highway or US Route 11.
How would you plan your road trip? Any suggestions for routes? Yes or no to the GPS road trip idea?
Preservation in Pink 
Kaitlin, you are so right! The road trip is about all the little stops and sight-seeing on the way, not necessarily getting to the destination as the quickest route from point A to point B.
We’ve actually got a great spring road trip contest going on at our website, which gives the grand prize winners a 3 night stay at a La Quinta inn plus a ton of other great prizes. It’s a nice way to plan that road trip without spending a lot of money!
Kaitlin, you are so right! The road trip is about all the little stops and sight-seeing on the way, not necessarily getting to the destination as the quickest route from point A to point B.
We’ve actually got a great spring road trip contest going on at our website, which gives the grand prize winners a 3 night stay at a La Quinta inn plus a ton of other great prizes. It’s a nice way to plan that road trip without spending a lot of money!
Forgot to add excellent post! Looking forward to seeing the next post!
Hi Kaitlin. What a great idea to get off the beaten path and see the real America. Depending on the Interstate traffic, it could even be quicker! I work for AAA, and have some info I hope will help with your road trip. If you go to AAA.com and click the link to TripTik Travel Planner, you’ll get the TripTik tool. Across the top are several tabs and one of them says “Show”. Click that and the last item in the list is Scenic Byway Info (green highlight). Make sure that’s checked before you plan your route and when the route comes up it will be side roads, not Interstate. You can also manipulate the route by inserting additional destinations into your TripTik route. You can insert up to 19 different destinations into one route. I hope this helps. If you play around with TripTik some I think you’ll find it’s easy and fun to use. Please let me know how your trip turns out. Have a great trip and drive safely!
Hi Jgraziani,
I have planned a trip using triptik online and it is really great to be able to see the scenic Byways.
But now I am trying to figure out how to get that route from my computer to a GPS unit.
I am planning a trip to the US from Hong Kong in the summer and so I will not have ready access to internet on the road. I want to buy a GPS unit which works with the routes I have planned on line.
I know Magellan products provide the tourbook info but I could definate confirmation that I could download the online routes direct on to the Magellan unit.
Any guidance on this will help.
Thanks
Jignesh
Looking into this with AAA’s GIS team. Will get back to you shortly.
Still waiting for a confirmation for downloading aaa triptik routes to the Magellan gps unit and advice on which models this is compatible with.
Hey, me again. I forgot to mention that you can get AAA Mobile on your phone for GPS and it uses the AAA TripTik and TourBook info. I think it’s about $9.95/month but you have to check that with your cellular provider. The benefit is you don’t have to get a separate GPS unit, since most people always have their phone with them anyway. If you’d rather have a GPS unit, some of the Magellan products use AAA TripTik and TourBook info.
Kaitlin, you couldn’t be more right about this – interstates are snore pie with yawn sauce! I couldn’t hate them more! It’s awesome finding this great blog – love your take on road trips (and a GPS that outlines routes that are off the beaten path).
I’m a huge fan of plain-old paper maps and a compass. Old school, I know, but if you have a big country wide atlas, plus a couple of specific state maps for your general traveling area, you can just hit the road and fly by the seat of your pants without the fear of getting totally lost. I use Google too, but click on the option for back roads (once you get the main artery route suggestion, you can click on a link that says “show options” and you can select “avoid highways” as well as “avoid tolls”). Also, sometimes I just play with the Google map, zooming in on possible alternate routes and making notes.
Tara, I, too love plain-old paper maps. I have a new National Geographic Atlas that I love (even just to look at while I’m not on the road) and it’s so great. The colors are vivid and the lines/text are crisp and easy to read. Oh, maps are fun!