Are We There Yet? - Road trips with kids are as American as baseball and picket fences. If you can put up with the fighting in the back seat, you'll get a "Parent of the Year Award" for creating memories that last a lifetime. Then wait a few years and take the related version of this kind of road trip, the one we call "Junior has to pick out a college."

Lewis & Clark - No one's going to begrudge you a pilgrimage. Just pick your past-tense heroes and head for the ground they made holy. If standing in Wyatt Earp's bootprints isn't your cup of tea, why not check out Virginia City, Nevada, where Mark Twain once cranked out news stories about the Comstock? Or take a spin around Washington, D.C. Christopher Buckley will tell you just where to go!

I Brake for Swap Meets! - Your friends and family don't have any choice but to excuse your chronic habits. Whether you're inspired by shopping, drinking, eating, collecting, antiquing, wine tasting, gambling, or some other obsession, indulge your passion if it gets you on the road. In our case, we happily drive five hundred miles for nothing more than a dip in a hot spring (like these in eastern Oregon).

Who am I? - A road trip can be the perfect way to uncover any number of inner truths, and don't think you're limited to just one of these treks per lifetime. Take them often, and you'll be extending a tradition as old as the Odyssey.

Who Are You? - John Steinbeck decided, at the age of 58, that it was high time he took a closer look at the country he was so famous for writing about. The resulting Travels with Charley is a modern classic, as are the works of Charles Kuralt, who spent over twenty years telling American stories for CBS. Do you find yourself wondering what the "real America" is like? The one you discover will be different from anyone else's.

Life on a Roll - There's no reason your road trip has to end. Join the ranks of the full-timers. You may have to give up spacious living arrangements, but you can't beat the size of your new backyard. Interested in the lifestyle? Check out Stephanie Bernhagen's excellent Taking Back Your Life.

Accidental Road Trip - Ever filled your car with gas and just started driving? Some of the best adventures begin, not with maps and itineraries, but with a simple desire to see what lies around the next bend. And while you're gone, you'll have plenty of time to make up a perfect excuse!

Whatever your road trip style, join the discussion at the Great American RoadTrip Forum and share tips, ideas, inspiration, and great road trip stories.

<Back Page 1|2