RoadTrip Blog

For me a roadtrip has three parts

Part I: Plan the roadtrip. This part is great fun because it requires hours and hours of looking at the map(s). I calculate distances between stops and estimate the time each stop will take. I look for roads marked scenic and I keep an eye open for the red dots that point out places such as state parks, museums and other roadside “marvels.” [Note: the red dots often result in Internet searches.] Multi-day roadtrips usually have defined destinations and most of the time I make lodging reservations prior to hitting the road. I like knowing that I can arrive at my destination at any time and be guaranteed of having a spot to “hang my head.” I usually plan a roadtrip day to be 8-12 hours in duration and the planning requires paying attention to time-zone changes and sunrise/sunset times. In a nutshell, planning roadtrips is fun.

Part II: Execute the roadtrip. I find that most of the time I rarely consult the roadtrip plan. This is because I’ve taken the roadtrip multiple times in my head. Many roadtrips do not follow the plan exactly, but they usually come close. I actually like having to modify roadtrips while they are in progress.

Part III: Document the roadtrip. I find myself “retaking” the roadtrip over and over while working on its write-up. Documenting the roadtrip allows for the recording of items that were either missed or discovered during the adventure. In addition, documenting a roadtrip is a useful tool for generating ideas for future roadtrips.

Road Hacker Add new tag, journals, mapping, photos, planning, reservations, tips

When I am at home in the UK, there is nothing I enjoy more than jumping in my Nissan 200sx turbo and going for a blast in the country lanes of the South Downs. The car is an ongoing project and at the moment produces 260BHP which is up 90bhp on the factory standard. That may not sound much compared to the “Yank tanks,” but from 1.8 LTR engine and weighing little more than a ton it, will propel it to 60mph in 6 secs and onto 150mph [138 proven and still pulling]

Here she is:

Now as some of you might know, when I am Roadtripping in America I love the R.V lifestyle and one day hope to buy a Motorhome for touring Europe. That is when [if] time and money isn’t an issue. If I could afford one at the moment it would spend 50 weeks of the year sat on the driveway collecting cobwebs.

Anyway, to the point of my ramblings. I have just found my idea of Roadtrip Heaven and thought I would share it.

(Photo courtesy of Volkner Mobil.com)
At more than a million Bucks it’s gonna have to wait a while though! Click here to read an article about this million dollar vehicle.

I did some more poking around the site of the company building these machines and found this one, which is capable of off-highway travel!

Dave Gomm R.V, roadtripping heaven., Sports car

The La Posada in Winslow, Arizona, is a great place to spend the night. It is located along Route 66 within walking distance of downtown. Even if you can’t spend the night, you are free to wander the La Posada and enjoy its grounds. In addition, the La Posada is an excellent spot for watching freight trains.

Road Hacker arizona, la posada, winslow

During the next to last day of 2008, I visited the Twenty Mule Team Museum in Boron, California. It is a great museum and it’s free. I was the only one there and the volunteer worker asked where I was from and I told her Tempe, Arizona. She got all excited because that is where her daughter and grandkids live. We chatted for a while about Tempe and life in Boron. It is moments like these that make roadtripping an extreme pleasure.

Road Hacker borax, boron, musuem, twenty-mule-team

Cliché it may be but it’s true when they say you don’t always appreciate what’s in your own back yard.

Last weekend we got in the car and headed out into the country. Having lived in the same city in England for around 40 years, there aren’t too many new destinations to select from a map so we simply decided to head north and try to follow roads we’d never driven before.

So that was our Sunday, driving the B6451 north from Otley, past Lindley Wood Reservoir (a place I didn’t even know existed this time last week) and along the perimeter fences of Menwith Hill (a US National Security Agency installation, said to be the world’s largest monitoring communications station).

At Glasshouses we turned right on the B6265 and headed east to nearby Fountains Abbey, a 12^th-century Cistercian Abbey which I must have been to half a dozen times or more, but never before from this direction.

This is a place I always associate with childhood picnics, games of hide-and-seek among the ruins and my sister getting bitten by a rat but today was the first time I’d seen it with a covering of snow (and also the first time I’d appreciated that it’s actually a World Heritage Site).

I know the detail is of little relevance to predominantly American readership (and even non-American readers are looking for tips on travelling Route 66, not the B6451) but the lesson is transferable wherever you are: you don’t always have to be visiting somewhere new to experience something new.

Peter Thody UK