I love going on a road trip!
I've gotten excited about the possibilities since I was a kid and my brother and I crawled in to the back of the station wagon with the dog.
Camping gear in place.
Trailer following along behind.
Going to sleep with the stars tracking us down the road.
We often left at night so as to make the most of the weekend. My dad could set up in the dark and then we'd awake and be ready for fun. I remember it to be a bit disorienting at times, but often only as we were going back out the gate of a big Indiana State Park and I realised I didn't remember going IN that gate. Anyway . . .
Later, in my university years, a road trip often meant heading south to my grandparents' place in Florida. I'd drop off friends along the way and then do the last few hours on my own. I remember the movie soundtracks we sang along to on the way! Many times it was three girls in a big truck, tired from exams but ready to be warm and without deadlines!
Sometimes now all I need to do to raise my energy levels is talk about a potential road trip. Planning such a trip is almost as much fun as going. The planning stage is relatively cheap and the possibilities limitless until you narrow down your focus and choose a route or destination.
In Africa a road trip might mean South Africa, Mozambique or Zambia. Here in New Zealand, strictly speaking, a road trip could include the South Island if you take your car over on the InterIslander Ferry.
I'm planning a trip now. I recently went to Rotorua to show a visiting friend the sights of NZ and it gave me the travel bug. I'm thinking I need to get down to Wellington, at least for a weekend, to see Monet and the Impressionists exhibition at Te Papa.
Air NZ's Grab a Seat deals make such a trip easy, if you can get in early for the cheap seats, but I've always wanted to drive to Wellington and I never have. Maybe it takes me back to that sense of being in the state park and not knowing how I got there! When I drive in from the north I'll have my sense of direction in tact.
I also include geocaching in my road trips now, so the GPS helps with directions!
Speaking of directions, one of my favourite road trips here in NZ was when I picked up the last of a group of three friends and then pulled off
the road just before we got on the motorway. I pulled out a coin and said, "Someone flip this.
Head's we go north. Kiwi bird and we go south." We headed south toward Hamilton. When we got to another major crossroads, we pulled out the coin again. We took a right and ended up at Raglan and stayed in a funky ivy-covered bach on a hill that had a fireplace and beds for all four of us.
Favourite road trips in Zimbabwe: Probably going north to Victoria Falls and white water rafting on the Zambezi. Or bouncing along dirt roads where I saw no other tracks ahead of me.
Favourite road trips in USA: Chicago, when we'd started out for somewhere else.
Up the PCH from LA to San Francisco. Anywhere really, with my good friends.
North from Anderson to Converse.
I've gotten excited about the possibilities since I was a kid and my brother and I crawled in to the back of the station wagon with the dog.
Camping gear in place.
Trailer following along behind.
Going to sleep with the stars tracking us down the road.
We often left at night so as to make the most of the weekend. My dad could set up in the dark and then we'd awake and be ready for fun. I remember it to be a bit disorienting at times, but often only as we were going back out the gate of a big Indiana State Park and I realised I didn't remember going IN that gate. Anyway . . .
Later, in my university years, a road trip often meant heading south to my grandparents' place in Florida. I'd drop off friends along the way and then do the last few hours on my own. I remember the movie soundtracks we sang along to on the way! Many times it was three girls in a big truck, tired from exams but ready to be warm and without deadlines!
Sometimes now all I need to do to raise my energy levels is talk about a potential road trip. Planning such a trip is almost as much fun as going. The planning stage is relatively cheap and the possibilities limitless until you narrow down your focus and choose a route or destination.In Africa a road trip might mean South Africa, Mozambique or Zambia. Here in New Zealand, strictly speaking, a road trip could include the South Island if you take your car over on the InterIslander Ferry.
I'm planning a trip now. I recently went to Rotorua to show a visiting friend the sights of NZ and it gave me the travel bug. I'm thinking I need to get down to Wellington, at least for a weekend, to see Monet and the Impressionists exhibition at Te Papa.
Air NZ's Grab a Seat deals make such a trip easy, if you can get in early for the cheap seats, but I've always wanted to drive to Wellington and I never have. Maybe it takes me back to that sense of being in the state park and not knowing how I got there! When I drive in from the north I'll have my sense of direction in tact.
I also include geocaching in my road trips now, so the GPS helps with directions!Speaking of directions, one of my favourite road trips here in NZ was when I picked up the last of a group of three friends and then pulled off
the road just before we got on the motorway. I pulled out a coin and said, "Someone flip this.
Head's we go north. Kiwi bird and we go south." We headed south toward Hamilton. When we got to another major crossroads, we pulled out the coin again. We took a right and ended up at Raglan and stayed in a funky ivy-covered bach on a hill that had a fireplace and beds for all four of us.Favourite road trips in Zimbabwe: Probably going north to Victoria Falls and white water rafting on the Zambezi. Or bouncing along dirt roads where I saw no other tracks ahead of me.
Favourite road trips in USA: Chicago, when we'd started out for somewhere else.
Up the PCH from LA to San Francisco. Anywhere really, with my good friends.
North from Anderson to Converse.
How about you? Favourite road trip stories or destinations?
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