Travel Possibility

It’s not as widely practiced as it used to be, but traveling by car is one of the nicest ways to see the world.  The cost of gas has made it much more prohibitive than ever before, where even relatively short trips to the other side of the state can cost well over one hundred dollars in gas.  For a group of three or more, however, long distance trips really can be economical, especially if there is a real spirit of adventure involved.

For long distance trips these days, it’s very hard to see the usefulness for the glove compartment full of maps that was so common in the old days.  Today’s gps systems and smart phones can offer fairly precise choices in terms of routes, making it difficult to get lost.  Vehicles do break down, of course, but even this is changed with technology.  Where before one would have to walk to the gas station for a local mechanic, or consult their manual, today’s internet society can download Haynes manuals online and use their web-enabled devices to help troubleshoot.

Computers and cell phone communication have affected the road travelers.  Nowadays it’s a lot easier to find things to do in all the small towns on the route by a basic search for local calendars of events.  One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that there’s still nothing better than meeting people on the road and in the city, and asking for personal recommendations for the best places to eat in town, or directions to a local drug store.  This is still the stuff that great travel stories are made on, when wrong directions turn out to be the best adventures of the trip, or an unusual recommendation opens doors to new and unusual excitements.

Car travel adventures might be the wellspring of memory for a lot of babyboomer kids, but it doesn’t have to be a thing of the past.  A well-chosen path with a lot of room for variations at the last moment can lead to unimaginable new horizons.  One might surely find that the best things happen when the worst things happen, and a breakdown can lead to a breakthrough.  An oil leak and a quick fix from a honda repair manual online can show that those are still some of the most reliable cars on the market.  And small towns are just as charming as they ever were, and the distance between stops is sometimes just enough space to have the best adventure in the world.