Tricks to Enjoying Driving Vacations
Linda and I love to see our country by driving through it.
For many years we had the pleasure of doing so in a VW camper and enjoyed the comradery of fellow campers in a variety of campgrounds across the country ranging from primitive sites, including parking lots, to deluxe campgrounds with swimming pools game rooms and saunas. We have driven through each of the lower 48 states and enjoyed them all. Recently we sold our camper however, but we are still able to enjoy outings with our automobile while staying in motels by following what is now almost a set routine. Here’s how it works for us:
We plan our trip with one or two interesting stops each day where we can get out and stretch. Many years ago, I noticed that when I felt I needed to get somewhere quickly I missed enjoying many of the things along the way and arrived tired and worn out. Today, we choose our final destination, decide how many hours we can comfortably drive each day but allow room to change plans every day. Impromptu stops are important and taking turns driving allows each of us to stay fresh.
We use several sources to help us decide what we will be driving past that might be worth a closer look. AAA helps plan some trips, other times we use our computer. Even road maps help locate potentially interesting stops while simple signs along the road often guide us to memorable detours.
Turning off the radio, cell phone, laptop, or any other distracting device allows us to be good companions for each other. When conversation slows and scenery has little change, we play car games. A brief list of these games include identifying out of state licenses, or counting the number of trucks, motorcycles, busses, or RV’s or passed. It is enjoyable for us to count the number of unusual birds or wild animals seen, even including identifying road kill. Sometimes we just invent other games as we drive.
Scheduling our driving vacation during the less traveled times of year works well. October through May driving usually allows us to experience less traffic, find cheaper room rates, and generally less crowding at the restaurants, gift shops, and visitor centers that we may wish to stop at. Fall colors, spring wildflowers, snow melt, bird and animal migrations are just some of the benefits of offseason travel.
Looking at what we pass by with the idea that we may need to tell others what we saw forces us to both pay attention and remember trip highlights. Journaling helps with memory plus later it becomes a souvenir. Having my companion discuss with me what they saw identifies many things otherwise missed plus remember them better. Some examples include my not noticing the variety of wildflowers and trees growing along the way until Linda pointed them out to me, gave them names, and encouraged me to look at them closely. In return I showed her tricks of how to see wild animals.
Today our newly shared interests add to our trip and we still share our journals at the end of each day. Keeping track of items such as gas prices and other daily expenses has given our journals interest in the years yet to come. We have often reminded each other that our goal is to see everything we can while we are physically able, then when we can no longer travel, our goal is to sit by the fire, read our journals to each other and decide whether we had a good time during our life.
