Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 7 June 2018
Are old-fashioned road trips trendy again?

By BETH J. HARPAZ nology like mobile map-
Suddenly, old-fashioned ping services, the ability to
road trips are trendy again. research and book lodging
Surveys show they're on the and tours as you go, and
rise. Websites, newspapers, options for working remote-
magazines and even books ly have also made it easier
are featuring road trips like for people to hop in their
they're the next big thing — cars and head out.
even though they're actu- WHERE TO GO
ally a longstanding Ameri- A colossal 960-page book
can tradition steeped in published in May called
nostalgia and pop culture, "The Road Trip Book: 1001
from the 1950s Beat Gener- Drives of a Lifetime," edited
ation literary classic "On the by Darryl Sleath, describes
Road" to the 1983 comedy road trips all over the globe,
movie "National Lampoon's from South Africa's Chap-
Vacation." On Instagram, man's Peak Drive to Califor-
the hashtag #roadtrip nia's Pacific Coast Highway
shows up 37 million times. In this March 27, 2013, file photo, a car is silhouetted against the setting sun as it travels along to the Pamir Highway from
In some ways, the come- Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Kan. Afghanistan to Kyrgzystan.
back of this 20th century- Associated Press Many of the trips are ac-
style vacation is surprising companied by digital route
in an era when "time has For some travelers, it's more ability to make plans last- story earlier this year head- outlines that can be ex-
become more far more appealing to get up early, minute. lined "The Great Ameri- plored with GoogleMaps.
precious than money, a hit the road and spend all One surprise finding: The can Road Trip: Shorter and Chevrolet worked with a
priceless commodity not to day driving. At least you resurgence in road trips More Popular Than Ever." data scientist, Randy Ol-
be squandered lumbering can bring more than one is "led by millennials," said The cover story in the sum- son, to calculate the most
along down endless miles bag without paying extra. Steve Cohen, senior vice mer issue of Lonely Planet's efficient road trip route
of highway," writes Rich- And you can stop where president, travel insights, magazine is titled, "Our fa- around the U.S., with one
ard Ratay in his upcoming you want, when you want. MMGY Global. "When we vorite road trips: Ireland, family-friendly stop in each
book, "Don't Make Me Pull So is the summer of 2018 the look at the total number of Alberta, Botswana, North of the 48 contiguous states.
Over!: An Informal History of summer of the road trip? road trips, there were more Carolina, Texas, Australia It would take 214 hours
the Family Road Trip." Here are some insights into taken by millennials than and more." The Wall Street (around nine days) of non-
In other words, why spend why it might be, along with any other generation." And Journal called van trips stop driving to complete
18 hours driving 1,200 miles some resources for plan- even though they're young, "the latest luxury getaway," the entire 13,000-mile route.
when you could get there ning your own road trip. nostalgia plays a role. Mil- while a recent coffee-table The itinerary ranges from
in two hours by plane? SURVEYS lennials are remembering book, "Van Life: Your Home Disneyland in Anaheim,
Well, here's why: flying is MMGY Global's 2017-18 trips they took "when they on the Road," by Foster California, to national parks
expensive, and the more Portrait of American Trav- were kids, which wasn't Huntington, grew out of the like the Grand Canyon and
people taking the trip, the elers found road trips rep- that long ago," Cohen said. author's three-year adven- Yellowstone, to the Gate-
cheaper it is to pile every- resented 39 percent of va- The price of gas, by the ture traveling around North way Arch in St. Louis, the
one in a car (instead of cations taken by American way, matters less than you America in a Volkswagen Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
buying airfare for a family of travelers in 2016, up from might expect. A recent van. in Cleveland, Lake Cham-
four). Flying is also unpleas- 22 percent in 2015. The AAA survey concluded Skift.com, the travel industry plain in Vermont and the
ant. Getting to the airport, top reason cited for tak- that even though gas costs website, just completed a Georgia Aquarium in At-
allowing time for security, ing road trips: the ability to more now than at any time three-part series called "The lanta. Here's an interactive
dealing with delays and make stops along the way. since 2014, that's not keep- Future of American Road map of the route: http://
baggage can easily turn Other reasons (besides low- ing people home. AAA Trips," stating that road trips rhiever.github.io/optimal-
a two-hour flight into a trip er costs and avoiding air also said road trips were are "statistically on the rise roadtrip-usa/chevrolet-
that sucks up most of your travel) include the ease of the most popular option for due to both economic and family-road-trip-national.
day and all of your soul. taking pets along and the family vacations in their sur- cultural factors." New tech- html .q
vey.
Another report, this one
from Ford, called "The New
American Road Trip(pers):
How 'Digital Nomads' and
Technology Blur Work and
Play," found 50 percent of
those surveyed said road
trips are more appealing
than other forms of travel
like air, cruise and trains be-
cause you can be "more
spontaneous" when you're
driving.
IN PRINT
Road trips are getting a
lot of attention lately from In this July 1971, file photo, a car travels on one of the major
In this Jan. 14, 2016, file photo, vehicles travel along Interstate print media and the pub- roads leading from Tehran across the Elburz Mountains to the
70 near Odessa, Mo. lishing industry. Caspian Sea for a vacation in Iran.
Associated Press The New York Times ran a Associated Press