Travel. Explore. Connect...
My Guide For a Great Road Trip
I love traveling. Near, far, little trips, big trips. I love them all. Traveling keeps you curious; it gives you new experiences and memories to last a lifetime. What I’ve come to realize is sometimes the best times are the simple trips, the ones that you’re not spending thousands of dollars to stay at some five star resort. Road trips are by far my very favorite thing. You select your destinations, and for the most part can be relaxed when it comes to arriving and leaving each destination. The awesome part about living in the United States is that we have all of these incredible destinations right in our own backyard.
How fortunate are we to live in the United States, where the open road still exists, and the sites to see are endless. What’s better than never ending skies and landscapes void of population, just sheer beauty and wilderness? Our National Park systems have done a wonderful job protecting these pristine places, and even provide so much educational value on your visit for your kiddos. Again, this is a true gift we’re given as Americans.
My younger sister and I have been on our own road trip for the past twelve days. We started in Chicago and our last destination is Long Beach where I’ll be shipping my car to Maui. This trip has taught me so much, but one of the biggest lessons I’ve taken away is to enjoy the journey, all of it. We’re so focused in life on the end goal, or the destination that we forget to savor each tiny moment that makes the entire trip worthwhile. Of course the key destinations were all mind boggling and spectacular, but it was the sites in between these landmarks that really got me. Countless times we would pull over the car in the middle of nowhere without a single car in site and the sheer, raw beauty of Mother Nature brought me to tears. So no matter where you’re going, how long you’re staying, it’s important to keep this attitude in mind, in order to make the road trip more memorable and meaningful: It’s the journey that matters in the end.
A huge reward about taking a road trip is that there are no distractions. In a society where we literally have distractions at every corner it’s a blessing to be completely unattached to all technology. There are no TVS on, ipads are put away, and for the most part cell service is touch and go. There’s a huge lesson we can all learn about our technology usage. People will survive without your round-the-clock responses if you power down for a week or so. I’m also positive that it’s healthy to take a break from Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest. The world isn’t going to end if you haven’t interacted with your followers for a couple days, they’ll be OK and most importantly you’ll feel refreshed from taking that break. I thoroughly enjoyed the patches of our trip where we had no signal. It’s an opportunity to be fully present and take in all of the beautiful sites. Plus, it’s nice to give your brain a break and let your mind just wander.
By Christina Seeds