I see road trips as paying homage to the great inventors among us. Early humans had to rely on their feet to move around (if we skip the times we were swinging from the branches). The use of animals was super cool except that we were reliant on the moodiness of the animal to share our journey. With the advent of automobiles, the world just changed -- the animals got to ride *inside* the car with us.
My first big road trip ever was when I was in the US as a graduate student. I joined a road trip that my cousin and his wife had planned, and it was love at first mile. I was introduced to the world of AAA TripTik, navigating the highways, planning routes, booking accommodations, planning out food, etc. As an impoverished student at a Midwest university I had not traveled much. Within 2 weeks I had taken in views ranging from vast expanses of corn fields to the haunting emptiness of South Dakota roads, the beautiful mountain views of Montana and Wyoming, the multi-hued poison ponds of Yellowstone, and the world's most boring highway that is I-70 from Denver to St. Louis. (I retraced that trip with my family 26 years later and it was as much fun as it was the first time.)
As a family we have done a lot of long road trips within the US, and some in India too when we were there. I do go out on quite a few solo drives on weekends. I often drive for work-related meetings if I am able to -- 10-12 hour drives. My employer and my team have been hugely supportive of this idiosyncrasy of mine since I have managed to convince them that my road trips contribute to my work life (I consult for automotive companies on their connected car tech, autonomous tech, etc. in my Clark Kent persona). On these trips I would fantasize about driving through the US on an extended drive across different views and experiences. I finally decided to do just that.
I am not the first person to drive through the contiguous US territory of 48 states. I am not doing this to prove anything. This is not about pioneering a new route, or any kind of endurance (Iron Butt it is not). I am not doing this for any noble cause nor am I fulfilling any kind of unkept promise to anyone. In a whispering echo of Forrest Gump's words, "I just feel like driving." I wanted to make this trip mine in some way. There were (and still are) some constraints, but I think I can deal with them. So here are some of the ideas that I keep in mind during the planning (and reserve the right to change based on the expediency of the moment):
Drive through every one of the 48 contiguous states of the US
Do more than just hit the mile markers -- endeavor to spend meaningful time or make an experience in each state (looking at you: Idaho, Arkansas, North Dakota, and some others)
Minimize down time at work -- I am not taking extended vacation. This means that I cannot drive all day long all weekdays. Driving/recreation is restricted to days I take off, or a few hours, and weekends.
I still may need to travel for work meetings, so I need to be never too far from a major airport. In a cinch, the plan is that I will drive to the nearest airport, fly for my meetings, and return back to the parked car at the airport and resume my trip.
Meet people in different cities. Friends/acquaintances/ex-colleagues/ex-flames/ex-crushes are all fair game for meeting up (Disclaimer: listing a category of people does not imply such people exist)
Avoid run-of-the-mill tourist hotspots for the understated ones. Which means that the biggest ball of twine may take priority over the Freedom Arch during scheduling. Not that I look down on the tourist but because I am more likely to make other trips to tourist hotspots rather than visit Mitchell Corn Palace.
I have never camped. I need my flush toilets. Therefore, I am attempting to do as much camping as possible in this. Of course, my camping I mean car camping at sites with restrooms and showers -- what did you think?
That's all for this post. But in true Marvel fashion, I leave you with this post-credit scene.
One of the many versions of the itineraries I am working on looks like this:
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