Road trip methodology

[merithyn]

I do recognize that this may be a primarily North American thing - and honestly, a center of NA thing - but I wondered how you guys treat long (more than 8 hours one way) road trips.

The Guy and I are planning a significant road trip from Central Illinois to NW Massachusetts for a few days, and then down to western Pennsylvania for a few days, and then back. It's ~17 hours to Massachusetts, five hours to PA, then another 10-11 hours back home. We have 10 days for this trip, and the plan is three days in MA, three days in PA, and the rest are essentially travel days.

I would very much like to "see the sights" on the road. We'll be driving for basically four days during this trip, and I get very bored going from Point A to Point B on major highways and zero breaks. I prefer to take the slightly longer road if it's prettier, and enjoy stopping at the odd roadside "experience". The Guy, however, is very much a "Point A to Point B, no dilly-dallying around" type. This vacation is going to be... interesting.

Anyway, which type are you?

[Grey Fox]

I don't know what I am, personally, anymore. But the dad driving his family 10 hours east for the past 3 yearly vacation is Hotel break in the middle guy.*

*Except when driving home, than I am straight up no break person.

[Josquius]

A to B, ASAP.
The only time to stop off in the middle is if the journey is horribly long and driving that far in one go could be dangerous, for instance when I went to the Highlands 2 years ago ().

Train journeys are a different matter. There stopping off and enjoying the intermediate sights is the adventure. Common for me in Japan would be to take a bus to the other end of the country then slowly train my way back through various places.

[Tamas]

What you need to do is introduce a stop to and from MA at something at least remotely interesting/relaxing i.e. two extra days.

If both of you can drive, however, then having a Big Push to and from MA would make sense. Boredom at this day and age can be addressed, being annoyed at not going toward where you want to be is harder to address unless moving toward where you want to be.

[garbon]

If over 8 hours, for sure stopping and seeing relevant sights along the route / planning route with some sights.  Assuming, of course, there is time for that. Whenever I drove the 8-10 hrs (depending on traffice) journey from SF to southern Califonria, that was straight shot not interested in stopping about.

[merithyn]

What you need to do is introduce a stop to and from MA at something at least remotely interesting/relaxing i.e. two extra days.

If both of you can drive, however, then having a Big Push to and from MA would make sense. Boredom at this day and age can be addressed, being annoyed at not going toward where you want to be is harder to address unless moving toward where you want to be.

Let me change my wording on that. I don't like wasting four days of my vacation just driving. Especially if there are things that can be done on those days to make them more like a vacation and less like a slog.

[garbon]

Though I suppose I did once that trip from SLC to Lincoln, NE with just one stop for food (~12.5hrs) but I was still depressed / who wants to stop in Wyoming?

[Sheilbh]

A to B - ASAP. Possible break for hotel if long.

Having said that I am a passenger

But when I was a kid we'd drive from the far north of Scotland to Liverpool (and occasionally London) which is a 12 or 16 hour drive. We'd stop at maybe one service station but no sight-seeing, sometimes take a hotel break (Stirling or Cumbria depending on eventual destination).

[Tamas]

What you need to do is introduce a stop to and from MA at something at least remotely interesting/relaxing i.e. two extra days.

If both of you can drive, however, then having a Big Push to and from MA would make sense. Boredom at this day and age can be addressed, being annoyed at not going toward where you want to be is harder to address unless moving toward where you want to be.

Let me change my wording on that. I don't like wasting four days of my vacation just driving. Especially if there are things that can be done on those days to make them more like a vacation and less like a slog.

Yeah that's perfectly valid as per my first option offered above. That should be the primary goal.

If that doesn't work both ways a compromise could be to find something to do on the way there, and marathon it back home.

[merithyn]

Though I suppose I did once that trip from SLC to Lincoln, NE with just one stop for food (~12.5hrs) but I was still depressed / who wants to stop in Wyoming?

Totally legit.

And on the trip from Portland to Peoria, we stopped twice, which he really wasn't happy about. He'd rather have driven 16 hours one day, stayed overnight somewhere, then driven another 16 hours the next. Yeah, no. We were in a cab with a 75-pound dog, a kitten, and one grumpy Meri. That was not going to happen.

But then I also will drive until I'm at 1/4 of a tank (roughly 4-5 hours) at a stint without a problem. He stops every 2-3 hours. 

[mongers]

"Let the train take the strain"

Most I ever drove was occasionally 4-5 hour in one go. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

Those distances are too long for the drive not to be part of the fun imo. But then the road trip becomes all road trip and not much time gets left for whatever is planned in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

[PDH]

Though I suppose I did once that trip from SLC to Lincoln, NE with just one stop for food (~12.5hrs) but I was still depressed / who wants to stop in Wyoming?

He didn't even wave when he went through Laramie at 85+ mph.

[PDH]

In all seriousness, I don't like long road trips anymore.

[garbon]

Though I suppose I did once that trip from SLC to Lincoln, NE with just one stop for food (~12.5hrs) but I was still depressed / who wants to stop in Wyoming?

He didn't even wave when he went through Laramie at 85+ mph.