Destination Ideas

In case you missed it, I added a neat little gadget on the right hand side of the page. Try it out - put in your zip code, or a zip code you will be passing though on your trip, select a direction if you want, and it will give you a list of places to stop in that direction. Might come in handy if you want to take a quick trip but don't have anywhere in particular to go.
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What are you waiting for?
Grab The Keys - And Take A Road Trip!

Ditch the Big Mac

It can be tempting to just hop off the interstate at the nearest exit ramp and pull into a McDonald's drive thru when you are on the road. But eating can be half the fun on a road trip (especially if you like greasy food). Why not drive around a new town on the way and find a small hole-in-the wall diner or cafe? The food will vary in quality, but you will meet some interesting people and learn about the area you are driving through. In my experience, adventures and great stories don't happen unless you get off the highway and make them happen.
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What are you waiting for?
Grab The Keys - And Take A Road Trip!

Tips For Saving Gasoline On Road Trips

I found an article on CNN Money that has a few decent tips on saving gas when taking a road trip. It includes a few things that I hadn't thought of but make sense. For example, the article says that using those rooftop luggage bins can cut your fuel economy by 21% and that every extra 100 pounds of weight cuts 2%. Here's the full article.
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What are you waiting for?
Grab The Keys - And Take A Road Trip!

Panama City Beach - Coming Soon

Be sure to check back next week, as I will be posting some photos and destination info from my next road trip to Panama City Beach, FL next weekend. I will be posting a series of articles based off the trip and will will be writing about the drive, the stay in Panama City Beach, things to do along the way that we discover, and info about Florida in the winter. But check back all this week, too for more updates.
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What are you waiting for?
Grab The Keys - And Take A Road Trip!

Throw Away That Map! - How to navigate like a real road tripper

What's the fun in taking a road trip if you know exactly where you are going? In order to use a map you must have a destination and want to know exactly how to get there - point A to point B in the shortest distance. Sounds to me like a great way to have a nice, uneventful, everyday drive. Maps are for people trying to find uncle Jim's house out in the middle of nowhere for grandma Edna's 112th birthday party. BORING. If your trusty road map is the first thing you reach for when you get ready for a road trip then we need to have a serious discussion here.

What is the point of a road trip? Great question, thanks for asking. For many, the point of a road trip is to get away from the uneventful everyday grind that bores many to tears. For other, a road trip is a way to see new things (which is pretty much the same reason, except this one is used by folks who enjoy their everyday life). Either way, a map won't get you where you want to go. In a true road trip the TRIP is the destination.

How are you going to enjoy the trip when you are spending all your time fumbling with your map and scanning road signs for the next turn? You can't. So throw it away. Now when you first hop in the car you may have a city in mind you haven't seen that you would like to explore, or perhaps a new state you haven't experienced. Great. I have no problem with that. Now go there without a map.

Let's say you live in Chicago, Illinois; and you would love to lay on a warm beach on the gulf for a few hours. You know the beach is south and that's all you need to know at this point. Hop in the car and find a road that goes south. Interstates are fine, especially if you are driving through an area that you don't know very well or if you have to be back in Chicago for work in 4 days.

So you are in your car driving south on some interstate, just outside Chicago and you are ready for a bathroom break. You stop at the nearest rest area and on your way back to the car you spot a great big map on the wall with a bright red arrow in the middle that says "YOU ARE HERE" (Yes it is ok to look at the big maps on the walls of rest areas). Take a quick glance at where you are and where the interstate will be going. If it looks like it will be going toward a beach for a while, then great, get back in the car and keep heading south. Next time you get the urge to stop at a rest area, do the same thing. Eventually you will find that the interstate you are on is about to end or is about to go in the wrong direction. Scan the map for a few seconds and find a new interstate down the road that goes where you want to go. It's that simple. Eventually you will find yourself in a gas station or rest area looking at a big map and you will realize that it is getting warm and you are almost to the beach. Congratulations, you just learned how to navigate like a real road tripper. Wasn't it nice to be able to drive without messing with your map every 5 minutes trying to find the next turn? Granted it may have taken you a bit longer and there was probably a shorter route, but who cares? You enjoyed the trip and that is what counts.

Before You Grab The Keys

Where to go, where not to go, what to do, what not to do, how to get there, how to not get ther, how to have fun, how to not have fun, things to see, things not to see, places to stop, places not to stop, good ideas, bad ideas, and tips. Thats what you will find here (once I get to posting).