I always have had a strong predilection for travel. I can’t explain the “why” part well, I’ve just always loved to find a set of wheels and take off to somewhere new. When I was a teenager I rode Greyhound buses all across the western U.S., and ever since I got my license in late ’99 I’ve been driving myself wherever I damn well pleased. If I had kept track of all of the places I’ve driven I could easily claim a million miles, and that’s not even close to an exaggeration.
My start at BangShift didn’t occur with Parts Guy, but with a chance trip to Bonneville that came up on the largest roadtrip I ever planned out. After my home life had fallen apart, I took thirty days leave from the Army, packed up my 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo SS and just drove. During the trip I raced with Bamfster at Bandimere in Denver. I hung out with KSJ1 and Ron Ward in Topeka. I spent time with my friends and family in Illinois, which is always therapeutic, and I was going to make a slow cruise through Iowa up to Montana and camp for a week in the mountains when I got informed that Speed Week was going on. I made a mad dash out to Wendover (including a very impromptu top-speed run on I-70), had one hell of a time, met numerous BangShifters out on the salt, and was having a blast until I got a phone call informing me that my leave had been cancelled and that I had twenty-four hours to get back to base in Washington State. After meeting Freiburger and Chad at a gas station, I booked it in my longest “cannonball run” ever and made it home in time for dinner.
I enjoy the drive as much as the new destinations. I find solace in the drive. When I’m by myself, I will go long periods without the radio on, just thinking (or even better, giving my brain a chance to shut up for once). If I don’t have a schedule to keep to, then all the better, as I can deviate, stop and investigate new finds as I please. If I got lucky enough to pull thirty days off with a budget to cover my costs, I’d just take a huge tour of the West: Arizona to see some friends, the entire Coastal Highway from south to north, which lets me see friends in San Diego, San Francisco and Crescent City, California; north to Washington to visit some family and friends; across Montana to soak in that scenery again, then south through the Dakotas to Missouri, where I’d catch I-64 across Illinois to visit friends and family there, and finally back home. I’d also like to drive the Dempster Highway in Alaska once, and never mind other travels, like Austraila…
Since the holiday is over and everyone is begrudgingly back to work, take a second and think it over: You’ve got thirty days with nowhere to be and nothing in particular you have to do. Where are you going? What would you take? Would you go visit those close to you that you don’t see often enough or would this be your chance to just disappear?
“Sometimes I sits and think and sometimes I just sit” Don’t know who to credit for this but the same thing can be said for driving. “Monkey Butt” and a car/ motorcycle, who could ask for more!
Yup. Heading out on the Great Canadian Road Trip to Nova Scotia and other points east in a few weeks. Including driving around Cape Breton, said to be one of the world’s greatest driving roads.
People keep looking at me strangely because I don’t want to “just fly out there and get it over with.” WTF kind of fun is that?
Drive the Cabot Trail on CBI, it’s spectacular from the back of a cycle.
I made many therapeutic road trips from San Diego to Tucson and back while in the US Navy, driving my 1974 Dodge D100, sometimes just listening to the engine.
I’m a fan of just hitting the road.
Money not being a problem, I’d go where the nose of the car led me. Until I decided I wanted to go somewhere else. I’d love to see the Pacific Northwest and the badlands, got friends in California, Florida, and Tennessee I’d like to see again. Get lost in the desert for awhile. Lounge on a warm sunny beach… There’s just too much to do, so I’d simply do whatever struck my fancy at the time.
I want to recreate the Top Gear road trip across South America in a M715, unfortunately I can barely afford to drive to work these days.
I have always been a fan of hitting the road. I drive for a living so that works out well. The Alaska Highway is one of the all time favourites for me. FYI the Dempster is in Yukon Territory Canada and is very much worth the drive! I recommend it in the winter as the surface is shale and eats tires so in the winter the snow and ice will save your tires some. Also no waiting for the Ferries as the frozen rivers are part of the highway in the winter. Also you can go all the way to Tuktoyaktuk as the frozen Arctic ocean at that point is part of the NWT highway system and as such open to the public.
Fuel has a lot to do with it though, let’s not kid ourselves. I think that has more to do with the lack of “road trip mentality” than anything. I bought my ’96 Civic CX SPECIFICALLY to do this trip, because it was literally the only way we could afford it. I did the math with my Ford pickup and it was gonna be like $2500 in gas. Ridiculous. With the Honda I’ve budgeted $600 and it might even be too much. Makes a huge difference. Plus, while I can’t carry or tow much, a Civic with a stick is way more fun to drive on the Cabot Trail. 😉
But there’s still way, way too many gas guzzlers on the road, and so people who own them basically nix any chance at a road trip. I’d sure LOVE to take a muscle car on a road trip, but damn it better not be a long one!