ROAD TRIP!!!
It is believed that the first road trip was taken by an American physician, Horacio Nelson Jackson and automobile pioneer Sewall Crocker and their dog Bud. This first road trip across America took 63 days to travel from San Francisco to New York City. In 1903, there weren’t the efficient bridges, highways and technologies that exist today. There also wasn’t easy access to accommodations such as motels (motels officially originated in 1926.)
On the other hand, the trip had no traffic jams at destination locations, such as National Parks, which enabled more unfettered views of the beauty this country has to offer. The development of the road trip inspired millions of Americans for over a century. Road trips are memorialized in books like “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac and “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck. There are also well loved road trip movies like “Rain Man,” “Thelma & Louise,” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
In our culture, we celebrate the great American road trip like we do baseball, apple pie, and Hollywood. And in 2022, we’re experiencing one of the largest revivals of this phenomenon in our time.
In post-pandemic America, nearly 80 percent of travelers said they were going to take a road trip in summer 2022, according to data compiled by Travel Pulse. This equates to approximately 208 million American adults based on the latest census. A Travelocity survey in 2015 found only 65% Americans wanted to take a road trip.
Even honeymooners are ditching the faraway locales and staying local with personalized road where newlyweds can avoid the Coronavirus and its burdensome safety protocols, according to The Knot. An added bonus is that the couple can spend some quality “alone time” away from interruptions and travel at their own pace.
The two-year Covid-19 lockdown and quarantine naturally has impacted travel behavior, so the surge in road trip interest was clearly predictable. With strict rules and regulations at international borders and the possibility of spreading or getting Covid-19, people were seeking for a means to travel shorter distances and with social distancing. Also, remote work was becoming a “new normal,” which allowed weekend escapes to become longer trips with work being accomplished during travel time.
That’s why Americans today are driving across states and from coast to coast more frequently. Social media helps them also document their journeys and share their adventures with others. Road tripping was never dead. It’s more alive now than ever before.
I recommend you read more about Road Trips from the article that this post was based on, “The Great American LGBTQ Road Trip” in Passport Magazine by CLICKING HERE. And I invite you to take your own road trip and share your experiences in our Comments below. Your trip may spark great memories for others in our community who are looking for a way to get away!
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