Traveling

[JoyJoyJoy]

Reading about @MapleLeaf's travels got me thinking about being on the road.

The farthest I have been in a car is about 900 miles. Have made this trip many times, sometimes driving straight through, sometimes breaking it into 2 days.

My husband and his entire family think making good time is everything. They will stop only for gas. Otherwise, food and drink is packed and eaten on the road. Then once they make their destination, everybody asks..how long did it take you?? Regardless of your answer, the reply is always the same...Hmm, that's not bad.

I have convinced my dh that it's ok to make rest stops and stretch your legs and take a deep breath and enjoy the trip.

My inlaws had friends from another state., Minnesota, I think. They had a big van and would pack their food, sleeping bags and even a Porta potty. One would drive while the other slept....in the back...with the potty!!! My inlaws loved traveling with them. I may have died if I had to travel like that, especially if my dh was using that potty.

How do you travel???

 

[JoyJoyJoy]

One of our best trips was when we rented a van and my dd, sil, and kids went. I don't care to drive but the other 3 took turns so we drove straight through for a total of 16-18 hours. We started late afternoon and drove through the night.

All of us together made for a lot of laughs and entertainment.

 

[Tall Timbers]

How do you travel???

Either by car/truck or airplane. Most of my trips are to the lower 48 via Alaska Airlines. I buy the expensive seats because I'm big enough that long flights in the back can be pretty painful. This year I drove down the Alaska/Canadian (ALCAN) Hwy 3 times and back up once. It's a rough trip as it is many days and you don't have much choice in how long you drive the first couple of days because towns of any significant size are about 600 miles from each other. So we always stay in Whitehorse and then in Fort Nelson. On the third day, towards the latter half of the day drive you start reaching parts of Canada that has more services and population. If you can sleep in your vehicle or travel trailer you could stop whenever you wanted to, I guess.

My most recent trip was a 5000 miler. My longest driving trip was 8000 miles when I retired from the Air Force at Offutt AFB and we made our way up to Alaska while visiting friends and family all over the place. We had 4 young children on that 8000 miler... they did pretty well.

Once I complete our move to the lower 48 I'll probably drive for most of my travels.

 

[Baby Yoda]

We used to enjoy day trips or traveling to the next state, but now sciatica pain keeps us driving shorter distances. Funny how a car seat will make that act up.

 

[Leigh]

If we have a particular destination then we get there as quickly as we reasonably can, but we don't drive all night or sleep in our car.

But our typical vacation is to rent a car, pick a direction and start driving (often backroads since the scenery is usually prettier that way), stopping along the way when there's something interesting to see or a fun place to tour. The drive is half the fun and we talk more in the car than at home!!

 

[MapleLeaf]

Aw, I inspired a thread! LOL We're starting our second leg of the journey today and I have my usual pre-travel insomnia. We have been driving a lot more lately as, until recently, we weren't allowed to get onto a plane here in Canada. I used to fly back home a lot because it's only a 2 hour flight and the kids could handle that. It made me more willing to do it on my own if my husband couldn't get the time off of work. It's expensive but my dad would let us use his air miles. I am hoping we can try to fly more again. My husband's work only does shutdown so that controls when we can go and then 4 days of the week off are travel there and back. We always drive to my inlaws because, even before the pandemic, by the time we got to the nearest airport (2 hours away) and having to be there a few hours early it just just didn't feel worth it. We'd be 'travelling' just as long as it takes to drive there. I'm not sure if our airports are still as choked up as they were this past winter.

For road trips I can't do any reading or any sort of activity because I would instantly get car sick. So we listen to music, admire the scenery and my husband and I solve all of the world's problems as we go. haha Both my kids USED to be able to read in the car so we'd pack a tote bag filled with all of the old Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts comics my husband had and they would read. Even when going for 15 hours a day to get to my family they would read and draw and just be good. But this past summer, my daughter started to complain about headaches whenever she read and then she got sick. So that's out the door. For this trip I ended up ordering a few audio books and put them onto our iPod. I found a few cheaper ones for her and then the iTunes store had a special offer for a free copy of Anne of Green Gables. She is currently listening to the Beatrix Potter collection. I also got her a book from Thornton Burgess and one of the Ramona Quimby books (those are her favourites). I need to make sure to have a bottle of Gingerale and some Gravol for the both of us. This summer, I got sick on day 2 of driving when the sun glinted off the glare of our iPod the wrong way and then we hit a particularly windy section of the road where I actually had to throw up in bucket. I had gotten sick at the exact same section the year before. My son still can read in the car and he has a "draw your own comics" book and has been working on a story he is very proud of. He was drawing underneath his blanket so my daughter wouldn't be tempted to look and get sick. She's a reader and is sad she can no longer read in the car. But she told me the audio book is "giving her a lot of imagination". They both still like to have their favourite stuffies and blankets in the car with them.

I am also about the cheesy roadside stops. Kids are still kids and everybody appreciate the chance to get out and stretch their legs. If your small town has a dopey giant statue we are stopping and taking a photo. If there is some beautiful nature lookout we're stopping. If there is a beach we can throw rocks into we are stopping. We keep the stops short but the breaks help. Heading out across the prairies I am realizing there are not as many interesting stops. But there are a few potential places.

I plan out our itineraries in great detail weeks in advance. I am insane about planning when it comes to maps and researching every place we will pass but I still hate packing. My husband has to talk me down from the ledge every time. One time he found me lying flat on my face in the kitchen asking if he could give me a lobotomy. I go over every inch of Google Maps so I know where all the bathrooms and gas stations and fun stops will be. I tried to keep the cheesy stops to a minimum this time because I don't know if my inlaws are really up for all that.

 

[mphsmom]

The only time I ever really went on any real trips was when I was very young. My parents took us by plane to Walt Disney World in Florida once, and we drove from Connecticut to the Catskill Game Farm a couple of times. Since I have been with my husband, we drove to Rhode Island a few times to go deep sea fishing, but that was many, many moons ago. I have not gone anywhere in at least 25 years.

 

[Kerbluey]

We do it both ways. On vacation my normally impatient husband turns into Mr Stop and Smell the Roses. We’ve discovered some amazing places off the beaten path this way. One year we got a book on all the known Oregon Trail markers and graves and visited them into wyoming.

If it’s my mom and I going to Florida to visit my aunt we like to make time. We pack food and drinks and do everything when we stop for gas—bathroom breaks, gas up, water and walk the dogs, then hit the road and put the pedal to the metal. We considered getting a camper to sleep in but changed our minds.

One year my mom, me, and my aunt drove from Missouri to Fort Morgan, Alabama, and rented a house on the beach. There is no fast way to get there. All 13 hours is through every podunk town in Alabama. About the time you finally reach 55 mph you hit another town and have to slow down to 25. Im convinced the beach is only 4 hours away but takes 13 due to this! AAAAAA!

 

[Kerbluey]

Just wanted to say I live in a podunk town. I’m not mocking podunk at all, lol.