What is a Road Trip?

Before getting to the heart of the matter and presenting my different road trips, I would like to present to you my vision of this very particular mode of travel.

In this article, we will start by reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of a road trip. Because, although this mode of travel has been popular in recent years, it does not only have advantages and it is better to be aware of this before setting out.

This article is based on my own experience and personal feelings. It only concerns me. Each person can have a different feeling, they should not be taken at face value. In my opinion, the ideal is to have your own experience in order to judge as best you can.

The disadvantages of the Road Trip

The price

We often think that the road trip is an economical mode of travel. This is often true (we will see it in the advantages). But you should know that this can result in quite significant costs, especially if it is poorly prepared . Indeed, there is some equipment to provide, fuel, rental/purchase of the vehicle and maintenance of it. which are the same regardless of the mode of travel).

Hygiene

You should know that during a road trip (especially in a van/car), you will probably not sleep in a hotel every night. It may therefore be complicated to take showers every day. Motorhomes are a little less impacted because most of them are equipped with a shower cabin. However, water being limited by the volume of the tanks, forget the long, hot showers at home.

Comfort of life

Indeed, a motorhome offers a relatively high level of comfort when a car does not offer any at all. The intermediate solution, the van, offers living comfort and less habitability than a motorhome but offers the advantage of having a smaller size and a little more “goes everywhere”.

Indeed, when you have driven a whole day to reach a stage, you still have to find a spot or spend the night. If you have a campervan and you have prepared your road trip well, you have identified the areas allocated to large vehicles and therefore this will not be a problem. On the other hand, if you are in a car and sleeping in a tent, or you are in a van, you may have to turn around a little to find a quiet or nice place to sleep. But don’t be under any illusions, pretty spots are difficult to find, rarely indicated, and sometimes already taken. Prepare to spend some nights in a highway or supermarket parking lot because this could happen to you.

Now let’s move on to the benefits, and they are undeniable!

Imagine, you are in Yellowstone National Park, you loved seeing the Old Faithful Geyser and you would like to take a little hike to see the other geysers. Only, you have to take the car to return to your hotel, it is late and tomorrow you have planned a new stop in the opposite direction. With a van, this problem does not arise, sleep wherever you want (in authorized areas anyway), and come back tomorrow… True freedom is not having any imperative on the return date, but be careful , if you are planning a long loop, lingering in one place will reduce the other steps accordingly.

The price

I know, it’s a disadvantage, but it’s also a relative advantage. If you own your van, car or camper van, you will have little or no accommodation costs! Food costs can also be reduced by preferring simple camping-style cooking to hotel catering. A well-prepared Road Trip can save you a lot of money!

Distances traveled.

When you travel in the classic way and you take a hotel, you have to confine yourself to the region around the hotel. We will choose local activities, visits relatively close by and it will be difficult to travel more than one to two hours away. In a Van, you can drive a whole day, sleep, and then drive another whole day behind to connect two stages if you feel like it! You will enjoy the landscapes even more, you will meet other people, and perhaps come across a great diversity of landscapes, fauna and flora. In the United States, in a day and a half of driving you can, for example, wake up and watch the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, eat and sleep in the evening in Las Vegas and eat a hot dog on Vénice Beach the next day at noon.