| The art of the road trip is nothing new, whether | | | | other sites of interest are located. What you're |
| backpacking through Europe or going for a | | | | looking for is anything that attracts your curiosity. |
| walkabout in Australia,.humans have been going | | | | A waterfall, for instance, is a great destination or |
| mobile for centuries. Once the automobile was | | | | stop on a road trip, especially if it comes with a |
| introduced, it just expanded our range of distance | | | | short hiking trail to view nature from. State parks, |
| for these fun outings. Maybe you can't think of a | | | | historic sites like battlefields, and wilderness areas |
| destination or a route to take on a road trip, or | | | | are all great sights to see. If your area is more |
| maybe you're convinced that there is nothing to | | | | urban, there are also many options for your road |
| see in your area so why bother going anyway. | | | | trip too. Historic buildings, waterfronts, airports, |
| The best aid in road trip planning is an old | | | | and museums all make great stops on a road trip. |
| fashioned paper map. | | | | Once you've exhausted the labeled items on a |
| So, get out your map and let's take a look. The | | | | map, let your eye catch on the natural layout of |
| best map to use for this purpose will not only | | | | things. Notice how a road snakes it's way up |
| show the main interstates and freeways, but will | | | | through a canyon, that might make for a beautiful |
| also show the lesser used highways and main | | | | drive. See how an older highway goes right |
| county roads. If you're road-tripping as a family, | | | | through five or six small towns while the freeway |
| let the kids help determine the destination. This | | | | just passes them by, there may be something in |
| also helps kids understand the concept of a map | | | | those little towns worth seeing or experiencing. |
| at a younger age than their peers. | | | | Just take a look at the map and notice anything |
| First, you need to know if your road trip is just | | | | that looks even slightly unusual and don't be afraid |
| for the afternoon, the whole day, or multiple | | | | to go check it out. |
| nights. This will give you an idea of how far out on | | | | When you get out the map to help plan your |
| the map from your starting point to look for | | | | road trip, it opens up all sorts of possibilities that |
| places to go. Usually, a multiple night trip will allow | | | | you may have never even considered. Stay off |
| you to form a loop or circle on your trip so that | | | | the beaten paths and the big busy freeways, visit |
| you don't come back home the same way seeing | | | | the overlooked and bypassed small towns and |
| the very same scenery. Now, let the map do its | | | | neighborhoods, and let your imagination - with a |
| job. A good map will have a selection of symbols | | | | little help from a map - plan your route. |
| denoting where campgrounds, state parks, and | | | | |