How Road Trips Give Us a New Perspective

Everyone has their own favorite way to travel, whether it's a cross-country road trip or catching a flight. With the high speeds and convenience offered by trains and planes, it’s easy to write off driving cross-country as the inferior method to reach the next destination.

To get the most out of your trips, you must recognize that any way you choose to arrive will have its own unique pros and cons.

A road trip can be a bit of a slow-burning adventure, but it opens our eyes and can give us an entirely new perspective on traveling. There are several reasons why road trips are better or more fun than flying!

1. We learn to appreciate not just the destination, but the journey.

A seasoned road tripper will tell you that the destination oftentimes is not even the highlight of the trip. Whether you are traveling alone, with friends, or with your significant other, the sights you will see and conversations you have along the way will stand out in your memories forever.

Watching the world pass by the car window is a completely different experience than observing it from a plane. With every mile, you witness the mundanities, absurdities, and natural wonder of each place you pass through.

There is something cathartic about stopping for fuel or refreshments in a city you’ve never been to and seeing the locals living their daily lives as usual. If you’re a nature lover, you won’t miss a single mountain, river, or forest along the way.

2. You can travel on your own terms.

When you drive to your destination, you have a lot more freedom than you do when flying. There are no bags to check, planes to catch, or schedules to stick to. You can mold a road trip into anything you want it to be.

Imagine it’s a Friday afternoon, you just got home from work, and you are feeling the travel itch. With the freedom to pack up your car and go, there’s nothing stopping you from embarking on an impromptu weekend adventure! When is the last time you let yourself take an opportunity to go on a spontaneous travel adventure?

Maybe you will fall in love with a town where you stopped to rest on the way to a week-long getaway. Maybe that rest stop turns into two days of exploring the area, getting to know the locals, and taking in everything it has to offer. And maybe you’ll even find that you wish you had spent more time there. 

The beauty of road trips is that any destination you see along the way can inspire your next trip!

3. Road trips nurture patience.

In today’s world, we have become accustomed to everything being as close to instantaneous as possible. We shop online and expect it to arrive the next day. We hop on planes and touch ground three hours later in a city we’ve never seen before.

Road trips are the antithesis of this. When you pack your road trip essentials and buckle up in the driver’s (or passenger!) seat, you are accepting the fact that you have several hours and hundreds or thousands of miles between you and your dream destination.

Once you arrive, all the sleep-deprived hours on the road will immediately be forgotten and the euphoria of exploration will take over, showing you that patience really does pay off.

4. They give us a break from it all.

You can’t beat the level of introspection you reach after several long hours on the road.

When you are driving through the day and night, you don’t have time to check up on work or social media. The stress of these daily routines melt away, and you can focus on what’s really important to you. It’s amazing to see where your mind will wander without the pressure of checking your email or liking your friend’s new post.

It’s a great time to focus your thinking on your personal goals and growth. When you return home, the grind of daily life will be waiting for you, you will feel refreshed and ready to take on everything with a new perspective.

Whether you are a veteran road tripper or heading out on the road for the first time, tracking and planning your travels will enhance your adventures. If you’re ready to immortalize your road trips (and more!) in your home, a push pin travel map is the best place to start.