Road trip vacation

[Jrb1979]

I can't drive to Europe. I also don't get enough vacation time to lose a day on each end to driving.

My last real road trip was in October 2020. I had 2 weeks of vacation time to burn because all my trips had been canceled for to covid and we were not ready for planes yet, so we drove down to WDW.

While I do get 4 weeks of vacation most times they don't let me take 2 weeks at once. I still do week long road trips. A few years ago I did a Kings Island, Cedar Point and Put in Bay roadtrip.

 

[mrodgers]

I can't drive to Europe. I also don't get enough vacation time to lose a day on each end to driving.

My last real road trip was in October 2020. I had 2 weeks of vacation time to burn because all my trips had been canceled for to covid and we were not ready for planes yet, so we drove down to WDW.

That's where experiences cloud things. If you're able to vacation in Europe, you are very far away from the demographic that I am.

 

[disny_luvr]

We took a road trip last summer. We drove from Denver to South Dakota and then onto Yellowstone and the Tetons before heading to Estes Park and then back to Denver. I know we drove over 2,000 miles, but I don’t have the exact number in front of me.

I like road trips; however, I’d rather fly just to save time. We are from PA and did save time by flying to Denver. I don’t have the patience to drive across the country.

We are planning on flying to San Francisco and taking a two-week road trip through CA in 2024.

 

[RedAngie]

This summer my wife, the kids and I are planning a 2 week long road trip. First stop is Thunder Bay Ontario to visit her parents for the first week. The second week the plan is to drive through the US through Minnesota to visit Valley Fair. Then down to Kansas City to visit World's of Fun followed by our last stop at Kings Island in Cincinnati. Looking forward to it.

My question is does anyone else do road trips anymore for vacation?

Theme park road trips are fun. DH and I did a Kennywood, Cedar Point, and Kings Island trip 6 years ago.

I’ve been to both Valleyfair and Worlds of Fun but those were parts of separate long weekends in Minneapolis and Kansas City where we flew. Twins and Royals baseball too.

 

[RD-SOX]

We love road trips! We are a hockey family so that's all we did for years! This summer will be our first WDW trip in 10 years that we are NOT driving from NH. I'm a little sad because I love having a car there but flying for 3 hours will be nice for a change.

 

[goofyernmost]

The thing I miss the most are road trips, with someone or by myself. My spine problems had stopped me short right at the beginning of 2022. I had one surgery in August and will have a second in the spring. After that, if all goes well I will try again to do a trip someplace. Probably the first will be a trip back up to Vermont to visit my sister and perhaps some old friends. I haven't been there since 2016. I've made a few there since I moved to North Carolina in 2011, but the majority since then have been to Florida which is just 10 hours from here. Since I'm approaching 75 this summer I am starting to fear that I might be running out of time to do those things and have to settle for a rocking chair. I am, however, going to do whatever is necessary to get a couple more good years in before I start drooling into my pudding.

I am able, at this time, to do what I call a mini-road trip that involves about a 130 mile round trip from home to I-95, go along on that for a while and then head on back home. I can sit for a while but if I sit to long it is a real chore to get back to walking again. I go to I-95 because that is the road that I have had the most time of road tripping on. It started back in 1983 when my family and I headed down to WDW for the first time. That is when I discovered my love for road trips so that is where I go now because it brings back so many memories of that time when my kids were young. If you want to know how long ago that is in real time, my oldest kid will be 49 tomorrow. Where has it all gone.

Hopefully the second surgery will take care of that. It's basically the same disc problem that Tiger Woods had a few years ago before he came back to win the Masters. So, I am hoping for a much better golfing result when it's all done. The thing is that it is not the surgery that is the problem, it is the recovery that takes forever.

 

[Donnainnj]

In 2022 we did a summer road trip, a couple nights at Cedar Point, a couple nights in Detroit for my brother's wedding, and 6 nights in Pigeon Forge for Dollywood and Smokey Mountain National Park.

Even going by plane to Austin, Texas last April we rented a car, and headed down to San Antonio for over half the trip.

I grew up doing road trips. We would even just ride around looking at nice neighborhoods for fun. My DH's family where campers so also spent time on the road.

We are planning a road trip to Disney this year. Have enough points to fly, but with all the issues out there lately decided to save them for later.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Last road trip was 2014.

But we drive enough times from KC to STL, or KC to Lake of the Ozarks.

I think if we did a national park trip that may or may not be a road trip, may be a case of flying into somewhere making a road trip after that and then flying back.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That's where experiences cloud things. If you're able to vacation in Europe, you are very far away from the demographic that I am.

Well if you're in a position where you have enough vacation time to drive everywhere you vacation you're in a different demographic than most people.

 

[VandVsmama]

Right now, I mostly dislike road trips. But it's because DH is always taking work calls in the car on our road trips. I told him no more road trips unless he's actually going to unplug.

 

[mrodgers]

Well if you're in a position where you have enough vacation time to drive everywhere you vacation you're in a different demographic than most people.

I think very few people don't get any vacation at all. Doesn't matter how much vacation time I have from work, I can only afford a week's travel vacation. Not sure why people wouldn't be able to drive for the day vs. dealing with the airports and planes for day.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think very few people don't get any vacation at all. Doesn't matter how much vacation time I have from work, I can only afford a week's travel vacation. Not sure why people wouldn't be able to drive for the day vs. dealing with the airports and planes for day.

When you add in 1-2 extra days for driving on the front end and 1-2 extra days for driving on the back end you'll understand why people opt to fly. You say you can only afford a week's travel for vacation well depending on where you go that means you're down to 4-5 days max of that vacation due to car travel.

To get to Orlando is an 18 hour (2-days really for safety) drive OR a 2 hour 45min non-stop flight. And I say this being in the middle of the country. So if driving 4 days are taken out just due to transit. So if you only get a week you're down to 3 days of actual vacation. Or if you're flying depending on your flights you still get close to 6-7 days.

 

[mrodgers]

When you add in 1-2 extra days for driving on the front end and 1-2 extra days for driving on the back end you'll understand why people opt to fly. You say you can only afford a week's travel for vacation well depending on where you go that means you're down to 4-5 days max of that vacation due to car travel.

To get to Orlando is an 18 hour (2-days really for safety) drive OR a 2 hour 45min non-stop flight. And I say this being in the middle of the country. So if driving 4 days are taken out just due to transit. So if you only get a week you're down to 3 days of actual vacation. Or if you're flying depending on your flights you still get close to 6-7 days.

I don't know, I did it just fine. 19 hours though, not 18 hours. 9 days of the week from Friday to Monday, driving or flying, it would be a day of travel on either end. We chose to do the drive down in 2 days and drove straight through home. Spent 6 days in Disney. Not sure why that is a difficult concept other than to start an argument for argument's sake.

 

[Jrb1979]

When you add in 1-2 extra days for driving on the front end and 1-2 extra days for driving on the back end you'll understand why people opt to fly. You say you can only afford a week's travel for vacation well depending on where you go that means you're down to 4-5 days max of that vacation due to car travel.

To get to Orlando is an 18 hour (2-days really for safety) drive OR a 2 hour 45min non-stop flight. And I say this being in the middle of the country. So if driving 4 days are taken out just due to transit. So if you only get a week you're down to 3 days of actual vacation. Or if you're flying depending on your flights you still get close to 6-7 days.

For us driving to Florida isn't a road trip so we usually fly. For us a road trip is making multiple stops at different places for a day or two then moving on before we have to head home. This summer that road trip I posted about will be every second day will be a new city and a new park.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

For us driving to Florida isn't a road trip so we usually fly. For us a road trip is making multiple stops at different places for a day or two then moving on before we have to head home. This summer that road trip I posted about will be every second day will be a new city and a new park.

Exactly. When the journey is the stops along the way of course you're doing a road trip, but if you're comparing a destination and whether to drive to that destination or fly there are pros and cons to both.

 

[Moliphino]

I don't know, I did it just fine. 19 hours though, not 18 hours. 9 days of the week from Friday to Monday, driving or flying, it would be a day of travel on either end. We chose to do the drive down in 2 days and drove straight through home. Spent 6 days in Disney. Not sure why that is a difficult concept other than to start an argument for argument's sake.

If I fly I get 9 park days. If I drive it's maybe 6-7.

 

[Jrb1979]

Exactly. When the journey is the stops along the way of course you're doing a road trip, but if you're comparing a destination and whether to drive to that destination or fly there are pros and cons to both.

We drove to Myrtle Beach one year and it cuts your time short. We will never drive down again.

 

[Stratman50th]

We also have an RV and that's the only way we travel. It's our condo with wheels. We drive to the destination location and use the car to hit the touristy-sightseeing stuff. My flying days are over.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't know, I did it just fine. 19 hours though, not 18 hours. 9 days of the week from Friday to Monday, driving or flying, it would be a day of travel on either end. We chose to do the drive down in 2 days and drove straight through home. Spent 6 days in Disney. Not sure why that is a difficult concept other than to start an argument for argument's sake.

Is it a badge of pride or something to drive 19 hours in a day? Truly asking as my comparison was the time to get from one place to another. It's less than 3 hours flying or more than 18 hours for just the drive without respects to any stops including fill ups.

I feel you're def. trying to miss the point. You're the one who said you don't understand why people fly vs drive. Both have their own downsides. When you mentioned to another poster that if you're able to go to Europe that means you're in a different category than who you are around. Why can't you see that you actually have the fortune and ability in the first place to burn vacation days on just transit?

I have a DISer friend living in Orlando that has done the 18 hour drive in a day leaving at 3/4am but for safety reasons I would not want to do that. We've done 11 1/2 hours before driving to CO switching drivers and taking a break for stretching legs, bathroom, lunch but 18 hours even switching when there's only 24 hours in a day is not really advisable.

 

[goofyernmost]

When you add in 1-2 extra days for driving on the front end and 1-2 extra days for driving on the back end you'll understand why people opt to fly. You say you can only afford a week's travel for vacation well depending on where you go that means you're down to 4-5 days max of that vacation due to car travel.

To get to Orlando is an 18 hour (2-days really for safety) drive OR a 2 hour 45min non-stop flight. And I say this being in the middle of the country. So if driving 4 days are taken out just due to transit. So if you only get a week you're down to 3 days of actual vacation. Or if you're flying depending on your flights you still get close to 6-7 days.

Those are the reasons that people that don't enjoy road trips use to justify their actions. Those of us that love road trips can argue that the world looks a lot different at ground level then 30K feet above it. If my time window is short, then I use airplanes, however, to me the getting there and the getting back is as much of an adventure (or can be) as the destination. I have used both and at age 74 still prefer road trips.

To me the country is just one huge theme park. Some good parts some bad parts but all part of where I live and I love seeing the good, the bad and the ugly. And I can take whatever I want with me, no TSA, no sitting on runways for hours waiting for weather to clear 1000 miles away, no being treated like cattle traversing the ramp into the tubular cage and directed to sit and like it. There is a freedom to being on the road, a mystery and challenges to be overcome. I control how I get someplace, I make it happen, I don't rely on some kid that is young enough to be my grandchild getting behind the wheel and catapulting us about 6 miles above the ground held up there only by the talents of some ground mechanics that I didn't get to choose. When I have to I will use the Wright Brothers contribution to society, but when I can I will make my own way.