The world has, let’s say, 50 million places to visit. (Earth’s area is rather more than 200 million square miles, maybe 25% is land area. We could, in theory, say each square mile is a place to visit. Give or take.) You’re not likely to see them all. (Lessee—a one minute visit to each “place” would take you more than 90 years to visit every place. That’s 24 hours a day, too.) This blog’s sister site, What’s your destination? mentions a few of them. (Don’t be too critical–it’s just getting started). You can also Google about any place name you like and get more information than you’re likely to need.

So let’s not try to cover destinations here.

How about no destination? They say (It’s a Zen saying, by the way) the journey is the destination. This kind of road trip can be relaxing, unless you’re one of those goal-oriented types who just has to be headed somewhere. The trick is to have more time available than you need to get someplace (or get back), and try to take that whole time. If you can convince yourself that you have PLENTY of time, you will go slower, watch what’s going on more, meander more (turn off on side roads), maybe stop and check things out more. You’ll arrive (or return) more relaxed and refreshed than you would believe. Give it a try, then comment below. No hurry.

(Did you catch the allusion to the song in the title of this post?)

A couple posts down you can find something about vehicles for road trips. This time we think about passengers.

Solo—Freedom! Nobody to negotiate with about breaks or exact route, speed, meals, or choice of radio station. You go where you want, when you want and how you want. This freedom can be liberating, and a lot of motorcyclists prefer to travel this way. But beware the tendency to fall asleep when you’re alone, and be sure your solitude doesn’t turn into loneliness.

Adult companion—If you are okay with sharing the timing of meal and potty breaks, agree on a route, and have similar preferences for side trips,  adult conversation is nice, a competent navigator is nice, and just plain companionship is nice. My wife and I have a system we like: She drives and I read to her.

Kids—The key to this travel technique is: The shorter the better. Reconcile yourself to dealing with the squabbles and short attention spans. I remember dad fixing the back seat into a bed, and we actually did sleep a little. New toys help, renting a large vehicle helps, traveling games help (watch for out of state license plates, find objects that start with each letter of the alphabet, that sort of thing), and frequent breaks help. Reconcile yourself to a slower trip.

How do you like to travel? (I didn’t mention pets…) Add your adventures and opinions in the comments link below.

“Pro” in the sense of travel agent. Yup, my friend is a bona fide travel agent. She says the biggest mistake people make when they take a vacation is they pack too much. Here’s how to pack:

• Lay out everything you plan to pack on the bed. Put half of it back; pack the rest.
• If you’re a guy, and you’re going on a cruise, pack your old undies. Throw them out as the cruise progresses. You eliminate laundry and having to pack dirty underwear when you return home. (Sounds gross, but speaking as a guy, it makes sense.)
• Don’t fold your clothing when you pack. Roll all your clothes into cylinders. The clothes don’t wrinkle, and for some reason, the items seem to take up less space. Easier to find stuff, too.

I think that’s the title of a song. (If you wrote the song and don’t want the free plug, tell me and I’ll change the title of this post. To Fred.)

Anyway, One of the first posts on this blog touches on several types of vacations, and several recent posts have mentioned those types in a bit more detail. Now it’s time to mention the road trip.

Road trips come in several varieties, depending on the vehicle, the passengers, and the destination.

Vehicle

• Starting at the bottom, you can do without your own vehicle. Stand well into the shoulder of the road and put your thumb out. A sign helps, and wearing a shirt and tie helps. I did a lot of this in college. Maybe I should stop while I’m ahead, and mention that I’m not recommending you attempt this kind of travel. Maybe I’ll post more about hitchhiking some other time.
• Next up is riding a two-wheeled conveyance, such as a bicycle. Human-powered bicycling is a whole subculture all its own, and if you want to consider this kind of trip, you probably already have plenty of connections within the community.
• So is motorcycling a subculture, but you’ll find a lot of short-distance riders out there. One motorcycle club, the Iron Butt Association (real name) has plenty of advice on how to commit a long motorcycle ride. To join them, you have to document a ride of 1000 miles or more in 24 hours or less. Enough said, for now. Yes, mea culpa; I belong.
• Finally we get to automobiles. Consider renting a car instead of using your own. Especially if you belong to a travel club that offers steep discounts, such as (ahem) Serenity Travel, renting can be less expensive than putting all that stress on the old heap, and you have fewer worries about breakdowns and accidents. Your insurance company’s web site probably has a good list of things to check on regarding your car before you head out.
• You can go bigger than a mere automobile. I definitely recommend that you rent that RV. Unless you make road trips a lifestyle (subculture-based groups for that, too), you won’t get enough use out of an RV to justify the cost. I see more RVs parked in driveways than I see on the road. And you have fewer maintenance and repair hassles with a rental RV, too. Perhaps the best thing is that RVs are great for small groups, say two or three couples. You can split the cost, and you can enjoy good fun and fellowship while traveling, not just at your destination. Put some bicycles on the carrier in the back.

This is getting too long to cover passengers and destinations, so look for parts 2 and 3.

Not our receptionist! She’s one of those folks who would rather sit in the parking lot than be late. Her idea of the best time to show up for work is half an hour early. She feels positive glee when she’s the first person to show up. She says she wouldn’t sleep in late anyway because of her two-year-old alarm clock, but she seems to positively enjoy being on time.

I think that’s the kind of person you want to have for a receptionist. Nobody gets held up waiting for the doors to be unlocked, the occasional customer who calls before you open is greeted by a human instead of an answering machine, and sometimes the coffee gets an early start. Always a nice thing.

My experience so far is that everyone around here likes to exceed expectations. It’s a good place to be associated with.