Next summer, I'm taking a road trip

[MoseyWalker]

I've done some other things over the past few years that I won't bore you with, but this is my thought.

I'm going to start from the desert southwest, and spend 4 weeks traveling across the country, meeting regular people in small towns, and talking to them - telling them what I think I know, and asking them what they think and what they want to know.

Any comments/ideas/thoughts?

I really am going to do this, assuming I'm still alive.

[rwheeler31]

1. good

ny

[havocmom]

2. You'll have enough material for a couple of books

if you do it right.

Send me postcards. I love postcards ;)

[The Straight Story]

3. I have traveled from Ohio to CA 9 times by car

for a total of 18 trips.

Met a lot of cool people, ate at a lot of neat places, and seen some awesome things.

So I guess I will toss out a few ideas for you:

1. Generate a web site that people you talk to can go to. They can leave comments, etc, so they can follow up on things.

2. Keep a log of where you go, and even gas mileage, where you stopped for gas, how much it was, etc. I still look over mine and it helps me jog my memory on some things.

3. Research some before hand, but just start driving and stop places along the way 'as the spirit moves you' to do.

4. Get a small hand held digital voice recorder, comes in handy!

5. Listen a lot to people. I have sat in diners from the route 66 cafe to the owl cafe and the locals can be quite interesting. I usually sit and listen to them and take it in.

6. Try to eat the 72oz steak at the Big Texan :)

[MoseyWalker]

5. thanks!

good ideas!

:thumbsup:

[The Straight Story]

6. one more thing

Try to keep a diary of it eventually. I didn't, but one day I sat down to write about my first trip. It was the first time out of Ohio really, and I was going alone.

My gas logs helped jar my memory on some of the details of where I was and what time. It was the most memorable trip of my life, so much forgotten yet so many things remembered.

If I did it up will toss it on my website.

[Catherine Vincent]

4. Good deal.

Very fortunate that you can do that. Take care.

[pitohui]

7. as the other poster say, keep a diary or blog

when i road trip i do not really wish to meet people, or i will meet them on a very limited basis, i like to get into nature, but it's a big country, there is room for your kind of trip too

you can blog as you go or you can keep a written diary and blog when you get back, the advantage of "blog as you go" is that your friends on DU, your mom, etc. can read your thoughts as they occur

the advantage of after the fact posting in the blog is you have more opportunity to edit your thoughts and your photographs at leisure

i usually write short notes in my blog during the trip, then post a full trip report when i'm back and have time to do the photo editing

a little digital camera can add a lot to a trip report, although since your trip is more about ideas, you may not wish to spend so much time on photos -- i still suggest a small digital camera, if you're alone using such a camera, you will frequently be approached by solo women travelers or couples who want their pictures taken, it's a good way to strike up a conversation

the southwest is a great place for such road trips but we have done them in louisiana, in the appalachians, even in canada

often if you are in the mood to talk w.out being hit on, i find the seniors (the senior couples) visiting the nature areas to be good, sny sign of interest at all and many have great stories to tell, in real life i often don't feel in the mood for much talking but i like to hear new stories

oh very important, you may get a free map/trip planner from triple a or another travel service, however, leave your schedule pretty loose, so you can pull off and check out sites you didn't expect to find

my husband once wanted to stop and see every cave we passed in the state of virginia, you know what, it turned into a pretty cool experience

so my most important advice -- leave yourself "slack" in the schedule -- unfortunately if you want to do bed & breakfasts you often have to schedule in advance w. nonrefundable deposits, -- i prefer to avoid the b&b's except when my husband has a special request or the place in question is really something special -- otherwise, leave a little slack and if need be, stay in a tent in a park one night, stay in a day's inn with a free "happy hour" of horrible beer and popcorn for the working class crew staying in the motel, stay in the fancy place that put up a last minute schedule as you passed -- just be open, it's fun

my husband is one of those totally convinced that if every hotel isn't scheduled in advance, we'll have to sleep on the roof of the car, but it has never happened, you always find something and it can be a real kick

if you are planning to stay w. friends or DUers or other message boarders, you probably need to have more of a schedule for those days, but just leave at least a few day's slack somewhere in the trip, trust me, you'll be glad you did

p.s. if you don't have a host for your blog, diaryland.com is still free, host your pictures on photobucket and blam, wham, instant free website with NO advertising on your page -- this site deserves to be better known

[alittlelark]

8. I travel the SW 2-3 times a year

It is a wonderful region of the world. I grew up in NM - it's hard to leave once it's in your blood.


When you get an idea of what you are looking for in your journey PM me.

[TahitiNut]

9. Follow the old Route 66 corridor - Los Angeles to Chicago.

It's all interstate, now, but it's what I think of as a cross-section of 'America.' My parents took me from Detroit to Los Angeles (Glendale) when I was about 9 years old in about 1952 - the hay-day of Route 66. It's a trip I remember even today, 54 years later.

[Stardust]

10. I'm jealous. Have a wonderful, safe, outrageous trip.

[lonestarnot]

11. Excellent idea. Be safe and send nightly reports here.

[Robbien]

12. Take a look at this blogger who did the same thing

Editor's Note: After the 2004 election, Rose Aguilar, like many other progressives, was haunted by the same question: what went wrong and why? She realized that the answer lay not in the liberal bubble of San Francisco but in the vast expanses of George Bush's America, among the many people who voted for him despite the best efforts of progressives everywhere. Over the next four months, Aguilar plans to visit a number of red states, including Mississippi, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and Utah. Her first stop was Zavala County, Texas.

this is her blog
http://storiesinamerica.blogspot.com/2005/07/life-on-road.html

and one of her stories on alternet
http://alternet.org/story/22059/

[lies and propaganda]

13. well, I live in Phx

But I am a Louisiana native, so Ive had to take that drive many a time. If youre looking for regular people, or freedom fries, theres about a dozen Texas places & routes to find it at. Then you can make your way to NOLA to see what the government is doing to its people, up close and personal.

Or maybe thats the trip Im taking in a week, but either way....