Summertime in the States: The All-American Road Trip

Invariably whenever I encounter students hoping to study in America, after they say their university of choice, they continue on to say they want to take the traditional American road trip.

Well, as an American, I can say that sounds exhausting to do the an all American road trip, but I used to drive every day and had to do 5-8 hour trips to visit family on a regular basis… so you may have rose colored lenses in your glasses about the favorite mode of transportation in the US, and I will say, it is a great way to see the US.

Keep in mind the maps can be deceiving, the US is a big big big big big place, so you’ll need to plan your summer break road trip with some stops along the way so you don’t burn out… I would actually recommend that you take parts of these famous routes and scale them down so you’re not ending up across the country with a rental car. 

Ready the mixtapes, cds, playlists, bottles of water, sandwiches, highway bingo books and let’s look at your options.

The scenic Route 1 spans the length of the East coast from the birthplace of  Paul Bunyan in Maine to the sunny Florida Keys. If you’re in an upper East state or Florida, this could be a good route to take. You’ll be stopping through Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, a few places in Connecticut, NYC, the world’s largest lightbulb in Edison, NJ (yes, the whole point of road trips is to stop at these things), Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Arlington National Cemetery, Richmond, Raleigh, Okefenokee Swamp (GA), Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Boca Raton, Miami & the Keys.

If you like seafood, you’ll be going from crabcakes and lobster to crawfish boils and then Cuban-fusion ceviches. This would be a good route if you like history, a bit of a city break and beach rest stops. If you were ambitious, you could do the length in probably 3 days if you jammed everything in and swapped drivers, but you’d really want to take at least a week to be able to get the most out of some of these key US cities!

The ‘On the Road’ cross-country American road trip route made famous by the Jack Kerouac novel is usually what people think of when they want to drive across America. If you’re starting in NY ideally or Ohio/Chicago/Detroit area, you can follow along I80 through the farmlands and stop in Des Moines, Omaha, Lexington, Cheyanne, Salt Lake City, Reno, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and end up in LA. 

A good route if you have a lot of time on your hands, want to see the changes in countryside, don’t mind some boring states (sorry boring states!) and a fairly big budget for gas or the wherewithal to rent a Prius. You could probably skimp and stay in small town rest stops and eat at diners and dives (which I cannot recommend enough, America is famous for highway food and some diners are infamous for their greasy delights, you really cannot skip this element on any of these trips!). I haven’t ever done this route, so I won’t guess on a timeline, but suffice to say you’d want to take more than a week or two…

If you’re in NY, Detroit/Chicago/Minneapolis, or Seattle – this could be a good American road trip route. Sometimes referred to as the High-Line route, you’ll be going through a lot of greenery, some mountains, big cities and like the I80 route, this will take you very nearly from coast to coast, but this time you’ll be going along the Northwestern states along the Canadian border.

If you’re after some great national parks and a stop in probably the most famous waterfall around, take I94 and you’ll be stopping in Bar Harbor, White Mountain National Park, Lake George, Niagra Falls, Cleveland, Cedar Point if you want a theme park!, Indiana Dunes Lakeshore, Chicago, Milwaukee, Devil’s Lake State Park, Minneapolis, Sheyenne National Grasslands, National Bison Range, Glacier National Park, Hell’s Canyon, Grand Coulee Dam and Seattle!