33 Reasons why road trips are fun
Ever wondered why you should go on a road trip? How can road trips even be fun if you’re driving all along? Well, I have 33 reasons why road trips are fun and why you should definitely start planning a great road trip adventure!
From getting to know yourself better, to the freedom the road trip will allow you, to seeing more than you had originally planned, these are just a glimpse of how a road trip can end up being amazing!
So allow me to show you the many reasons why road trips are fun!
open roads are perfect for clearing your mind
Once you hit the road, it’s a good opportunity to let go of all of your worries and stresses. You might end up thinking about them at some point during your road trip. Being on the open road will help you let go of it all but might also bring you the peace of mind you needed. You might find solutions to your problems as well by having an Ah-Ha moment.
It will give you time to reflect on life
Sometimes being silent for a while on a road trip can be healing for the soul. Seeing all those open roads and beautiful sceneries passing by will give you plenty of time to reflect on many things.
You might take some time to analyze where you are in your life and where you want to be. Reflect on your upcoming goals maybe. Think about where you see yourself in a couple of years. Maybe just think about who you are right now and who you would like to be in the next couple of years.
Spending time reflecting on your present and your future can set you up and give you direction. Reflecting on the past while enjoying the road can also heal wounds.
Break from your stressful routine
Going on a road trip will make you do something other than your day-to-day routine. From working all week, weekends even sometimes, taking care of the kids and their activities, doing their homework, or just your daily routine.
Sometimes, this routine can be stressful, and nowadays we all try, me included to be perfect in pretty much everything we do. This can end up being very stressful and even unhealthy sometimes.
The road trip will allow you to completely ignore your usual routine and get rid of the stress it brings into your life. You will be more at ease, and more relaxed and you will be able to enjoy yourself more while exploring some new places.
Forget about your work
Some jobs can be more demanding than others. Every job is as important as any other. Certain jobs might ask for more time than others which could lead to a lot of overtime, a lot of time away from home or your family, or even just bringing some work home after hours.
Road tripping is a good opportunity to forget all about work. Leave everything at home, don’t bring your work computer, work phone or even files you are working on.
Enjoy your trip without work distractions. You are on vacation after all! Take that time to think about anything else but work.
Road trips will bring you some great life lessons
Road trips are great for the adventure they will bring into your life but it’s also great to learn. You can learn something from a new place you’re visiting that you didn’t know about.
You could also learn a completely new way of life. If you’re road tripping in a more laid-back country, you could love it so much that you integrate it into your own lifestyle once you get home.
You can also go through different situations that will forge your character or make you learn something useful that you’ll be able to incorporate into your daily life.
Maybe you’ll just learn a lesson on something you should never do again. The possibilities are endless on what the road trip can bring into your life.
Time to relax and enjoy the moment
While road tripping, take the time to enjoy the moment!
Life is so fast passed nowadays that sometimes we forget to enjoy ourselves and actually appreciate what is going on around us.
Make sure you spend some time relaxing on your road trip and enjoy every little moment of it. Schedule a looser itinerary in order to relax and be present. Spend more time visiting something you’ve planned to enjoy even more!
Being present and forgetting about the stressful routines that we spend almost every day going through is a great reason to appreciate a good road trip.
Time to yourself or quality time with your partner
If you are traveling on a road trip solo, it’s a great opportunity to get to know yourself better. The road trip itself will give plenty of different experiences, either good or not so good, that will help shape your personality and get to know how you react to different situations.
Traveling with your partner, and road-tripping together is a great opportunity to get to know each other even better. Whether you’re in a new relationship or you’ve been together for many years, you can always learn something new from each other.
Take this opportunity to talk more than your usual day-to-day.
You can find all my favorite road trip games for adults that can help you get to know each other better by playing these games. Traveling with the kids? You can find all my favorite road trip games for kids and even free printables to get you going!
You’re in charge
You’re basically in control of everything on your road trip, except maybe traffic! You’ll be in charge of planning everything so you’ll be making all of the decisions to make your trip amazing.
You can choose where and when to go, what you’re going to do, and change it as you see fit.
You will have complete freedom
Road trips allow complete freedom on what you’ll do. You can actually plan your trip as you want. You can choose what cities you want to see, what attractions you want to stop by, which country you will be visiting and even who you are going with.
Booking a tour won’t allow you that much freedom. You will have fixed visits planned, at fixed times and your itinerary will be limited to the organized tour.
By planning your own itinerary, you’ll have the freedom to do whatever you want, when you want during your planned vacation.
Not sure how to plan that road trip and not book a tour? Read how to plan an epic road trip next to help do just that!
You can be more spontaneous
Not having a super-charged itinerary will allow you to be more spontaneous. You’ll be able to do whatever you want when you want. Go where you want without anything holding you back. Road trips will allow you the freedom to choose as you go what you feel like doing.
You’ll be able to go with the flow. Choose everything and change your mind however you feel like it or wherever the wind brings you!
Road trips can be more flexible
Before going on your road trip, you’ll probably do a little bit of planning. You don’t have to plan it to the second but at least you’ll have some sort of rough plan before leaving.
An advantage of road trips is that even though you have a plan in mind, the beauty is that you can change your original plan completely because you actually have the flexibility to do so.
If one day you were planning on doing a hike and the weather isn’t cooperating, you have the flexibility to do something else and come back to your hike on another day or just skip it altogether.
Dates can easily be changed as well. You might have planned to go from point A to point B straight without any detours and end up going from point A to point C instead and coming back to point B later.
Road trips are great as you don’t have anything set in stone and you can always change it to how you are feeling at the moment!
Opportunity to bond with friends and family members
Going on a road trip with friends or family members will allow you to bond with them. Being on the road together, you’ll have many opportunities to have conversations that you might never have had otherwise.
You will get to know each other better. You might learn new things from each other too. It’s a great way to get closer.
Make great memories with friends and family
Not only will going on a road trip with friends or family bring you closer together, but you will also have some shared experiences you will be able to cherish for the rest of your lives.
You will make amazing memories together from that trip and will always have a couple of inside jokes you’ll share as a group.
Bring your pet
Road trips are pet friendly! If you have a furry friend, you can bring them along with you. There are many accommodations out there that accept animals so you can have a great adventure together.
If you bring your dog with you and you plan on stopping to hike along the way, check beforehand if dogs are allowed on the trails you are planning to do. Some of them are pet-friendly and you’ll be able to hike together. Others though might not accept animals on the trails.
So make sure to check before you go so as to not get a bad surprise once you get there.
But other than that, road trips are great to enjoy your furry friend’s company while driving on open roads!
Enjoy Music
Make yourself a great playlist to enjoy. While driving, it’s a great time to enjoy the music you love and even discover some new music. Take the time to listen and enjoy it.
You can also listen to some podcasts that you like or even an audiobook that you haven’t had the time to listen to.
Do something you like while driving and take the time to savor the moment.
Do something you wouldn’t normally
Road trips are also a great opportunity to get out of your comfort zone. While planning your trip, add some experiences you wouldn’t normally do so you can challenge yourself a little.
You don’t have to go skydiving if you don’t feel like it but you can definitely do something or even just visit something you would never really do.
Getting out of your comfort zone is great in order to grow and also so you can be proud of yourself for doing something new or even challenging for you!
See the real world
Road trips will also allow you to see the real world. What I mean by that is that you’ll get to experience the world! Different food, different cultures, a different way of living than what you are used to in your everyday life.
It will help you connect with the land and people around you.
By living in our own routine every single day, we can easily forget that there is so much around us that we don’t even know about. So why not take the time to experience everything on your road trip? See and experience something different from your daily routine.
Have a break from social media
I know social media can be very interesting and we can end up spending more time than is actually necessary scrolling through pictures and videos to make us dream of a better life. I know I do that sometimes. Although people post amazing pictures and their life seems perfect, they are regular people just like us.
Spending time off from social media on your road trip will help you enjoy the moment even more as you will be present instead of scrolling while walking around. You’ll actually be able to enjoy everything around you.
You can enjoy social distancing
If at some point during your road trip, you don’t feel like seeing people, you can do so as you please. You could do activities that don’t involve huge crowds. It’s really up to you what you do and when you want to do it.
Being on a road trip without a fixed schedule, you can easily arrange your visits when it is less crowded if you feel like it. You’ll have the flexibility to do so.
Avoid airport stress
Airports can be stressful when you aren’t as used to them. They can even be stressful when you are accustomed to them. By going on a road trip, you can set everything at your own pace.
This means you’ll be avoiding all the airport stress of being there on time, not missing your connection, going through security, through customs, and getting the kids to cooperate through all the different processes. This can easily become overwhelming.
Road trips will not only avoid these stresses but you’ll also be able to manage exterior events more easily. If the kids are starting to get fussy from being in the car for so long, you can decide to stop at any moment. Airports will not allow you that liberty.
Road trips are more affordable
Traveling on a road trip can end up being less expensive than flying somewhere and going on a tour or taking public transport to get around. When you think about it, if you’re going on a road trip and there are four of you, you’ll be splitting the cost for everything. While flying somewhere, you’ll have to buy four tickets plus all your expenses there that you might not be able to split.
You can also find deals easily. You can search for the cheapest gas price while driving, choose the accommodation that suits your budget, and find attractions that are free combined with some that you have to pay for.
You can create your own adventure
Whatever your heart desires, you can make it happen. If you are road tripping in a country or a state that you’ve been wanting to explore for so long, you can build your itinerary as you see fit.
You can make sure to stop at your top bucket list places, visit restaurants you’ve been hearing good things about, basically whatever you feel like doing on your trip.
By having the freedom to do so, you can create your best adventure yet!
Knock some epic places off your bucket list
You probably have a list somewhere that you’ve created at some point in your life. If you are like me, you’re probably always adding new places to that list.
Whether you like to have a paper bucket list or a digital one, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that, once you start planning that epic road trip of yours, it’s time to take it out and consult it.
Highlight items that are in the country or state you are traveling to and make sure to incorporate them into your itinerary.
Going on a road trip, it’s a great opportunity to check out a couple of them that you’ve always wanted to see!
You can make great roadside stops
Sometimes, stopping somewhere unplanned can end up being a great highlight of your trip! There are so many beautiful places out there that you might not have seen while researching your trip.
Even Pinterest, Instagram, and other bloggers might not have found this hidden gem. Stop at various viewpoints along the way. Not only will it get you walking a bit but you might see something magical! Make it a habit to stop to a couple of unplanned stops just for that reason!
Explore the outdoors
Plan outdoor activities while planning your trip. Take some time to enjoy it. I have an office job where I sit at my computer all day long. Going on a trip, wherever that may be, is always a great opportunity to spend most of my time outside since I can’t really do so during the week.
Go on hikes, go do some water sports such as kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing, walk through beautiful cities instead of driving from each attraction, use the city tour bus, for example, spend the day exploring a local beach or even just enjoy swimming in the sea. Plan a camping trip while going on your road trip!
Do something that will get you outside and moving. The possibilities are endless with what you can do.
Experience different cultures
Not all road trips will lead to experiencing different cultures, but just by getting out of your own city, you’ll probably experience something different than what you are used to.
Soak it in, learn about it and see how this resonates with you. Take the time to get to know the culture and the people around you.
Just trying something new, such as a local delicacy, is in a way experiencing a new culture. Enjoy it and savor the moment!
Great food
Going on a road trip also implies trying local food. Make sure to try it when you can it is part of the whole experience.
If you know that this part of the country has something special to offer, take some time to try it at a local restaurant.
It might not be something you will like in the end but the food is also a big part of the adventure. You might also find something amazing that you’ll want to recreate once you get home!
In Scotland, I’ve tried some haggis. I cannot say I am a fan of it, but I am happy I tried it as it was something special to that area.
You don’t have to rely on public transportation
Another great reason why road trips are fun is that you won’t have to rely on public transportation schedules. You can use your own vehicle to get you where you want to go.
You won’t have to plan the hours you will need to take the bus or the subway in order to get there on time.
You might have to check ferry schedules though if you need to take a ferry in order to get you there.
Other than that, you can plan your driving how you see fit without taking into consideration someone else’s schedule.
More affordable accommodation options
Especially if you are considering camping, van living, or even car camping, going on a road trip can give you more affordable options to sleep than hotel stays every night.
Campings are usually cheaper than hotels and you can also do some boondocking if you like which will save you even more money.
Wondering how you can do that? Make sure to read my guide on how to find free campsites across North America next!
Experience slow travel
One significant advantage of going on a road trip is that you can experience everything at your own pace. If you don’t feel like running around all the time, this is the best way to do so.
Being able to control everything you want, gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. By controlling all the variables, you’ll get to decide how long you spend somewhere and actually enjoy and appreciate the time spent at your destination.
It isn’t much fun to want to do so much that you end up enjoying half of the experience in the end because you wanted to see too much.
Take the time to slow travel in order to experience your road trip to the fullest!
Bring out the photographer in you
If you like photography or just enjoy taking photos, going on a road trip will give you plenty of opportunities to take out your camera.
You’ll get to snap a quick photo somewhere or even take the time to set up and take photos.
You won’t have to rush to take a nice photo as your group is already somewhere farther away.
If you feel like doing a timelapse or taking a beautiful photo of the sunset or even sunrise, you’ll have the opportunity to do so and more importantly, the time to do so.
You can bring anything you want
While packing for your road trip, you won’t have limitations. Often times when you travel by plane, you will have limits on the liquids you can bring in your carry-on. You’ll also be limited to your own bag with what you can bring.
If you don’t need to take a plane in order to get to your road trip destination, you will be able to carry what you want as long as it fits in your car.
I still suggest not bringing too much either, but you won’t be limited as much.
The journey is the destination
Lastly, the journey is your destination. Your road trip might not be in the most picturesque place on earth. But all the different experiences you will have during your road trip will be something to remember for the rest of your life!
I hope I was able to convince you to go on that next big adventure and to do so while driving along. There are so many great reasons why road trips are fun and why you should take a road trip somewhere around the world!
Happy driving!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I earn a small commission if you make a purchase through these links. I would never recommend anything I don’t personally love and use!
Looking for some inspiration for your next road trip? Check out all my best resources for you!
20 photos to inspire you to visit Scotland
7 reasons why you should travel as a family
How to keep your car organized on a road trip
Road trip essentials you absolutely need to make your life easier
How to take an eco-friendly road trip
27 common road trip mistakes to avoid
How to find free campsites across North America
18 of the best road trip planning tools
