road trip to usa
In Review: road trip to usaby Jamie Jensen
“road trip to usa…takes you as close to the real America as possible.”
Here is a question for you. If you had the time and money to undertake just one long road trip on any continent on the planet, which one would you choose and where would you go? I ask this question because time and money seem to be the only things keeping many people from taking their dream vacation.
Last year (March 2008) a survey by the Australian online automotive website Cars Guide indicated that Australians love to hit the road. In fact, the survey of 810 respondents found that a staggering 99 per cent of Australians would take a road trip because of the freedom and spontaneity it allows.
Not long after the Cars Guide survey appeared, a Rand McNally survey (May 2008), which examined Americans’ attitudes toward long road trips, found similar views of this form of vacation. According to the Rand McNally survey (of 2,030 US adults), three in four adults (75%) were at least somewhat likely to take a road trip, and about three in ten (29%) said which was very likely.
Meanwhile, a recent article published in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal (May 2009), reported that road travel was about to make a comeback as the US summer travel season kicked off, despite the recession. persistent and rising fuel prices.
While the cost of fuel and accommodation were nominated as the top two concerns in both Australia and the US, it looks like our respective loves for the open road probably won’t be abating anytime soon.
which leads me to road trip to usa.
Jamie Jensen’s best-selling guide, Road Trip USA: Off-road adventures on America’s two-lane highways(5th Edition, Avalon Travel, 2009) brings you as close to the real America as possible.
With 11 trips to choose from, covering classic American landscapes like the Appalachian Trail, the Atlantic Coast, the Oregon Trail, and the famous Route 66, Road Trip USA takes intrepid road warriors through major cities like San Francisco and Chicago, as well as remote but charming American towns like Dyersville, Mississippi (where the baseball field created for Kevin Costner’s film Field of Dreams draws visitors from far and wide); or the small working-class town of Seneca Falls, in the state of New York (which saw the birth of the American women’s movement in July 1848).
Unsurprisingly, Jensen’s routes also lead to popular destinations like Disneyland, Yellowstone National Park, Niagara Falls, and the Statue of Liberty. Complete with local tradition; Weird curiosities (Memphis’s gifts to American culture – and the world – include the supermarket, the drive-in restaurant, the Holiday Inn, oh, and Elvis Presley). Filled with remarkable details and roadside curiosities (a sign in Texas that spells out the command: “Exit Rattlesnakes Here”), road trip to usa contains a large number of recommendations on where to stop, what to see and where to eat and sleep. This is a guide meant to get travelers off the highway system and into the heart and soul of America.
Other features of this edition include:
o A flexible network of route combinations, color-coded and widely referenced to allow for hundreds of possible itineraries
o More than 125 detailed driving maps
o Full color interior with modern and vintage photos and illustrations.
o A road trip resource section with contact information for popular hotel and motel chains, rental car companies, state tourism boards, and highway condition centers.
My personal criteria for a good guide is that it should inform, enlighten and sometimes even surprise, so I’m happy to say that road trip to usa It has no problem being informative, enlightening, and yes, even surprising.
I have no hesitation in saying that when I go on my own road trip across America, this will be the one book I will have by my side at all times.
Missing?
Unfortunately, road trip to usa it is almost completely devoid of links to online resources. In an age where almost every print paper has a website URL and email address somewhere; And when so many modern electronic devices come Internet-ready, this seems like a glaring omission. I can only assume that this is a deliberate choice on the part of the author and publisher. With thousands of places of interest detailed in the book, they may have made the decision to try to reduce the visual clutter associated with URLs and make the contents more ‘readable’ by avoiding them altogether.
While one does not expect a URL or email address for every location mentioned in road trip to usa, surely the main places of interest justify the inclusion of a web link (when available). A quick look at other guides on my shelf reveals that all those printed in the last five years include web addresses and future editions of road trip to usa you would be well served to do the same.
Before you leave
Believe road trip to usa You would also benefit from a ‘Before You Travel’ section outlining basic travel preparation information. This chapter could cover topics such as:
o Useful sources of information (online and offline) about the preparation of the trip.
o Safety information (personnel, vehicle breakdown and other safety issues)
o What to do in case of emergency (breakdowns, accidents, personal attack, etc.)
o A checklist of possible items to pack and prepare
o A pre-trip vehicle preparation checklist (brakes, tire and engine check, etc.)
o Traveling with children and pets
road trip to usa it has a small resource section at the back of the book, with just eight and a half pages, four of which contain a recommended reading list. The others refer to organizations associated in some way with cars and roads; a short list of hotel/motel chains and car rental companies; and a list of US and Canadian agencies dealing with state tourism and road conditions. And that’s it.
The good news is that the omissions mentioned above do not detract from the overall depth and quality of the detailed information presented in Road Trip USA. At just over 900 pages, I think it’s fair to say that road trip to usa covers all the “basics” and then some. In fact, I have no hesitation in saying that when I embark on my own road trip across the United States, Road Trip USA will be the only book I will have by my side at all times.