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What to take on a trip?

What is the most essential road trip that everyone should take in the United States and what books should they read before taking the trip?

  • To be more precise about what I mean by this question, let me give you an example about a must-see site in the USA and what you need to know about the site before you see it. I read about http://www.glts.org/memorials/dc/womens.html first in one of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria's books (I don't remember which book it was but I guess it was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Post-American_World). This statue was erected by a group of women to honor men who died in Titanic. The story behind this statue and why it's been erected is very different from what the public knows about the titanic incident. It's a moving story about brave men who gave their seats on lifeboats to women and children. I am looking for a road trip that passes through such sites (sites that have unheard stories about unseen sides of America).

  • Answer:

    "The [US] Interstate Highway System is a great way to go from coast-to-coast without seeing anything" — someone Do avoid the interstates, most of which have routes that parallel the older, slower, and far more scenic US highway system. For example, down the East coast, Interstate 95 (I-95) and US-1 cross each other along their entire length but US-1 will give you a taste of the country that I-95 will completely hide from you. For sheer diversity, I'd recommend roads paralleling I-40 and I-10 because I'm particularly fond of the southwestern deserts. I've not taken the northern routes across the country, but I'm sure someone can speak for them. Kerouac's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road is supposedly the quintessential US road novel, but I've not yet read it. "Basin and Range" by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McPhee is a good longitudinal slice across US geology. Essential road music would include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Waits, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickie_Lee_Jones, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell but you didn't ask about that.

Matt Wartell at Quora Visit the source

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Head north on the Road to the Sun in Glacier National Park. http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm This is the road -- it's only open during a very small window each year, and there's always traffic as that's also the only time road repairs can be done. The highest part of the road is 6,646 feet (Logan's Pass). It's a narrow, twisty, windy road that's not really for someone with altitude issues -- I've jumped out of a plane, and it was still a bit nerve-wracking for me to look straight down from the passenger window of our car. Plenty of natural beauty: Wildlife: Beautiful view of the Jackson Glacier:

Abigail Speltz

John M DiCesare

Alaska. Anchorage to Seward to Valdez. Rent a 4x4 and drive up the Dalton Highway.

Anirudh Iyer

I would say the alaska highway is the one to do. I've road tripped all over the country and the alcan is truly unique.  I always drive everywhere i go and have been to most states via car.  You will see a wildlife; bison,caribou, sheep, bears, maybe wolf, lynx, I saw a mt lion once, elk,deer, fox, coyote, moose...... Go up through jasper and banf.  ( Cassiar is cool too)There are also various hot springs, the signpost forest, fishing, amazing scenery.  I've done the Alcan 6 or 8 times, I lost count but each time has been unique and very fun.  Once you hit alaska you opportunities for adventure only broaden. You can go north check out the dalton highway, there always seems to be various forest fires burning up there and it's kinda cool seeing them burn the hillsides.  They don't fight fires in remote areas like that. Go south to the kenai peninsula and experience the best fishing on the road system in North America. Top 3 in my opinion counting non road accessed areas. On the kenai peninsula you can see bears, glaciers, ocean, and probably some of the best scenery anywhere. Don't forget Denali np.  Oh yeah just set your worries aside and do it or you never will. You only live once.

Tyler Romig

It's worthwhile to see the remaining remnants of Route 66 that are still intact after that historic trail was raped by the Interstate System.  What's left is mostly the main streets of towns that were once right on the highway.  Sadly, you have to use the interstates to reach these relics, generally going from an entrance on one end of the town to an exit on the opposite one.  Also, I've always wanted to close the gap in my coverage of Route 89, which I've driven from Canada to Salt Lake City and hitch-hiked from Mexico to forty miles above Flagstaff.  That leaves several hundred miles more to cover on one of the most beautiful highways in the country.

Denny O'Leary

After reading a few books and taking a 5000+ mile-long road trip, I feel I can give some advice. This advice is more suited to the nature lovers and less suited to city lovers. The quintessential book to read is Basin and Range by http://amzn.com/0374516901. It paints a very good picture of different land features in USA. The book is sometimes overloaded with geological terms but I found the book fascinating to read anyway. Any essential road trip in America should include Rocky mountains and the closer you get to the Canadian border, the more beautiful the landscape becomes (I am not a beach and ocean lover and I leave comments on them to other Quora users). An ideal road trip for me would be hopping from one national park to another national park and spending a few days in each place. Among all the national parks I visited, Glacier National Park is the most beautiful place and is rightly nicknamed "crown of the continent". The northern part of it expands into the Canadian territory. Here are some pictures if you are not convinced yet. I am uploading images from my trip to flickr. If you want to see them, they are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alwaysshooting/

Meisam Fathi

From Montana to the west coast and read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance";.....     Any road trip in America and reading ".Travels with Charlie" by John Steinbeck. Drive through northwest Montana, western Alberta, eastern B.C., north Idaho, and eastern Washington and read "Sources of the River" by Nisbet.  Drive from eastern Washington through Idaho, south west Montana, Yellowstone and up to north central Montana and read "Flight of the Nez Perce" Drive the roads along the route of the Appalachian Trail, and read Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"

Matt Baney

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