Top Reasons to go on Road Trips (updated April 3, 2020)

I can’t be the only one who thinks that when this COVID-19 crisis is over that road trips are going to be more popular right? I predict that people will eventually get back to flying, but may be slow to do so. In the meantime, I think that road trips do satisfy some of the travel bug. Furthermore, it has been over 4 years since I last wrote my thoughts about road trips. So I think that it is due for an update.

See Also: Top Credit Cards to Use on Road Trips

1) 99% Flexibility

There is no question that road trips have the ultimate flexibility, especially if you are driving your own car. The reason you have more flexibility is because you are not subject to the airline, train or bus schedules. You control when you turn on and off the car. The only thing that you cannot control is traffic (that’s the reason why I changed my percentage from 100% to 99% from last time).

Even though you cannot control traffic, you can control when you want to take a break, when you want to pull over. It also means that you do have to do all the planning of the direction that you are going. Or you can put your GPS to work!

2) Cost Effective

I moved cost effective up to number 2 compared to last time 3. Gas prices are really low in Canada right now, and even after this virus, it might continue to stay low. But even if the cost goes up, the idea is that the more people in the car, the more savings to be had.

An argument can be made about cost savings if there are only 2 people, but if you had 4-5 people in the car, there is little debate that it would be cheaper than 4-5 plane tickets.

Furthermore, you can pack more stuff into your car, which means you will not have to buy as much stuff on the go. Even if you do buy things on the go, you can buy more in bulk for extra savings.

3) Small Things and Outdoors

You will notice that I replaced “quality time” from last time. I think by the time the crisis is over, we will have had enough quality time with the people in our homes. But, if we go on road trips with other people, than quality time applies too. But I think that we can include this into the “small things”.

Considering that so many people are stuck inside their homes, I am sure that when the bans are lifted, people will want to be outdoors more often. For example, road trips usually allow for more visits to National Parks (outdoors), or even lookout points (small things).

What I plan to do

On a side note, I took off “can still earn miles and points” as that is probably not a reason to go on road trips.

I personally already like road trips a lot because of the flexibility. I tend to use weekend road trip getaways as a way to rejuvenate. A 2-3 week vacation sounds nice, but a 1-2 night hotel stays works while waiting in between bigger trips. I usually try to do a road trip once every 3 months, but that may squeeze down to every 2 months after the crisis. For now, I am working on my hotel points so that they are ready to go when the time comes!

What about you? Do you think that you will be more likely to take a road trip? Please let us know in the comment section below.