In Review: road trip to usaby Jamie Jensen
“road trip to usa…gets you as close to the real America as possible.”
Here is a question for you. If you had the time and money to take just one long road trip to 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 that keep many people from embarking on 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 whopping 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 poll (May 2008), which examined Americans’ attitudes toward long road trips, found similar views on this form of vacation. According to the Rand McNally survey (of 2,030 U.S. 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 two biggest concerns in both Australia and the US, it looks like our respective loves of the open road probably won’t wane anytime soon.
which brings me to road trip to usa.
Jamie Jensen’s Best Selling Guide, Road Trip USA: Offroad Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways(Fifth Edition, Avalon Travel, 2009) brings you as close as possible to the real America.
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 to 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 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 wealth 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, colour-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, illustrate, and sometimes even surprise, so I am pleased to say that road trip to usa It has no problem being informative, illuminating, and yes, even surprising.
I have no hesitation in saying that when I embark on my own road trip across America, this will be the only book I 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 printed 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 a decision to try and reduce the visual clutter associated with URLs and make content 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 the other guides on my shelf reveals that all of the ones printed in the last five years include web addresses and future editions of road trip to usa I would be well served to do the same.
Before you leave
I think road trip to usa You would also benefit from a ‘Before You Travel’ section outlining basic information on preparing for your trip. This chapter could cover topics such as:
o Useful sources of information (online and offline) on preparing for the trip.
o Safety information (personal, vehicle breakdown and other safety issues)
o What to do in an emergency (breakdowns, accidents, personal attack, etc.)
o A checklist of possible items to pack and prepare
o A checklist of vehicle preparations before the trip (brakes, tire and engine check, etc.)
o Traveling with children and pets
road trip to usa it has a small resources section at the back of the book, only eight and a half pages long, four of which contain a list of recommended reading. 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 on 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 have by my side at all times.