Traveling by Car Not a Choice Much Any More

Traveling by Car Not a Choice Much Any More

I don't usually travel more than 5 or 6 hours by car any more because I get bored traveling by car longer than that. Mostly it is 3 to 4 hours, which I have to do to teach at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia 5 times a year.

From 1950 to 1961 I traveled with my parents for 3 to 5+ weeks each summer touring the US. By 61, the summer I turned 17, I had been in all 48 mainland states, Canada (several times) and the northern part of Mexico. My father used 500 miles as the usual max in a single day.

Of course I just traveled for about 30 hours by car, plane and taxi to Singapore and I go to South Africa each year which is an 18 to 20 hour trip one way.

Car trips

My trip yesterday from Sarasota, Florida to Athens, Georgia was

Trip distance: 526.57 miles Time: 8 hrs 26 mins

I did it in about 8 hours with a couple short stops for food and gas or simply to stop and stretch my legs.

One time when I first lived in Florida in 1972 I drove back to Detroit in a single trip alone once...

Trip distance: 1335.91 miles Time: 20 hrs 8 mins

then it took about 22 hours because the highways were not all built that connect all the states.

My father on our very first long summer trip drove back from
Platte, South Dakota to Detroit, Michigan in a singletrip

Trip distance: 986.42 miles Time: 15 hrs 3 mins

there were no SUPER HIGHWAYS of the US INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM then and it took him about 22 hours.

There were 5 of us in the 1950 ford 4 door sedan. My
two brothers and I in the back seat. My mother and father in the front.

My memory of that family story is that they had mostly run out of money and could not afford a motel room for the night so he drove the complete trip in one drive.

Just driving the width of Texas is a very long trip... Trip distance: 859.92 miles Time: 12 hrs 3 mins

Traveling the length of Georgia and Florida is a long trip as well

Trip distance: 926.34 miles Time: 14 hrs 55 mins

Long drives are no longer fun for me and especially alone. Some of the highway trips are so repetitive and the scenery so boring an hour can be too long of a trip.

I had a mix of storytelling cds and a couple comedy cds and after hearing the storytelling cds completely through I listened to the Robin Williams Live cd over and over and over.

Radio stations in Florida and Georgia, especially in the rural areas are mostly religious or country music, the type that I do not like. Besides I dislike listening to disc jockeys and commercials.

I will probably drive again next year to the 6th Florida Creativity Weekend. I will definitely take many more cds.


Once again traveling was a metaphor for life.

We need to have basic plans.

We benefit from being flexible and willing to change or improve our plans while they are taking place.

It helps to do whatever we can to make our lives, our total journeys, travels enjoyable along the way.