Americans across the nation are dusting off their wood paneled station wagons and embarking on road trips this summer to visit the pristine nature of national parks, the attractions at Wally World and everything in between. Inexpensive gas and the headache of air travel are making this anachronistic family activity once again feel like the best way to see the country.
“Air travel is worst than ever,” said Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn on Boston Public Radio Tuesday. As a child, Koehn went on family road trips every summer; they slept in Coleman tents and Holiday Inns. By the time she was 13, she had already been to 40 of the continental states. “I remember it fondly,” said Koehn.
Last year, Americans recorded more miles on the road than ever before with 3.15 trillion miles, says Koehn. She believes our desire to uproot ourselves and drive across the country is inherent in the national DNA. “This is a country of immigrants,” said Koehn. “Very few countries have had historically so much collective inclination to take to the road for something better.”
The power of road trips has been immortalized in American pop culture like “On The Road,” “ Grapes of Wrath,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” and “Thelma and Louise.” These stories help to perpetuate the myth and allure of the open road, says Koehn.
Koehn also attributes the added control you have over your vacation for this recent resurgence in the road trip. "You set the pace, you set the directions, and you set the arrival time," she said. “We have wanderlust, there is something about the open road.”
