Great American Road Trip (Prematurely) Declared Dead
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 07.07.08 | 5:07 PM ET
“You want a road trip?” writes Michael Paterniti in the New York Times. “Try Google Earth.” Yeah, he’s a bit smug. He’s also wrong. We can have Google Earth—one of the Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet—and the road trip. Despite the $4 gallon of gas, the American road trip will continue to thrive for many reasons.
In response to Paterniti’s article, Paul Daniel Marriott hints at another reason the road trip should remain alive. “Far too many Americans are losing touch with the heartland of America that only a road trip can provide,” he writes. “No wonder we are devolving into a red-blue nation of intolerance because of our growing ignorance of our own geography and culture.”
World Hum contributor Sophia Dembling also has some words about Paterniti’s story: “It made me sad and annoyed because I don’t understand dichotomous thinking that says if the stay trip is good then the road trip is bad,” she writes. “I like them both.”
Related on World Hum:
* New Travel Book: ‘Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations’
* Gas Prices Threaten the Field Trip
Photo by TheFriendlyFiend, via Flickr (Creative Commons)