How to Survive...A Summer Road Trip

Sweat cascading over your brow, one eye on a road atlas and the other on the road, anger percolating as you curse yourself and everyone within earshot of the car. You're completely, utterly and hopelessly lost.

It doesn't matter that you don't have a clue where you are or how to get back home. Enjoy the ride. That's the first and most important step for pulling off a successful road trip.

Sure, gas might be pricier than what we're accustomed to, but it still costs less than half of what it does in the Netherlands. Don't feel guilty, just go with it. We'll hit $5 per gallon here soon enough, but from a global standpoint, this summer's gas prices remain at relatively bargain-basement levels.

So invest $50 of mid-grade and a weekend of time in that much-needed summer road trip. But keep in mind the nature of the beast: There are plans to make, precautions to take and things to pack. Spontaneity goes a long way, but a little forethought can go even farther. For a good trip, there's a balance somewhere between the two.

Beyond the mundane details of arranging lawn watering and dog watching, there are a number of preparations that can make or break a summer excursion. First, one must whittle down the dizzying array of destinations, traveling companions and modes of transport. Keep your options open, but take heed: Where you go and who you go with are two of the most important decisions you can make. So pick places you think you'll like and people you know you do.

Should it be the beach with the significant other in a convertible, or the mountains with college friends in a Jeep? Why limit yourself? Free your mind, and your plans will follow. Why not hitchhike with your childhood pal to the spot where Evel Knievel failed to jump the Snake River Canyon? How about riding a chopper to Carhenge with Grandma in the sidecar? The more pointless the destination, the purer the road trip. Ditch your Disneyland and Yellowstone plans in favor of some really obscure endpoints, like a festival dedicated to canned meat or a large metal object that a delusional junkman intends to fly into space. By achieving an extremely high level of pointlessness, one may totally discard all expectations about the trip's goal and enjoy it for what it is: a road trip.

Once you've got a Point B and a co-pilot or two, map out a rough, flexible plan. A minute-by-minute agenda is stifling. Keep in mind that the road trip is the yang to the yin of home. It's best to devise a trip that's in stark contrast to your typical everyday routine. If you're always inside, focus on the outdoors. If you normally exercise and eat healthy, focus on Twinkies. If you are locked in to the humdrum tempo of nine-to-five life, get drunk at odd hours.

Then there are the luxuries of refreshments, music and assorted amenities relating to in-car comfort. A good rule of thumb: Don't be too finicky. If it'll fit in the car, bring it. You're going on a weekend road trip, not backpacking across Europe. Sure, bring that dusty encyclopedia set. It'll be a good conversation starter on the Kansas plains.

While in transit, it's nice to break up the highway time with a little leg-stretching and casual investigation of the various attractions within striking distance of the route. Invest an hour during an all-day drive to get out of the car and see a baseball bloated by thousands of coats of paint, or a statue garden consisting of old cars. At the very least, it's good for the circulation.

The ephemeral nature of the road trip also opens up some interesting possibilities. As William Least Heat-Moon wrote in Blue Highways, there are "no yesterdays on the road." Take advantage of this fact. Make up a fictional backstory for yourself, preferably something that includes the Olympics and an early retirement.

Finally, once you make it "there," do it, but don't overdo it. This might be the only time you make it to this particular point on the Earth's surface. Take advantage of the opportunities at hand. I regret to this day that I skimped in 1993 and did the basic Mansion Tour at Graceland instead of upgrading to the Platinum Tour for an extra $7, which would have gotten me a look at the King's planes and cars and memorabilia. (On the bright side, I intend to do up the Platinum this summer -- or maybe even the $55 VIP tour.)

On the overdoing it front, however, regardless of what you've heard, what happens in Vegas does not necessarily stay in Vegas. A murder rap or the clap, for instance, tends to come home with you.