Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home

While reading "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck and "Blue Highways" by William Least Heat Moon, I got bitten by the Great American Road Trip bug. This book looked like a "must read." I'd now classify it as a "helpful read."Section 1 contains useful suggestions that get the reader thinking about how to finance the trip, what to do with your home while you are gone, etc. I found this section very informative. Although I'd covered much of this territory when planning a summer spent on the Appalachian Trail 20 years ago, there were helpful ideas I hadn't seen. The Whites do a good job of helping people think through what they want their trip to be like, and what challenges they will encounter. I would recommend this section for any reader who is about to undertake a trip unlike anything they've ever done, especially if traveling with a partner.Section 2, the travelogue, was of little interest to me, because the Whites' trip was very different from the one that my husband and I dream about. Their dream was to see 43 national parks in a year. I felt that they traveled so fast that they only had time to get superficial impressions of each of the places they visited. We plan to visit fewer places, stay longer, and get to know each place a little better.The Whites' budget was about double what ours will be. They freely admit that they didn't use the inexpensive and remote US Forest Service campgrounds because they just aren't into dirt. We've enjoyed such campgrounds and plan to use them extensively. I'm sure I can find information about them on my own, but I'd hoped to find a little of that information here. Ditto for low-priced lodgings. Though the Whites mention using inexpensive mom-and-pop motels, most of the lodgings they name are upscale spots that we have neither the desire nor the cash to visit. Instead, I'm expecting a membership in Hosteling International to pay for itself.The journal entries remind me, at best, of a travel piece written for a regional magazine, with enthusiastic but bland descriptions of tourist attractions. I kept hoping for some insightful discussions of local customs, or the local economic or political situation, or unforgettable characters, or just about anything at all, but I was disappointed--just constant chatter about how awesome it all was. In general, the style reminds me of a series of Facebook posts strung together. If someone had disabled the exclamation point on their computer, this part of the book would have seemed less tedious.The appendix, with its checklists,is helpful, but we plan to pack much lighter. I think I understand why they didn't camp very much in their nice Class B van. After packing it with more clothes than my husband and I own, and almost as much cookware as we have in our kitchen, there was probably no room to sleep.I appreciate the Whites' generosity in sharing their planning skills, and their trip, with the public. They've helped my husband and me define our dream. As we tow our ultralight camping trailer to a secluded site by a lake, where we will pump our drinking water and pee in a vault toilet, we will owe them as much as we do Least Heat Moon, who, on a laid-off college professor's budget, valiantly tolerated being awakened by local cops while attempting to boondock. Like Steinbeck, they help keep the dream alive.

My husband and I have been on the road for almost a year, and we owe much of this successful year to Phil and Carol's book.I bought the book because I wanted to figure out how we could take some time off without going broke, and Road Trip Dream succeeded in helping us do just that. We aren't even close to retirement, and this book really helped us to see that a trip like this was possible at our age.With the release of its second edition, the Whites' book is as vital as ever when it comes to considering every critical aspect of how to plan, execute and live your own road trip dream. Don't even think of embarking on a journey without reading and following the advice laid out by these two seasoned road trippers.Great Budgeting InformationBased on our own spending habits over the last year, I can vouch for the fact that the book's budgeting methodology is on the money. Their budget's "memory joggers" will help you look at every aspect of road trip living that you'll spend money on, from postage to Internet access. They also spotlight important things to consider, like realizing that you need to plan for fluctuating costs in different regions around the country (for example, campground fees in the east are much higher than in the west).Get Creative, and Get on the Road NOW!For working age people like my husband and I, the Whites have included a section about sabbaticals, working from the road, and even "road schooling" for families. The information, suggestions and ideas provided in this section help get a reader's mind around the fact that you don't have to be retired to take time off to travel. With some creativity and flexibility, they illustrate how even working people and families can hit the road. In this edition of the book they've provided a number of resources and ways to research this further.Keeping In Contact on the RoadTechnology changes so much in just a couple of years, and the revised tech section in the book is great. I can appreciate how the Whites do a good job of presenting a general overview of road technologies, without going over the heads of novice users. They did a fabulous job of explaining air cards for internet access, which is what most people end up using on the road. A comprehensive resource section at the end of the book includes lots of great websites to consult.Hit The Road with the Information You NeedBy reading and following the White's advice in Live Your Road Trip Dream, we were able to pull off our journey in the kind of organized, budgeted and well-prepared manner that makes us both comfortable. If we had just taken off without doing our research first, this journey might have ended months ago.There are so many things to consider and planning for something like this can seem overwhelming. Don't let it. Buy Road Trip Dream, and you will receive the comfort and encouragement that it takes to believe in yourself, and know that you can get your way to living your own road trip adventure.