The Traveling Fool
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The Traveling Fool
Why I Prefer Road Trips Over Flights: A Personal Journey
Experience the thrill of the open road as we delve into the advantages of road trips in our latest episode. Join me as I share my personal journey preparing for an exciting drive from Texas to South Carolina, discussing why I prefer the freedom of the highway to the chaos of airports. Hear stories from past adventures, sprinkled with insights about ensuring your vehicle is ready for long travels and packing the essentials to make the journey enjoyable.
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Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where we explore the most intriguing aspects of travel, culture and history. I'm your host, Bob Bales, and today we are talking road trips. Yeah, I'm about to take one. It's going to be a long one too, but I am looking forward to it. So stay tuned and we'll get into it in just a second. All right, welcome back to the Traveling Fool podcast. I'm your host, Bob Bales, and, like I said, this week we are talking about road trips.
Bob Bales:I am fixing to take a road trip. You can tell I'm from the South because I say fixing to. I am getting ready to take a road trip for all you non-southerners and I am headed out to South Carolina. I'm going to be leaving out of Texas heading to South Carolina. I think I looked on Google Maps and it's like I don't know, 13, 13 and a half hour drive. Of course, that never works out because I've got to go on Interstate 10, which is just a mess. Half of Interstate 10, I think between Houston and Mississippi, is one lane because they're always doing construction on it. So I have decided I'm going to leave at O-Dark 30. Somewhere around midnight, 1230 in the morning. I'm going to head out because there will be no traffic. I can get from one side of Houston to the other without having to fight 15,000 cars on the interstate, and then I can head over to Louisiana and into Mississippi. And when I get to Alabama I head north.
Bob Bales:You know, I actually prefer road tripping rather than taking a flight. Why? Because airports are a pain in the butt. I mean, I don't mind flying, it's just that airports are a pain in the butt. TSA is a pain in the butt, check-ins are a pain in the butt, and then you got all the morons that want to cause trouble at the airport because their flight's delayed, their flight's late, their flight's canceled. I mean, that's just part of flying. If you don't expect it to happen, you should, because more than likely it will. So instead of having to fight the airport traffic, arrive three hours early, stand around with a bunch of morons that are complaining because their flight's delayed 10 minutes, I would just as soon get in the car and drive, because I could enjoy my cigar all the way to South Carolina.
Bob Bales:And I packed a bunch of them for this trip. I've got some big ones. You know cigars come in ring gauges and a ring gauge is how big a round it is, I guess you could say. I've got some very hefty cigars with very large ring gauges. So instead of taking 45 minutes to an hour hour and 15 minutes to smoke a cigar, I've got something that'll last over two hours. I mean, these are some big mamma jammas. I can have my coffee sitting there piping hot in my thermos, smoke a cigar, turn on some classic rock, hit the road and just enjoy the trip.
Bob Bales:So why am I headed to South Carolina? Well, here's the point where you need to take a note, because I am headed to the Southern Travelers Explore Conference. Southern Travelers Explore Conference is put on by my good friend, Melody Pittman, with the help of her two fantastic daughters, Taylor and Peyton. You know, I don't know which one this is, it's like number five or something that she's done. I haven't been to all of them, but I've been to. I think this is my fourth one. She puts on a fantastic conference. It only lasts two or three days, but it highlights places in the South. And this year we are headed to Seneca, South Carolina, but that's the town we're staying in. It's actually being hosted by the county Oconee County. So here's the part you need to take a little note of If you want to follow some really good travel creators because there's like 50 of us going she limits it to a small group no more than around 50, plus a bunch of destinations. So there'll be a lot of destinations from the South I think 20 or 25 of them and they come in and they talk about their destinations and stuff along with other things that go on in the conference . But now everybody is going to be posting on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and TikTok and whatever social media platforms they have, but the hashtag for it #STEOconeeCoSC which stands for Southern Travelers Explore Oconee County, South Carolina. You follow that hashtag and you're going to see a lot of great stuff happening in Oconee County. But also you're going to discover some great travel writers and travel influencers and probably some destinations that you had not even thought of that are going to be putting out a lot of great content. That might give you an idea of a few more people that you may want to follow from time to time or check and see what they're doing, because they do put out some outstanding content.
Bob Bales:So, getting ready for this road trip. Now I drive a car that is a hand-me-down from my wife. Why is it a hand-me-down from my wife? Well, because when I buy a new car, it's buying her a new car and then whatever old piece of crap I'm driving I sell and take her newer old piece of crap. So I had to take it in and get worked on.
Bob Bales:I've got a really good mechanic. I mean, I trust these guys. They're very, very honest. In fact, I took it in for an oil change I'll show you, I don't even drive this car that much, because if I'm not traveling I just don't drive it around a lot and I took it in. It had been several months since I'd done an oil change. So I said, well, I'll get an oil change, rotate the tires and have him check it out and make sure it's roadworthy. I took it in. He came out about 15 minutes later. He goes Mr Bales, we don't need to do the oil change because we've only driven about 1,500 miles since the last one, even though it's been several months. So that shows you how honest they are. They could have just done an oil change and been done with it. But he came out and said you don't need it. I said all right, we'll just check everything out.
Bob Bales:But I did have to replace a battery, and my God, do you know how much batteries cost these days? I wound up paying close to $300 for them to take it out, because I drive a car that, unlike older cars that I was used to working on when I was younger, you don't lift up the hood and replace the battery. Oh, no, no, no. They put the battery in the back seat, under the floorboard, where you have to move all the seats out of the way, unscrew a panel, take the panel off and lift it up off the floorboard in the back seat. It's a real pain in the butt. So they had to do that, replace the battery and everything. And just looking at batteries, I mean I checked Auto Zone and Pep Boys and a few other places and just to buy a battery, these days they're like $250, $270. It's crazy. But I had the battery replaced, they cleaned everything up for me, all good, and they rotated the tires and he said oh, you're good to go, this thing will make it there with no problem.
Bob Bales:But I do have AAA just in case the car does break down. And here's one good tip for you. AAA has good priced insurance. I mean, I switched to them years ago because they beat everybody else's insurance where I live. But even if you do not get their insurance just the, I don't know, it's $45 a year or something like that, maybe $60, just to buy the membership. It is well worth it for peace of mind, because if you break down, these folks will come and tow you. Now I may be lying here, I'm not sure, but if I'm not mistaken they will tow you up to 100 miles to wherever you want to take that car, whereas if you just call a tow truck to do it, first of all they're going to charge a bunch of money and they'll tow you maybe 20 miles at the most, and it really helps.
Bob Bales:If you're on a road trip, you break down on a freeway somewhere. Another thing and I've had them do this before, not lately, it's been many years since I've done it but if you're out somewhere and you try to start your car and the battery's dead for whatever reason, because you just forgot that it was seven years since you bought one and you need a new battery you can call them and they will bring one out and install it for you. Now you're going to pay them for the battery, but it's nice that they will just come out and do it for you, and they have a lot of other roadside assistance services and for $40, $60 a year, whatever it is, it's well worth peace of mind. I mean, they'll come out and change a flat tire for you if you want to. So if you plan on taking the road trip, look at getting AAA, or I know there's a couple other ones out there. I can only tell you about AAA, had them for years, love them. Wife's used them several times. It really comes in handy because she doesn't know how to change a tire and she has called them to replace a battery. So it really gives you peace of mind if you've got somebody who can come out and take care of your car while you're out on the road.
Bob Bales:Now another thing to do before you get ready to go on a road trip. You got to pack for it. Of course, I always pack like a small cooler full of water and maybe a couple of soft drinks or something. I always fill up my thermos with hot coffee. I've got plenty of it. So make sure you have a few snacks, a few drinks, things like this.
Bob Bales:You might also want to look at getting an emergency road kit, and you can buy these things off Amazon. Just go on Amazon and look for an emergency road kit. If you don't want to buy off Amazon, you can still go on there and look and see what they have and then go to whatever store you want to buy the thing. The emergency road kits. They'll come with flares and first aid kits and just all kinds of stuff. It ranges from just a very small kit with just a few things in it, the essentials, to a little bit larger kits that have hundreds of items you might need on an emergency basis on the road. Fire extinguishers come in handy. So look at getting yourself an emergency road kit before you hit the road, throw it in the back of the car, put it in the trunk, just remember where it is, because in case you need it, you can get to it real quick.
Bob Bales:Another thing you might want to buy is one of those little mini flashlights. I've got three or four of those things. I used to work overseas as a contractor in the Middle East. I had a lot of these little tactical flashlights. People were always giving them to me, or if somebody was losing them, you'd find them laying on the side of the road or something. Surefire makes a great one. So I've got a couple of Surefires and a couple of others, but they usually use two batteries. They're extremely bright. Batteries last for a really long time. Buy you a little flashlight. You can pick up a really nice surefire, but it's going to cost you $30 or $40. But you can pick up small ones for $2 or $3 at Walmart. Just that'll get you what you need, which will get you some light if you happen to break down or you happen to need something in the dark at nine o'clock at night.
Bob Bales:And of course, you want to plan your road trip. Now me, one reason I like road trips is because I can hit the road and if I want to stop somewhere and check things out for a couple of hours, I can do that. It's kind of hard to have the pilot stop the plane so you can look at something, but if you're in a car it's real easy. You just pull off the side of the road and check out something really cool that you found along the side of the road in some small town that you happen to be driving through. So, for me, planning the road trip is open up Google Maps and look at the route. It gives you a couple of alternative routes. Always look at the alternative routes because it may be 15 or 20 miles out of the way instead of staying on the highway or the interstate. But depending on what towns it runs through, I'll check out those towns and see if there's anything interesting to check out in those towns. Also, google Maps comes in pretty handy. I mean, the information that you get from them is not 100% set in stone, accurate all the time, but it does list where they're doing construction on the interstates and things like this. And it's nice to know that if you've got a 90-mile stretch of interstate that you're going to be traveling on, that they're doing road construction on that. Well, you can either plan for that or you can plan to go around it.
Bob Bales:Now the other thing you might want to look at is getting a dash cam. I've got one. You can find them anywhere from $40 to $500. It just depends on what you want. You don't have to spend a ton of money For under $100, you can get you a very nice dash cam that does everything you need it to do and one of the cool things that it does, besides recording things you have a lock button that if there was an accident, you could lock it. Because the way the dash cams work, all the ones that I've ever seen, is they film on a loop, like every three to five minutes. It just restarts and films a three to five to ten minute video. But if you get in an accident, you can hit the button and it locks that so you don't lose that video. Most of them also have a feature where you can hit a button and take a photo. So if there's something really cool that you want to see along the way and something happens on the road trip, just hit that button and click a photo of it.
Bob Bales:But dash cams come in really handy on road trips. It actually comes in handy anytime, because if you do get in an accident and it's not your fault, you've got the evidence right there. Now, if it is your fault, you've got the evidence of that also. But a dash cam comes in handy because it will record everything that happens and there are a lot of idiots out there. Road rage is a thing, so if that happens, you've got video evidence of that as well. But all I can tell you is just do it, just invest a few bucks and get you a dash cam. They come in really handy. They're well worth it, gives you good peace of mind.
Bob Bales:And I've told this story before. I was traveling on a road trip many years ago and I went through Iowa and I hit a deer crossing the highway doing 70 miles an hour. Of course the deer didn't survive and neither did my rental car. I mean it pretty much totaled out that rental car. If I'd have had a dash cam, it would have been a lot better. Thank goodness I had an 18-wheeler behind me who saw the entire incident and just told the trooper, which helped insurance and everything, that there was no way I could react. The deer came basically out of nowhere from a culvert, jumped up onto the highway and it was a split-second deal. But having a dash cam would have certainly helped a whole lot.
Bob Bales:Also, going back to doing your research for your road trip and looking at planning your routes and everything, another thing you can do with Google Maps is like this trip I'm taking is a 13, 13.5-hour drive, so I'm going to have to eat. Well, I don't have to. I could probably stand not to, but I will probably stop and get something to eat along the way. So if you say, well, six, seven hours into the drive, I'll stop, stretch my legs and grab something to eat. I can search on the trip where I'm going to be in six to eight hours and then look at places to eat around there. And I like to find locally owned places to eat, whether it's a good burger place, family cafe, something like that. I just like locally owned restaurants and cafes and eating places because I like to try something new and I like to support the local businesses and face it. I mean you can get a McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken anytime you want to, so why do it on a road trip? But you can search in that little area on Google Maps and just put in restaurants or put in hamburger places or put in steakhouses or seafood or whatever you want to, and you might discover some really cool little eating places along the way. Now I know you can get really detailed into planning a road trip and a lot of these really detailed lists you see are just somebody trying to fill up space. For me, that's pretty much it. I check out my car, make sure it's a really good working order, make sure I've got some emergency equipment in case I might need it Always have my dash cam, pack some drinks, Pack a few snacks, go to Google maps, check out the route, maybe a couple of places to eat, and that is basically my planning, and you can do a lot more, of course.
Bob Bales:Oh, one more I got to tell you about. It's an app. It's called Gas Buddy. I have this app downloaded and there's paid and free versions. I use the free version. Gas Buddy works all around the United States and what it does is it accesses your location using your phone's GPS and it shows you gas stations around you and what the price of gasoline is at those gas stations. And if you've traveled on the interstate much, you will know that stopping to get gas on the interstate is more expensive than taking an exit and detouring a half mile down the road to another gas station. And it can be substantial and if you're on a long road trip, you can save a bunch of money by using GasBuddy and just stopping where they have the cheapest gas to fill up. Gasbuddy you can find it on whatever Apple's deal is.
Bob Bales:I have an Android, so you go to Google Store or the Play Store or whatever it's called. Download the app, it's free. Set up your account and it will show you all of the gas stations and what their prices are. Well, not all of them, but it shows like 90% of the gas stations out there and it's kind of one of those user-generated things. So if you see that well, gasoline over here is $2.36 a gallon for regular, you pull in there and it's now $2.35. The users have the ability to update the app and say, nope, this is the price. And if I'm not mistaken, when you look at it it tells you the last time it was updated. It'll say as of yesterday or as of today or as of two days ago. So it's a really good app to have. It works like a charm and that's what I use. So here in a couple of weeks I'll probably do a podcast about Oconee County, South Carolina, or maybe specifically about one or two of the things I did or saw there, and in the meantime there'll be another podcast in between those two, but that's what I'm doing.
Bob Bales:So, I am heading out on a road trip. I plan on taking a few road trips this year, so that's the best way to travel as far as I'm concerned. You get to see and do a whole lot more. If you haven't taken one in a while, or if road tripping is not your thing, try it one time. You might find out that you really enjoy just hitting the road. There's something about not having to worry about being told when to board, when not to board. Put your seat tray up. No, we're not serving drinks at this time. It's just a whole lot easier to get in the car, grab your favorite beverage, as long as it's non-alcoholic. After all, you are driving down the interstate. If you're like me, light up a nice cigar, crack the window a little bit, put on your favorite tunes, hit the road and enjoy the trip. So that's what I'm doing. I hope you're having a good week, hope you're planning some good trips out there and until next time, safe travels.
