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We've gotten around putting miles on our car by renting an SUV with unlimited mileage for camping trips and such. It's also worked out better when we were both in a weeding so had to transport formal wear.
When my daughter was much younger - 0 til arbout 2yr - driving made more sense. It's horrible to try and change a baby on a plane, breastfeed, or pump!
There are, IMO, a lot of times where driving beats flying.
One thing about the comparison that has changed: flying used to be much faster. Now, however, you have to be going quite a serious distance for flying to be faster.
By the time you get to the airport early enough to get through the screening, wait for the flight, flight delays, long times between connections, wait for your luggage, fight the traffic around the airport, then it can be faster to drive the middle distance trip.
i hear many people that have made car trips, racking up the mileage, only return to say they regret racking up the mileage....so in your experience is taking your own car on a road trip worth the extra time and mileage on your car (assuming that renting is out of the question)?
Cars are great for trips as they give you a level of freedom you just wont get on a plane or train, See something interesting in a car you just pull over and explore,
Not driving a car because you dont want to put on the miles makes no sense, its just a car,ya put a couple of hundred thousand miles on em then throw it away and buy a new one every once in a while.
One thing about the comparison that has changed: flying used to be much faster.
Now, however, you have to be going quite a serious distance for flying to be faster...
or more practical unless you end up somewhere that having a car is impractical.
DC to NYC (225miles; 4hrs by car) for a weekend getaway?
Take the train (only 3 hrs) then cab it.
Irvine to San Luis (225miles; 4hrs by car) for a weekend getaway?
Take the car every time (even if that train ride didn't take over 6hrs)
It totally depends on the type of trip:
A rambling adventure to the mountains (or wherever) that you don't have to drive for days just to get to and where you want freedom once you're there = Car
A trip to grandpa's house in the city 2000+ miles away = Fly
One thing about the comparison that has changed: flying used to be much faster. Now, however, you have to be going quite a serious distance for flying to be faster.
This is true. It's something I've put a lot of thought into for my own trips. It largely depends on how long it takes to get to whatever airport you use and how large it is. Larger airports (I use DEN) offer a lot more direct flights leaving at a lot of different times. But they also take longer to get out to the terminal. Getting through security is usually faster for us because they have so many lanes, but if you happen to travel at peak times (esp. during holidays) or if some other unknown factor bogs down security, it can be a total nightmare.
So our threshold is about 8 hours, or about 500 miles. Six hours is about the time it takes to drive to the airport, get to the terminal, board, fly for less than two hours (<1000 miles), deboard, get baggage, and then drive to our final stop (assuming it's not a very long drive from there). In other words, any drive much over 8 hours to a place with a real airport is a no-brainer to just fly instead. Anything less than 8 hours, and we'll consider driving even if it actually takes a little longer than flying.
I prefer to travel by car and avoid the interstates. You get to see more of the countryside that way. I don't care how many miles I put on my car. It's the experience that I want. My husband and I just returned from two weeks in England and Scotland. We rented a car and put over 2,000 miles on it. We saw all kinds of things and only planned a day in advance. With a car, you can be flexible. It's not for everyone but it works for us.
We took my car on a 6000 mile cross country trip this year. It had low miles to begin with, now it's the low side of average. I liked driving a familiar car and would take my car again in the same scenario without hesitation.
My BF and I enjoy certain types of car trips. Others are sheer drudgery.
We are most likely to have a fun, pleasant trip when:
- going there is half the fun (bonus points for a particularly lovely, scenic route)
- we get to make some fun stops en route (seeing long list friends, interesting sites)
- the weather is nice, or at least decent (no blizzards or ice!)
- we have time built into the schedule so we can deviate from the itinerary
- we are well-rested before we get in the car
We're most likely to want to murder each other AND regret the trip when:
- the weather is awful - ice storms, flooding, road closures
- the schedule is so tight we have to time bathroom breaks to the last second
- we didn't get adequate sleep/rest before leaving town
There have been very few trips we've regretted. And the enjoyable trips? I regret nothing about them - not even the mileage. The trips have been a great way to strengthen our relationship.
My BF and I enjoy certain types of car trips. Others are sheer drudgery.
We are most likely to have a fun, pleasant trip when:
- going there is half the fun (bonus points for a particularly lovely, scenic route)
- we get to make some fun stops en route (seeing long list friends, interesting sites)
- the weather is nice, or at least decent (no blizzards or ice!)
- we have time built into the schedule so we can deviate from the itinerary
- we are well-rested before we get in the car
We're most likely to want to murder each other AND regret the trip when:
- the weather is awful - ice storms, flooding, road closures
- the schedule is so tight we have to time bathroom breaks to the last second
- we didn't get adequate sleep/rest before leaving town
There have been very few trips we've regretted. And the enjoyable trips? I regret nothing about them - not even the mileage. The trips have been a great way to strengthen our relationship.
My husband and I love road trips. It doesn't matter where we go, we just enjoy the time with each other. When we go to visit my family (500+ miles), we take three of our dogs and our parrot. We even enjoy the drive across I-90 in South Dakota.
Of course, bad weather and road conditions make it worse. That's just a given.
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