Last month a gal pal contacted me about her annual trek down to Florida. During her travels last year she commented that I should consider joining her the next time she road-tripped down to FLA. I had noted, sure… we’ll see… I’ll think about it. It sounded like fun, but really, how could I possibly find the time?
Well, this year I found the time. Tomorrow I’m joining Didi and Dani and we are hitting the road; calling it the GalPal Road Trip of 2012. Oh, there were again plenty of excuses for not going, but this year I asked myself this question: Why Don’t More Women Take the Time to Road Trip? Each excuse, though grounded and certainly valid, fell flat. It was time to make the time.
Being my Virgo self, I did a little research and I discovered that there are some wonderful resources available to help plan out a gal pal road trip. Just a few include:
· Check out this website, Road Trip America: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/ If you’re a planner, like me, you’ll want to visit this site and check out all the resources it offers. The Map Wizard is especially helpful.
· There is a great series on public television entitled: Road Trip Nation, http://roadtripnation.com/ The shows speaks to the American fascination with exploring, traveling, and the freedom to just get up and go.
· You can garner some inspiration from the New York Times, which offers some nice road trip tips at: http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/road-trips/overview.html
Tomorrow’s adventure has me thinking about all my gal pals and how I wish we were all hitting the road together more often. Here are a few thoughts as to Why More Women Should Take A Gal Pal Road Trip:
1. Disconnect. OK, in today’s gadget age we’ll have access to our smart phones and our GPS and I’m guessing we’ll be logging on to the Internet at night. But during the drive it will be nice to have a little bit of freedom from our electronic security blankets.
2. Leave the responsibilities behind. Say goodbye, just for a few days, to the husband, boyfriend, kids, dog, cat, house-cleaning, what’s-for-dinner responsibilities and focus on nothing but what’s on the radio and where’s our next bathroom stop.
3. Re-connect with your gal pals. This is, to me, the most important reason to take a road trip. Plenty of time to catch up on all things; important and silly.
4. No hassles, no lines, no security checkpoints. The grind at the airport can be soul-sucking (for a good laugh check out Channeling My Inner Jack from I Was In Love With A Short Man Once). I’m hoping to regain some of my humanity on the road.
5. Just making the time. We women famously put everyone’s needs ahead of our own. We deserve a break every once in awhile, don’t you think?
What would you add to this list; why would you take a gal pal road trip? Please leave your ideas in the comments section; I would love to know your thoughts.
Hope to perhaps see you on the road,
Kimba
I'd take a trip with my gal pal (the only one I have), so that she could clean the fish that I caught along the way. Many of you will hate me for posting this, but my gal pal would get a laugh out of it because she knows and enjoys my sense of humor.
Hey John, how about she catches the fish and YOU clean them! Great interview today; try to keep out of the snow!
I have done a road trip on several occasions with a couple of girlfriends and we never ran out of things to talk about or subjects to connect about. You have reminded me its time to do it again! Can't wait to see you in south Florida.
so cathy, where should we go? north, south, east or west?
I have taken a road trip on a couple of occasions over the years. We never seem to run out of things to talk about and subjects to connect us. You absolutely made me realize it's TIME to do it again! Can't wait to see you in south Florida and hear about your adventures.
I think the best reason is that we women understand each other. There is no Mars and Venus – just all beautiful, multitasking Venusians. If we all talk at the same time – we still understand what everyone is saying and yes, we DO have to stop every hour to pee and singing 99 bottles is fun!
Enjoy your trip Kim!
Thanks for sharing Kathy/Healthy Boomer. If I start up a chorus of 99 bottles I'm SO blaming it on you!
Thanks Kimba for the reminder about how fun it is to road trip with the gals! A few years ago, two of my closest friends and I travelled to Ireland, rented a car, and took a road trip around Ireland. It was some of the most genuine fun I have had in a long time. First of all, being in Ireland, it was REALLY easy to disconnect from life back in the states which was great. Second, there wasn't the fighting/annoying commentary from a spouse on how crappy you might be driving or how slow you might be driving (and believe me, I was driving crappy and slow on the wrong side of the road on tiny roads that seemed impossible to get by on). Don't get me wrong, I love my hubby and often road trip with him, but doing it with gal pals is something different and special. You can agree to not be in a hurry – do we really care that we made the trip in 18 hours instead of 20? – usually not if we are laughing, having silly fun waving to truckers, stopping every hour to pee, etc. Also, there is typically no arguing over whether or not to stop at the world's largest flea market (something my husband would despise)! Enjoy your travels and thanks for the resources!
Thanks for sharing Becky. I want to go to both Ireland AND the world's largest flea market!! There is actually the world's longest yard sale every year the first week of August, I think it starts in Michigan and ends in Alabama!