1) Adventure
The main goal with a spontaneous road trip is adventure and relaxation. Your options for activities all depend on what you want to do. If you want to go rock climbing, go; if you want to go skydiving, go. The possibilities are endless as long as your adventurous side is willing to continue. Do something you normally wouldn’t, stop at places along the road that a normal trip would prevent you from. Do everything and anything you have dreamed of doing.
2) No expectations
You’re on the road with no solid place to end up. The world is at your feet and you can make as many turns as you want. There are no directions you need to follow (unless of course you have a specific place in mind) and you can drive for as long as you want until you find the perfect destination.
Take my trip for example. My boyfriend and I tried planning a trip and it kept falling through because we couldn’t figure out exactly what we wanted to do, we both became stressed and as time grew closer to the departure date we decided to just say F-it. We had one plan and that was to pack to be prepared for anything and start driving towards Lancaster. So far we headed over to Shady Maple and stuffed ourselves beyond belief and before we left we found a hotel we liked the most. Thinking we weren’t going to get much more than an ordinary hotel we booked one of the first hotels we thought would be pretty decent for the night. What we expected wasn’t even close to what we got, but much more! Have you ever heard of the Warehouse Hotel? The whole place is built from an old building-materials warehouse. What is even cooler is the fact that they hold sports events with an outstanding 10 basketball courts, six tennis courts, four field hockey courts, 10 volleyball courts, six soccer fields, a 60-yard indoor track, and a complete baseball field! If you thought that was cool, they also have their own restaurant, a climbing center, and a huge arcade with over 60 games! I think it is best to say we hit the jackpot! We are only one day into our trip and so far it has completely surpassed our goal for fun.
3) No rush
Being on a spontaneous road trip means you don’t exactly have many plans; you just go with the flow. Usually when planning a vacation you plan events and book different attraction sites to visit while you’re there to keep you occupied. For this type of vacation you don’t have to do any of that; there is no rush to get from one place to the other. What is so great about that? Relaxation. Stop planning and start doing.
4) Stories
Every vacation leaves you with an abundance of stories but being spontaneous about your trip gives you even more. When you leave for a specific vacation destination people usually know what kind of things you will be doing while you are there. If you leave with not much more than a packed bag and a full tank of gas you will have people wondering where you have ended up during the time you’re gone. Once you get back I can guarantee people will be listening with open ears to hear about your adventures.
5) No comfort zone
Going out into the unknown can be scary, but at one point or another we have to leave our comfort zones. Leaving with no set destination point can seem a little crazy but that is what makes it so great! It is something completely out of the norm; our lives are filled with the same day-to-day experiences for the most part and we all need to jump up and try new things once in a while! We don’t always have the time to be spontaneous in life so when we do, I say take a leap of faith and go for it.
This trip has definitely been one of my favorites. With no time crunch, no worries of what we will do, and the excitement of the unknown, I have tapped into a new level of relaxation. Sure we have to drive and figure out hotels along the way but that is what makes it fun! It is almost like playing a game, you roll the dice and see where you end up. I would recommend everyone to pick at least a week out of the year, think of a direction you would like to go in, pack a bag, load up the car, and drive away until you find the perfect place to stop. Let’s try to break this habit of planning everything out and just go with it! Life is so much simpler when we stop trying so hard to plan and just take a little leap of faith.
