The hum of a 737 soaring through miles of open sky, versus the constant buzz of a car engine moving through miles of open road. The orange juice that tastes just a little better at 30,000 feet versus the coffee in your center console. Most everyone I know would choose to take an airplane to a given destination over a car.

Being someone who travels often, especially to and from my hometown and my college town a few states away, I understand the pure convenience of air travel. After all, a quick flight across the country is simply easier than climbing into a jam-packed car with hours of road stretching ahead of you. Nine times out of ten, though, I'm opting for the road trip.

An obvious perk of traveling via car is that it's (usually) the cheaper option, especially if you're like me and you're cruisin' in a very gas efficient car. I see road trips as so much more than a cost-efficient journey, though. Road trips are an adventure.

Some of my favorite memories from growing up have been centered around the various road trips I've taken with my family to all corners of the beautiful United States. In addition, now that I'm older, I've been able to take road trips with my friends. (Let me tell you, you don't truly know a person until you've spent ten+ hours in a car with them.) We plan on going on many more, and I only look forward to the time I'll get to spend with them, even if it is time spent cramped in a car.

Road trips are a perfect way to see so many wonderful things we just don't have the opportunity to see from a tiny airplane window. I look forward to the thirteen-hour drive across the Midwest between my school and my hometown, I love to gaze out my window and admire the miles and miles of open space on either side of the highway. The simple homes in the middle of nowhere, the cows grazing in a field, the vast mountain ranges covered in greenery…there's truly beauty everywhere, if you choose to simply look beyond your window.

There's so much more of this world that I have yet to see, and, with time, I hope to see it all (or as much of it as I can). After all, it's about the journey, not the destination.