One of my goals in life is to be able to say that I have stepped foot onto each continent on the globe. The ultimate goal would be to set foot in each country but...baby steps. With that being said I am hungry to travel and cannot wait for when my journey abroad begins. I always seem to find myself looking outside of the United States to find rich culture and history, however I am forgetting that there is so much history and exploring to tackle within the United States When I think about it, I've only been to five states. Not counting the states I just drove through to get to my destination.
Luckily, a man named Randal Olsen has computed the optimal road trip across the United States to hit each state in a reasonable amount of time. If you don't take traffic into account the trip will take 224 hours (9.33 days) of driving in total. Talk about an epic journey. Since the route has been designed to go full circle, you are able to start from any destination on the map and follow to route to make it back home safe and sound-- about two to three months later that is.
If you were interesting in seeing the full list of destination landmarks in order take a look to schedule your roadtrip.
Take a look at an interactive map for the ultimate road trip experience.
Now that you have the route, here are some tips to make the trip a lot more enjoyable...
Clean Your Car
Spending hours upon hours in a car usually consists of fast food runs, 7-Eleven snacks, and receipts rolled up in cup holders with empty Starbucks cups and energy drinks. Making sure to clean out the car each time you stop makes it feel less like a living in a garbage disposal.
Prepare Entertainment
Listening to the radio is just not as satisfying as it used to be. I do know a large majority of people now use music applications; such as Pandora, Spodify, Apple music, or XM radio (no advertisements). Make sure to keep your phone updated with not only the best possible music playlists for all moods, but interesting audio books, or tuning into a comedian's show. It's good to spice things up every couple hours. Do not forget the car charger.
Write About It
I'm not too sure how many people would be willing to take on this expedition but I have a feeling if you do, you will be one of the few that will. Write about it. Write about what you see, what you loved, what you hope to see again, how it felt being in a car for nearly three months, whatever comes to mind. This will definitely be something you will want to look back on a few years down the road.
Happy road tripping!
