I am someone who tends to take a lot of road trips, and they are normally either for sports or for school. Back in high school I would take summer road trips to baseball tournaments I was playing in. Since I’ve been in college, I've been road tripping more to watch sports. Going to Dallas for opening day of this baseball season, or to Minnesota for a Seattle Seahawks playoff game, and recently I road tripped to Omaha for the College World Series. So as someone with a lot of experience I can think of a few great reasons to take a road trip at some point every summer.

Let's start with road trips by yourself. I’ve driven from Seattle to Stillwater and back three times now and it's a pretty good experience each time. Having a couple of days completely to myself was pretty great. No one else but you gives you a lot of time to think. Plus, road tripping is a great way to see a lot of the country. I’ve had the privilege to see most of the western half of the country just because I had to get to and from school. But while road tripping by yourself can be really nice and a very peaceful experience, road tripping with a friend or two can be even better.

As long as you’ve got friends that you can stand to be around, road tripping can be a great way to bond. It makes sense right? There is nothing to do but talk to each other. You listen to music that everyone enjoys and you sing along. You talk about how excited you are to get wherever it is you are going and about how life has been and how you expect it to go. You talk until you run out of things to talk about, then you pass a billboard that someone makes a joke at and a new conversation begins.

Then you get wherever you’re going, and by the way there are some great possible destinations during the summer, and you have a great time. For me, it was playing in a baseball tournament or watching my favorite sports teams in cities I hadn’t been to before, but there are also tons of concerts and festivals and all kinds of things that are worthy of a great road trip.

There is a downside though, and it tends to be the ride back if it was a quick trip. If there is a quick turnaround before you’re on the road again the ride back can feel way longer than the trip there. My suggestion, if possible, is to take a mainly different route. That isn’t always possible, but it’s worth it to try.

Getting on the road during the summer can be a lot of fun; driving through the long days to get to some really cool destinations. Whether by yourself or with some good friends, a summer road trip is a great experience almost every time.