Roller Coaster Tour attempts to ride every coaster in the U.S.

Karol Gajda is on a solo mission to conquer every roller coaster in the United States – and he’s given himself just three months to do it.

Karol’s ambitious coast-to-coast roller coaster ride started last Saturday, and he’s already faced a few ups and downs. His dream was to travel cross-country in a hearse or similarly quirky car, but he had to settle for a more modest vehicle (although he hasn’t yet divulged any details for fear it might break down). He also ripped his shorts at his first stop, Michigan’s Adventure. Let’s hope he brought more than one pair for the trip!

Why is Karol on this mission? Because he wants to. “It’s that simple,” he writes on his blog, Roller Coaster Tour, where readers can keep track of his adventures as he circles the States.

Above, Karol talks more about his quest and encourages followers to meet up with him at parks. Luckily, the coaster enthusiast did have the foresight to get cool rock band-style t-shirts with tour dates on the back, which will make him easy to spot at theme parks during the busy summer season.

Road trip tips


Thanks to Tynan’s continuing feature on the nomadic life, Gadling’s been receiving an influx of requests on tips for big road trips. Those of us who are not quite as daring as Tynan might want to start with a cross-country trip, for example. There’s much to consider before you embark on such a journey, so it’s important to keep these things in mind:

  • The company: Road trips are not for the faint hearted. If you’ve ever seen “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “No Country for Old Men” you’ll know what I mean. If your road trip is longer than a week, choose your company wisely. S/he better like the same music as you, you better have something worth talking about for hours on end. Ultimately, you should determine beforehand whether you can tolerate this person’s antics or not.

  • The car: You’ll definitely want to get your car pimped out thoroughly before the journey. On my most recent 3-week trip from Florida to California, my boyfriend bought an old Chevy van that we called “Vanzilla.” He didn’t tell me at the time, but it cost him only $500. We pushed “Vanzilla” a bit too hard one evening and slept through a freezing cold evening in shopping mall parking lot in Flagstaff, Arizona. The next morning, the radiator blew. Little disasters and problem-solving is part of the package when it comes to road trips, so be prepared!
  • Stuff in the trunk: Little thought has to be put into what to bring. As long as you don’t bring your most valuable stuff, the rest is fair game. Stuff it in the trunk and hit the road! Whatever you forget to bring, you can buy at Walmart or a roadside gas station.
  • The route: If possible, you should have a rough outline of the route you’re taking and the stops you plan on making. GoogleMaps has a great feature where you can drop pins and calculate driving time and distances (click on the “My Maps” tab and then “Create new map”). Most likely you’ll be visiting friends along the way, so make it a point to tell them you’re coming, so they know roughly when to expect you.
  • It’s not all fun and games: The purpose of a road trip is not to drink and drive — at least I hope you’re not endangering other people by thinking the road is such a playground. You don’t want to do anything stupid. My friends got caught somewhere in South Dakota with weed in their car and ended up in the slammer. You can imagine their parents reaction when they got the “Please Save Me” call. Have a great time, but be responsible.
  • R & R: Rest and relaxation is definitely possible when you’re on the road. Take some detours. If you see a strange sign and it makes you curious, follow it. You can also stay clean on the road by utilizing the trucker stops, which have fully functioning hot-water showers. Some are quite clean! If you’re really road trippin’ you must try it. As for the famed roadside motels, you might try one or two, but you might end up preferring the comfort of your reclined seat in the car. You can always pack a tent, too, and just camp it in a rest area if you’re desperate.
  • The memories: My Florida-California Vanzilla trip was designed to be a woman’s version of “Travels with Charley,” as I brought my pug Iris with me. Keep a blog (you can read about our journey HERE), take tons of photos (the photos from this article are also from this trip), and make great memories!

Enjoy your road trip — and let me know if there are any other tips I’ve missed!

3 men, 1 van and 48 states in less than 120 hours

This morning, when there was one woman (me) in one car (a Toyota Corolla) going along 3 streets in 5 minutes on my way to teach a class, I heard about these 3 guys who are in a car traveling this week to all 48 states in the continental U.S. They’re not traveling through each state, but are at least crossing borders to say they’ve been in each one.

One of the guys, Joshua Keeler, was being interviewed on the radio about the trip. Originally, years ago, this was going to be his father’s trip. His dad, James, had mapped out the journey, but James’ mother’s death kept him from going. Joshua got hold of the maps and corralled his two friends Joey Stocking and Adam Gatherum to go along with him on this journey they are calling, “The Great American Road Trip.” There is an attempt to break the Guinness record for a similar trip, although, Guinness no longer keeps such records for road safety sake.

This morning the trio was in South Dakota. They started in Vermont on Sunday, and tomorrow they will end their trip at Four Corners, the spot where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. You can see the path these three took and get more details about them at their Web site greatamericanroadtrip.us

Keeler said they are eating a lot of cold canned soup and snack packs. There really isn’t any time to stop except for gas and to use the toilet. They’ve noticed a 50 cent fluctuation in gas prices and have found that their 2005 Toyota Scion is perfect for the journey.

Here’s the route they’re taking.