Traveling the American Road: A Video Introduction from Chicago

by Paul Brady on

Last week, I kicked off a summer-long road trip around the country, a project we’re calling Traveling the American Road. After picking up my ride in Chicago, I set out to see the city, and this video intro will fill you in on the project, a quest to find out how people are confronting change in the wake of the Great Recession and determine the state of the American road trip in an era of $4-a-gallon gas. Oh, and you can keep up with us here on Gadling, at travelingtheamericanroad.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Gowalla.

Traveling the American Road – Introduction


Lonely Planet dishes out summer travel tips and chance at a Napa Valley trip

by Libby Zay on

Summer is fast approaching and sure to fly by even more quickly than it came. To help Americans get the most out of the summer months, Lonely Planet has launched a special micro-site called “Weekends of Summer” that has 15 free guides for all the weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The guides reads like a summer to-do list, with suggestions like “pop a cork” and “explore the great outdoors” for each weekend, and then details on where to complete the mission with via a mini-guide. Although it would be great to escape to the Gulf Coast one weekend and then go hunt lobsters in Maine the next, the best thing most of us can do is take Lonely Planet’s advice on summertime diversions and try to complete as many as possible.

Of course, perhaps even more exciting than the actual guides is the fact that Lonely Planet and the Napa Valley Destination Council have teamed up to give one lucky reader a trip to wine country valued at over $4,000. Simply surrender your name and email to be entered in the contest and have access to all 15 of the guides for free.

[Image courtesy Lonely Planet]

Traveling the American Road: introducing AOL Travel’s Road Trip Across America

by Eva Holland on

[Editor’s note: Paul Brady has replaced Eva Holland as the pilot of the 2011 Explorer due to technical constraints. You can read his intro to the series here!]

There’s something powerful about the American road trip. It’s a travel tradition that’s steeped in history but re-made fresh every summer by families across the country. And it’s a standby in literature and pop culture – from John Steinbeck’s classic Travels with Charley to Smokey and the Bandit through to the recent foul-mouthed buddy comedy, Sex Drive.

In 2011, it’s time to refresh that tradition once again.

Times have changed since Steinbeck and his dog Charley made their way across the country 51 years ago. The interstate system has spread its web across the Lower 48. The internet age has arrived, complete with in-car GPS systems, a blanket of wi-fi and hundreds of travel apps. Gas prices have skyrocketed, and the country is clawing its way out of a brutal recession. But one thing hasn’t changed: A cross-country road trip is still the best way to get into America’s backyard, see its natural wonders and – most importantly – meet its people and tell their stories.Traveling the American Road will take me across the country in a 2011 Ford Explorer. I’ll visit national parks, historic sites, big-name tourist attractions and quirky roadside Americana, and meet the people who make them work. I’ll profile small towns and big cities in recovery, and write about life as a blogger on the road. With blog posts, video, photos, Tweets, Gowalla check-ins and more, I’ll aim to share America as I see it from the driver’s seat.

This is a dream trip for me. Even living north of the border in Canada, I grew up on stories of Route 66, Yellowstone and Yosemite, the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. I’m looking forward to exploring the country by road, and I hope you’ll join me. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook and here on Gadling.

[Flickr photo via Wolfgang Staudt]

Summer road trip guide: where’s the cheapest gas in America?

by Eva Holland on


Come on, people, sing it with me: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” The summer road trip season is here – and that means photo ops at scenic viewpoints, snacks melting on sun-soaked dashboards, and nights in roadside campgrounds or fleabag memorable motels.

Unfortunately, this summer season also brings some nasty gas prices with it. So what’s the best region for an American road trip? I compared current prices state by state to find out.The Big Winner

The good news? The region with the cheapest gas is also one of the nation’s most scenic: the Rocky Mountains. Wyoming has the cheapest gas in the nation (hellooo, Yellowstone National Park) and its neighbors in Colorado, Idaho and Montana aren’t too far behind.

Coming in a close second is another area rich in road trip possibilities: the Deep South. Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina were all staying well under the $4-per-gallon mark at the time of writing; Georgia, North Carolina and Florida prices are a nudge higher, and costs continue to rise through the Virginias towards D.C.

Finally, the desert Southwest remains a good-value region: Utah comes in cheapest in the area, while Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada prices are only slightly higher.

…And the Wallet-Killers

Most of the rest of the country hovers around $4 per gallon, but there are a few standouts where prices rise substantially higher. It’s a predictable set of villains: Alaska, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.

Of course, prices will change over time and they also vary between urban and rural areas, but the general trends tend to hold. Here’s the full list of price ranges I found using GasBuddy.com:

Alabama (Mobile): $3.68-3.89
Alaska (Fairbanks): $4.13-4.30
Arizona (Phoenix) $3.59-3.95
Arkansas (Little Rock) $3.49-3.89
California (Los Angeles): $4.08-4.69
Colorado (Denver) $3.55-3.89
Connecticut (Hartford): $4.07-4.35
Delaware (Wilmington): $3.89-4.16
Florida (Orlando): $3.60-3.99
Georgia (Atlanta): $3.74-4.29
Hawaii (Honolulu): $4.35-4.55
Idaho (Boise): $3.65-3.79
Illinois (Chicago): $4.23-4.79
Indiana (Indianapolis): $3.99-4.19
Iowa (Des Moines): $3.70-4.00
Kansas (Wichita): $3.72-3.79
Kentucky (Lexington): $3.85-4.09
Louisiana (New Orleans): $3.65-3.89
Maine: $3.85-4.21
Maryland (Baltimore): $3.84-4.29
Massachusetts: $3.85-4.19
Michigan (Detroit): $3.95-4.29
Minnesota (Twin Cities): $3.79-3.99
Mississippi (Jackson): $3.58-3.84
Missouri (St. Louis): $3.79-4.19
Montana (Billings): $3.61-3.64
Nebraska (Omaha): $3.89-4.09
Nevada (Las Vegas): $3.75-3.93
New Hampshire: $3.79-4.00
New Jersey (Trenton): $3.75-3.99
New Mexico (Santa Fe): $3.75-3.89
New York (New York City): $4.15-4.49
North Carolina (Charlotte): $3.79-3.99
North Dakota (Fargo): $3.79-3.89
Ohio (Cincinnati): $3.95-4.19
Oklahoma (Oklahoma City): $3.67-3.99
Oregon (Portland): $3.83-4.07
Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh): $3.95-4.09
Rhode Island (Providence): $3.95-4.15
South Carolina (Columbia): $3.64-3.89
South Dakota (Sioux Falls): $3.89-3.99
Tennessee (Memphis): $3.63-3.89
Texas (Dallas): $3.69-4.19
Utah (Salt Lake City): $3.59-3.79
Vermont: $3.85-3.99
Virginia (Richmond): $3.73-4.09
Washington (Tacoma): $3.91-4.15
West Virginia: $3.89-4.29
Wisconsin (Madison): $3.95-4.09
Wyoming: $3.36-3.76

[Flickr image via Wolfgang Staudt]

Summer road trip plans; don’t let gas prices slow you down

by Chris Owen on
If you’re starting to think about that Summer road trip and how much it is going to cost, take another look at gas prices. At about 96 cents above average prices last year, experts say prices could beat July 2008’s record $4.11 as Summer driving season demand, speculators and political uncertainty in Libya and the Middle East drive crude oil prices up.

“We’re going to see some more increases, but $4 gas is enough to cut demand,” Peter Beutel, president of energy risk manager Cameron Hanover told USAToday. “Once you get to a place where everyone is paying $4, the pain threshold is universally shared.”

Here are a few tips that can help save fuel:

  • Get off the highway to buy gas. The highest prices around will be on the interstate or turnpike. Look for well-marked exits that have multiple gas stations listed
  • Bring an extra friend to help share the cost. If the price of gas goes up 25% (which would be like a buck a gallon- not likely), adding a third or fourth friend along to share the cost can make a big difference.
  • Keep a log or journal. If you have done this before you know that things can get kind of blurry after driving 15 or 18 hours straight. Keeping a log of where you are when you buy gas, how much it was and how far that got you.
  • Have a plan on where you are going. It’s no problem to say “I want to see the country” but America is a pretty big place. Waking up in Kansas City to say “Next stop:Miami!” is more of a long-term goal. There will be a lot of stops between Kansas City and Miami.

Also see Gadling’s 20 tips for surviving a summer road trip, courtesy of touring musicians and RoadTripAmerica.com for more information.

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