New England Road Trip and Discovering the Much Romanticized Notion of Being “On the Road”

Viva la road trip! The advent of automobile paired with highway building and cheap gas prices ($0.60 per gallon!) in the 50s meant greater mobility. One could travel great distance in a car compared to horse-drawn carriages.

The drive to go places, to search for something else is best exemplified by Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical On the Road, which captures the essence of the “Beat” sensibility. Despite the fact that Kerouac depicts the Beat generation as “so lonely, so sad, so tired, so quivering, so broken, so beat,” to be “on the road” is largely romanticized and the book portrays the American landscape as expansive and beautiful.

Credit: online image, busbank.com

Credit: online image, busbank.com

When I think about road trip, it connotes images of open roads and feelings of absolute freedom and wonderment. That romanticized notion of road trips, however, has proven to be a miscommunication. In April, I went on a New England road trip that has demonstrated my naivety with car travel. The reality is, we were driving a lot and it wasn’t always fun and without back pains. Hence, should you ever be tempted to go on a road trip, be careful who you pick as your travel buddy (-ies).

Route (800.8 mi): Boston, MA → Portland, ME → Jackson, NH → Portland, ME → Cape Cod, MA

2 thoughts on “New England Road Trip and Discovering the Much Romanticized Notion of Being “On the Road”

  1. Maurice Chon

    You must have had good company! Seeing as how you did so much and speaking positively (for the most part) about the experience.

    Reply

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