National Geographic Society (U.S.). Book Division - Drives of a lifetime: 500 of the worlds most spectacular trips

Drives of a Lifetime

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eBook ISBN: 978-1-4262-1096-9
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4262-0677-1
Deluxe Edition ISBN 978-1-4262-0773-0

L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN -P UBLICATION D ATA
Drives of a lifetime : 500 of the worlds most spectacular trips / introduction by Keith Bellows.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4262-0677-1
1. Automobile travelGuidebooks.
GV1024.D75 2010
796.7dc22
2010026609

10/RRDW/1

v3.1

In southwestern Italy, the gorgeous blue waters of the Mediterranean are your constant companion as you drive the Amalfi coast road, here curving around a headland in Atrani. Opposite: A canary-yellow classic convertible is parked on Ocean Drive in the art deco district of Miami Beach, Florida.

Travelers along Western Australias Gibb River Road ford the Pentecost River, with the orange ramparts of the Cockburn Range rising in the background.

I m on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, hard by the gray swell of the Chesapeake Bay. Trolling along at only 50 mph (80 km/h) in my green 1972 MGBwith the top downgives me the luxury of really seeing what passes. Im on the road again. I love the primal feeling of being out, about, and able to take any route I choose. Motoring from here to there has been a part of my life ever since I remember: trips in the old Rambler from Montreal to Cape Cod while counting state license plates and overnighting in gas stations so somebody could minister to the latest breakdown; spontaneous escapes with buddies from my New Hampshire college to nearby Vermont or far, far away Mexico; retreats with my wife to some quiet place to read, restore, and reconnect; cacophonous excursions with my kids to wherever we think they can be happy; or a solo slip-away to rethink my life. Taking to the tarmac is the way to find yourself, explore new places, and connect with others.

Recently, the road has begun to whisper more insistently to me. An old buddy whom I havent seen in years came to visit in his restored 57 Chevy. Now middle-aged, he was preparing to drive it across America, from his home in Tennessee to places he would choose as he went. I was jealous, because I understood why he was compelled to do this. Any road trip, whether it be for a day, a week, or longer, can uncork our imaginations and rekindle the wanderlust and curiosity that makes true travelas opposed to vacationingso intoxicating. You see the passing parade in a way that allows you to experience life as it is lived. This has happened to me so often, and I can readily unspool the memories. I stop at an antique store in Appalachia and am seduced into a world of handmade quilts, locally crafted fiddles, andif you ask the right question to the right persondown-home moonshine. I lose myself on a roller-coaster road in New Zealand, and the getting lost is its own dividend (I meet a family that hosts me for two days in their oceanside cottage). In India, on the drive from Agra to Jaipur, I am delayed by demonstrations for seven hours; rather than fume as I would in Los Angeles traffic, I experience the Indians world of sublime patience as I watch delayed drivers cook at the roadside, play backgammon, and tend to their children. In the Scottish Highlands, I stumble upon a pub and meet a man who invites me to dine at his castle, then takes me fly-fishing the next day at his private salmon run. I drive my favorite highway in America, Highway 101 through Big Sur, and Im alone with stupefying grand views of ocean and headlands, switchbacks and precipitous dropswhich remind me that a drive itself has an ability to entertain and astound.