Bellows - Drives of a Lifetime: 500 of the Worlds Most Spectacular Trips

Drives of a Lifetime

Published by the National Geographic Society

John M. Fahey, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer

Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Chairman of the Board

Tim T. Kelly, President, Global Media Group

John Q. Griffin, Executive Vice President; President, Publishing

Nina D. Hoffman, Executive Vice President; President, Book Publishing Group

Prepared by the Book Division

Barbara Brownell Grogan, Vice President and Editor in Chief

Marianne R. Koszorus, Director of Design

Barbara A. Noe, Senior Editor

Carl Mehler, Director of Maps

Lawrence M. Porges, Project Editor

Olivia Garnett, Mary Stephanos, Contributors

R. Gary Colbert, Production Director

Jennifer A. Thornton, Managing Editor

Meredith C. Wilcox, Administrative Director, Illustrations

Manufacturing and Quality Management

Christopher A. Liedel, Chief Financial Officer

Phillip L. Schlosser, Vice President

Chris Brown, Technical Director

Nicole Elliott, Manager

Rachel Faulise, Manager

Created by Toucan Books Ltd

Ellen Dupont, Editorial Director

Helen Douglas-Cooper, Senior Editor

Peter Clubb, Andrew Kerr-Jarrett, Alice Peebles, Victoria Savage, Amy Smith, Editors

Jackie Attwood-Dupont, Editorial Assistant

Leah Germann, Designer

Christine Vincent, Picture Manager

Sharon Southren with Mia Stewart-Wilson, Picture Researchers

Caroline Hunt, Proofreader

Marie Lorimer, Indexer

The information in this book has been carefully checked and is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate as of press time. Its always advisable to call ahead, however, as details are subject to change. The National Geographic Society cannot be responsible for any changes, or for errors or omissions.

The National Geographic Society is one of the worlds largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 325 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic , and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.

For more information, please call 1-800-NGS LINE
(647-5463) or write to the following address:

National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.

Visit us online at www.nationalgeographic.com

For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National
Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights:

Copyright 2010 Toucan Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

ISBN 978-1-4262-0677-1
ISBN 978-1-4262-0773-0 (deluxe edition)

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 (hardcover)
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4262-1096-9
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.