Any road trip is going to feel longer than you think it will. And you'll be tired and you won't get a meal exactly when you're hungry. You never find a bed exactly when you want to go to sleep.

And you're probably not going to find out what it is you got on the road to find out in the first place.

And you know all that. You know all that going into it. And you still -- we all still -- buy into the cliche about road trips.

That what a road trip stands for is hope.

Hope.

That somewhere -- anywhere -- is better than here.

That somewhere on the road I will turn into the person I want to be. I'll turn into the person I believe I could be. That I am.

And we hit the road. You and me and our whole great nation. With high hopes and no expectations for the future.

Ira Glass

This American Life

2007-05-20

This is a piece by Bryan Schutmaat -- part of a fascinating "Heartland" series. It reminds me of my travels through the small towns of the American mid-west. To experience the early morning sunrise here in quiet solitude is something to cherish.

Through road trips are our opportunities to discover and explore the treasures of other neighbourhoods around the world. In this case, it's the Route 99 Diner in Edmonton, Alberta.

What a neat way to express the beauty of road tripping through the beautiful art of origami. Of course this is an ad...

would you ever stumble across a place like this...

What is? Nothing like a scenic drive through the Antermoia area in Italy.

There's something classic about road tripping into the heart of the city from the countryside.