V
Vanessa Salvia
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
When my partner and I received Lonely Planet’s book, “Epic Road Trips of the Americas” in the mail the other day, we spent an hour right away just flipping through, reading bits of it, looking at the pictures, and talking about the many road trips inside that inspired us. We found so many road trips to dream about!
I feel that it would take a VERY intrepid and determined traveler to even get close to driving all of these road trips, but that dream is part of the fun.
Not only does the book cover the road trips of the United States, it also covers Canada and South America (hence the “Americas” in the title).
North America is the largest portion of the book, covering 35 chapters. Rather than being organized by region, which might be intuitive, the Contents section is organized alphabetically. At first I thought this was one of the only flaws that came to mind in this book. But then I realized that not having the contents organized by region made the reader have to do a little more searching, perusing, and discovering. Ultimately, in a book about road trips, it’s a good thing!
Just to give you a hint of what I mean, the first entry is about a drive from Vail to Aspen, Colorado. This particular drive is not organized by A for Aspen, C for Colorado, V for Vail, or W for Western region; it is organized by A for the title of the chapter “Across the Great Divide: Vail to Aspen (CO).” Overall, this choice is a minor concern.
Photo courtesy of Lonely Planet
What was more enjoyable was looking at some of the road trips we had taken, like the west coast of Maui, which is mentioned as being similar to the wildlife viewing trip of driving through Chile. We have loved the many trips we have taken on Highway 101 between San Francisco and Seattle mentioned in the “Land of Giants: The Pacific Northwest” trip. We wondered why we had never taken a road trip to Route 66 (“Just For Kicks: Route 66”) and decided then and there that we were going to take that drive someday.
I felt like the entries were very well written, even if they lacked a little detail. For instance, the aforementioned Pacific Northwest drive mentions specifically Seattle and the town of Forks and Ilwaco in Washington. It skips over every Oregon coastal town until Port Orford, which is on the southern Oregon coast, then goes off into California. But if they had added details about every beautiful spot to stop, the book would be too heavy to pick up.
Each chapter opens with a big picture overview about the drive and a small map of the region. There’s a full-page photo, then some detail photos to set the scene. The photos do have captions, so you aren’t left wondering just what is shown, which is nice. It has basic driving directions. For the Seattle to San Francisco it says, “Start: Seattle and Finish: San Francisco,” but it also includes details such as winter driving being a little dreary (it is, thanks to rain and fog), but you have the advantage of winter being whale-watching season. It also mentions summer being busier with tourists (which is also definitely true).
It suggests a restaurant to eat at in Astoria, Oregon, The Bowpicker, a trawler turned fish and chips spot that is near the Columbia River Maritime Museum and is certainly worth a stop at.
Photos courtesy of Lonely Planet
There’s also a “hot tip” to stop at San Frans’s It’s Tops for a “neon-and-jukebox experience.” After that is a page of “More Like This” trips, offering shorter write-ups on three trips that are similar in some way, like British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, the Windward Coast of Oahu, and Cape Ann in Massachusetts. The header photo here is a view near Cape Disappointment, which is just a couple of miles from the town of Ilwaco mentioned in the drive. You’ll see endless jaw-dropping views like this along this route.
The trips appeal to a variety of travelers, from romantic couples drives to family journeys that everyone will remember. The write-ups are written from the expertise of someone who has actually taken the drive. They help readers understand how challenging each drive is, along with recommended detours and the best times to make specific commutes.
Overall, if you are looking for any sort of road trip inspiration and aren’t the type to spend hours poring over entries on websites, this book is for you. It is fun to flip through, fun to get inspired by, and each destination leads you to another, so you’ll never run out of ideas.
The book was published in September 2022 by Lonely Planet, and is 320 pages with a hardback cover. Take a closer look and purchase your own copy here.
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About the Author: Vanessa Salvia is the site owner and editor at Road Trips for Families. She is an accomplished freelance writer and editor with extensive experience creating high-quality content for various mediums. Her work spans writing articles for newspapers and magazines, crafting SEO-optimized web content, and assisting authors in polishing their book manuscripts. To learn more about her services and portfolio, visit vanessasalvia.com.
The post Book Review: Lonely Planet’s ‘Epic Road Trips of the Americas’ appeared first on Road Trips For Families.
I feel that it would take a VERY intrepid and determined traveler to even get close to driving all of these road trips, but that dream is part of the fun.
Beyond the Cover: A Closer Look at ‘Epic Road Trips’
Not only does the book cover the road trips of the United States, it also covers Canada and South America (hence the “Americas” in the title).
North America is the largest portion of the book, covering 35 chapters. Rather than being organized by region, which might be intuitive, the Contents section is organized alphabetically. At first I thought this was one of the only flaws that came to mind in this book. But then I realized that not having the contents organized by region made the reader have to do a little more searching, perusing, and discovering. Ultimately, in a book about road trips, it’s a good thing!
Just to give you a hint of what I mean, the first entry is about a drive from Vail to Aspen, Colorado. This particular drive is not organized by A for Aspen, C for Colorado, V for Vail, or W for Western region; it is organized by A for the title of the chapter “Across the Great Divide: Vail to Aspen (CO).” Overall, this choice is a minor concern.
Photo courtesy of Lonely Planet
What was more enjoyable was looking at some of the road trips we had taken, like the west coast of Maui, which is mentioned as being similar to the wildlife viewing trip of driving through Chile. We have loved the many trips we have taken on Highway 101 between San Francisco and Seattle mentioned in the “Land of Giants: The Pacific Northwest” trip. We wondered why we had never taken a road trip to Route 66 (“Just For Kicks: Route 66”) and decided then and there that we were going to take that drive someday.
The Nitty Gritty: Book Navigation, Formatting, and Design
I felt like the entries were very well written, even if they lacked a little detail. For instance, the aforementioned Pacific Northwest drive mentions specifically Seattle and the town of Forks and Ilwaco in Washington. It skips over every Oregon coastal town until Port Orford, which is on the southern Oregon coast, then goes off into California. But if they had added details about every beautiful spot to stop, the book would be too heavy to pick up.
Each chapter opens with a big picture overview about the drive and a small map of the region. There’s a full-page photo, then some detail photos to set the scene. The photos do have captions, so you aren’t left wondering just what is shown, which is nice. It has basic driving directions. For the Seattle to San Francisco it says, “Start: Seattle and Finish: San Francisco,” but it also includes details such as winter driving being a little dreary (it is, thanks to rain and fog), but you have the advantage of winter being whale-watching season. It also mentions summer being busier with tourists (which is also definitely true).
It suggests a restaurant to eat at in Astoria, Oregon, The Bowpicker, a trawler turned fish and chips spot that is near the Columbia River Maritime Museum and is certainly worth a stop at.
Photos courtesy of Lonely Planet
There’s also a “hot tip” to stop at San Frans’s It’s Tops for a “neon-and-jukebox experience.” After that is a page of “More Like This” trips, offering shorter write-ups on three trips that are similar in some way, like British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, the Windward Coast of Oahu, and Cape Ann in Massachusetts. The header photo here is a view near Cape Disappointment, which is just a couple of miles from the town of Ilwaco mentioned in the drive. You’ll see endless jaw-dropping views like this along this route.
The Verdict
The trips appeal to a variety of travelers, from romantic couples drives to family journeys that everyone will remember. The write-ups are written from the expertise of someone who has actually taken the drive. They help readers understand how challenging each drive is, along with recommended detours and the best times to make specific commutes.
Overall, if you are looking for any sort of road trip inspiration and aren’t the type to spend hours poring over entries on websites, this book is for you. It is fun to flip through, fun to get inspired by, and each destination leads you to another, so you’ll never run out of ideas.
The book was published in September 2022 by Lonely Planet, and is 320 pages with a hardback cover. Take a closer look and purchase your own copy here.
—
The post Book Review: Lonely Planet’s ‘Epic Road Trips of the Americas’ appeared first on Road Trips For Families.
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