I get asked the question all the time, “why do you road trip?” Easy answer for me, “because I love driving!” But my husband absolutely hates to road trip and would prefer to fly. So I’ve come up with some pros and cons for both to hopefully help you make the decision!

Road Tripping

Like I mentioned before, I love driving and long car rides. Nine times out of ten, I’d pick a car ride over a flight any day. But when your husband has sciatica and can’t handle driving for long, you have to compromise at times. Here are all the reasons I love a good road trip…

• First, you can bring All. The. Things! There’s nothing I despise more than a 50 lb. weight limit or trying to stuff everything into a carry on. If I want to bring 7 suitcases, 7 suitcases it is. I especially love this for hiking trips and beach trips because I can pack all the gear and beach toys our little hearts desire. I also prefer to bring a large selection of snacks/groceries and have yet to figure out how to do this when flying!
• I also love being on my own time. If we want to leave early, we can. If we decide to sleep in a little longer, it’s up to us. The flexibility on time is so much less stressful for me.
• When we drive, we get to see so many more sights than if we were to just to fly straight to our destination! For example, when we drove to Utah last spring, we got to visit Shiprock in New Mexico and Monument Valley! We would’ve missed this with a direct flight in. Click here to read more about our road trip to Arches National Park!
• You never have to worry about a canceled flight or a long delay when driving. I swear I lose sleep on vacation worrying about getting stranded at the airport for days with our kids.
• For us, driving is usually more cost effective. We don’t have to spend any money on flights, luggage, or a rental car. Even when we have to add in a hotel stay, that is usually far cheaper than airfare!

Flying High

I am not the best flyer there is, but I am getting better! And I will admit, there truly are some benefits to flying…

• First, you get to your destination and back home much quicker when you fly. For us, that means less time off work since we don’t have to figure in several days for driving.
• Flying is also much safer than driving. We have seen a couple of major wrecks in our travels, which makes me very nervous at times to be on the road.
• Who hates traffic as much as I do? Man, we’ve been stuck in some pretty long traffic jams before. When we drove to St. Louis it took us about 3 hours longer to get there because we ended up stuck behind an RV crash and the highway was closed. That was definitely not fun for anyone. Click here to read more about our fall trip to St. Louis!
• If you fly, you get to spend more time at your destination enjoying all of the things that you are there to see and explore!
• Many people think flying is relaxing. I am not one of those people and am usually stressed and nervous the entire flight. But my husband and kids really enjoy it.
• You can be productive on a flight. Often times I catch up my blog when we’re in flight. My boys love to watch movies or nap. Same with my husband. I also see other passengers getting work knocked out before vacation begins or ends, so that’s always a plus to get things complete and then get to enjoy the rest of the trip!
• Finally, you don’t have to clean your vehicle after a road trip if you fly! I don’t know what my kids do, but my car is always a disaster after a road trip. And when I say disaster, I mean a disaster! It’s always nice to land, get into your ride and head home without that added chore.

As you can see, there many pros and cons to both driving and flying. I think for trips that are under a few hours, your best bet will be to drive! The most I have driven to date is to Maryland and that was about 19 hours from Texas. We obviously stayed the night halfway and did about 9 hours a day over two days. And as my kids always say, the drive to a destination is much better than the drive back home! Wherever you go next, and however you decide to get there, I hope you have the best time! And as always, let me know if you have any questions or need any travel ideas.

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