|
Road Trip Vacations Its summer. In the United States, its the season of swimming pools, barbeques, camping and road trips. Road trip vacations where the car journey is part of the fun are especially popular with college students, who like to explore the country on wheels. These budget trips are ideal for students who often have plenty of free time but little money. Ever since I went to college, Ive been traveling around a lot, exploring the country, said Austin Hawkins, a 19-year-old college student from New York. This summer, Hawkins and his friends have spent weekends traveling in New England. The best part about car trips, said Hawkins, is that you can be spontaneous. On a road trip, if you get interested in things you see along the way you can stop and explore. Matt Roberts, a 20-year-old student from Ohio who drove to Montreal, Canada, agrees. With road trips you dont have to plan in advance, you can just get into a car and drive. Even with high gas prices, driving with friends is cheaper than flying. Roberts paid about 40 dollars for gas, but a round trip plane ticket would have cost nearly 400 dollars. Driving trips first became popular in the 1920s. Newly paved roads and improved, cars made it possible to travel longer distances. Motels started appearing outside cities. By the 1950s, car ownership became the norm. Construction of the US interstate highway system began in 1956 and motel and restaurant chains popped up1 everywhere making long distance trips easier. | 
