Road trips are a trend of the past with everyone jumping onto a plane. But personally, road tripping is my favourite form of travel.

I think that the world needs to embrace the beauty of going off the beaten path and finding the well-kept secrets around them.

Don’t get me wrong, I love jumping on a plane and soaring high above the sky but flying won’t allow you to venture into small, unheard of towns, speak with interesting people or find hidden landmarks. And having done both a road trip and flight vacations, here are a few reasons why a road trip is better than flying:

Make unexpected stops

With flying, you’re stopping at one place; your preferred destination. With a road trip, you’ll be venturing off into towns and villages you always wanted to explore, go down the off beaten road seeking adventure, and it’s a wonderful way to broaden your experience. When taking a road trip, you get a sense of peace and beauty that you would never get from flying.

You can change your plans

Sometimes unexpected issues can pop up which we have no control over. It’s much simpler to change your plans when traveling by car than having to spend extra cash having to change your airline time and then getting charged for it too.

It’s inexpensive

We did a road trip from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape and, it cost just over R1000.00 in fuel there and back. If we were to go by flight for two travelers, it would’ve cost us approximately R1500.00 per person. Imagine what you can do with all that extra cash?

Meet new and fascinating people

Having done a few road trips so far, we speak to intriguing and fascinating individuals that can leave you either speechless, warm your soul or can be a bit rude yet many are beyond friendly and are always willing to share fun and hilarious stories. At an airport, no one’s excited to talk to someone who they don’t know and, you more in a rush to catch your flight then to make small talk with strangers.

Go crazy with packing

There are so many restrictions when it comes to luggage requirements when flying. You can’t pack this, you can’t have that. It’s infuriating. But on a road trip, all the snacks, toiletries and number of bags you want are allowed and even encouraged. If you can fit it in the car, you’re allowed to bring it.

With South Africa being rated by so many travel publications as one of the Top 10 Road Trip-destinations in the world where you can go from bushveld to desert, to forest, to ocean in a single day’s drive, a road trip is by far the best option. Long road trips can get boring and even stressful if you’re on a tight schedule, but that goes for anything in life, doesn’t it? It’s only as good as YOU make it, and if you take in all of the amazing things this country has to offer, you won’t be disappointed.

You can find the original post I wrote for All Terrain here.

Until the next adventure.

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