There’s an undeniable romanticism in the idea of hitting the open road.  Sunglasses.  Wind in your hair.  Adventures.

It’s no surprise, then, that the road trip serves as the backdrop for so many great works of literature and blogging.  A few of my favorites:

Porsching (or rather, “When You Wish Upon a Star”) by Chris Welty: A humorous, semi-fictional account of a guy’s quest to buy a Porsche 911, including his drive back to New York from the purchase in Los Angeles.  In case you can’t tell from the number of times that I’ve mentioned this series of stories in my blog posts, I’m a big fan.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig: Not really about zen, and not really about motorcycle maintenance.  I would imagine that many a cross-country motorcycle trip can trace its genesis to this book about Quality.

Hitch 50 by Scotty and Fiddy: Two friends, recently graduated from college, decided to hitchhike to all 50 state capitals in just 50 days.  With a pleantiful helping of humor, they made it — even to Hawaii and Alaska.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson: A fictionalized account (“gonzo journalism”) of a pair of real-life, drug-fueled trips to Las Vegas in the early 1970s.  I have seen only the film, but the book by the same name is supposed to be excellent.

And of course, the trips of friends, including those of Ed, Vince, the XUS crew, and others that I’m certainly forgetting.