When Gas Hits $10 A Gallon, What Road Trip Is Still Worth Taking?

There are so many gorgeous and delightfully varied places to go on this ridiculous marble floating in space. I have gone on ridiculously long road trips for basically no reason at all other than I could, and been stunned by the scenery, the cultures, and the communities around every turn. I can't recommend a good road trip enough to get some weight off your shoulders, decouple from the rat race, or just have an enjoyable time. Sometimes it's not even about the destination, but the act of getting out and seeing the world in your favorite car. 

So, with fuel prices continuing to ping pong all over the place, it got me thinking about some of the great road trips I've enjoyed and whether I would be able to enjoy them again or if I'm getting priced out of my favorite pastime. Nobody knows how expensive gasoline will get, and it may never go back down. Let's say it hits 10 dollars for a gallon, would you still drive anywhere beyond your absolutely mandatory car use? My very important question for you on this wonderful Saturday is this; once gasoline is too expensive, is there somewhere on your list that's still worth the cost of the drive? 

There are certainly mitigating factors that could assist in your road trip, like swapping your gas guzzling daily for a hypermiling hybrid, or taking a scooter and a tent instead of a motorhome. If you can get your fuel consumption as low as possible to keep the expense of $10 per gallon gasoline from getting you too blue, which greener pastures are you riding off toward? Sound off below with your worth-the-cost road trips. Come out to the coast, we'll have a few laughs. On Monday I'll pick a few of my favorites to recap for everyone else. 

There are a bunch of cliche "best road trips" lists out there, and they all include Highway One along the California coast. I've done this route a couple of times, and while it's gorgeous, the coastal road is rarely a fun drive. There are too many tourists in RVs to open up the throttles, and the roads are frequently just straight, lazy, and wide anyway. If I'm the only one on the road and no cops are around to write me a citation, I might pick this route, but most of the time I'm going to avoid it for a more inland route anyway. 

This fall I'm heading out on a nice 10,000 mile road trip in my Porsche Cayenne from Northeast Ohio to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and back. Who knows, diesel might be $10 per gallon by then, but it's a trip that I've wanted to do for over a decade, and I'll have a good friend on the trip with me, so maybe it'll still be worth doing at that price. I get about 30 miles to a gallon on average, so it would probably only cost me about $3,500 in diesel at those prices. I'm hopeful that it will be worth it. I'm also hopeful that diesel doesn't go up that high, but who knows? 

Back in 2017 I did a massive cross-country solo camping road trip in my 1976 Porsche 912E, stopping at every automotive museum and race track along the way. I haven't been able to replicate that thrill on any of my trips in the almost decade since, so maybe I should take a month and go do that again in my 911 Turbo. That would be such a great way to break it in. And would definitely be worth doing, even at $10 per gallon gas. 

What do you think, do you have me beat? What's your best road trip, gas prices be damned? What's your pick and why? Sound off, crew, we're talking the good stuff today!