Beep beep: get in losers

We're road tripping.

Packing up the car with your only belongings (preferably an old, bright-red station wagon with a way way back or a mustard-yellow Volkswagen bus), driving off into the sunset (so you’re probably going west), looking out at the horizon and all you see is adventure. Adventure and gas stations with a rickety charm, motels advertising free HBO and swimming pools, neon lights guiding you across Route 66 as you have rambling conversations about art and life and the reason for all of this with your willing companions.

Growing up, we drove everywhere—from Houston to Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Colorado, Chicago, Arkansas, North Carolina, you name it. It’s the reason why I’ve been to so many states, and why a long drive doesn’t phase me. You can bring everything you want on a road trip, so why not pack it all up and set off?

There’s much to romanticize about a road trip. In reality it might be cheeto crumbs in seat corners, sunburned left arms, traffic in the middle of god knows where for who knows why, hours of absolutely nothing on the horizon, fast food meal after fast food meal, seeking out Chipotle for some semblance of a vegetable. And yet there’s still something romantic about it to me, taking the long way to get somewhere new. In books, it presents several opportunities: confining characters to a small space (tension), a literal hero’s journey filled with trials and tribulations (character growth), eccentric side quests and characters (a lil pizazz), and the opportunity to take the characters from setting to setting without having to orchestrate some kind of travel (because you already did that with the road trip).

It’s a genre that many authors try throughout their careers, so there are a lot to choose from. Here are some excellent road trip novels for your summer saunters.