A few times my husband and I have set out on road trips and inexplicably ended up on back roads. I hate back roads. They take longer, are windy, bumpy, and not fun for me at all. My husband loves back roads. They are full of adventure and things to look at along the way for him.

While I was Wandering: Let the Road Trips Begin

On a recent trip to Disney we wound up on a back road. It takes us 1.5 hours to get to Disney on main, straight, wonderful interstates. This trip took us 3.5 hours on out of the way, boring, state roads.

I didn’t object when we started on the state road, but when we had been going East for over an hour I finally opened up my GPS app. After all, we are in Florida, you can’t drive East too long before you meet the Atlantic Ocean! When I realized we had more time to go East before we headed North we had a “discussion” about why were even on this back road. Because, once we were to turn North we would drive another hour or more to get on I-4, and then we would have another trek on I-4 before reaching Disney.

Since then I’ve been thinking. When we were kids and drove to visit my grandparents my Dad would have us time 60 seconds on our watches while he watched the odometer to calibrate his speedometer in his head. This is how I learned to travel.  Get where you’re going in the most efficient manner possible. That’s how I like to travel now.

While I was Wandering: Uncle Wiggily Adventures

Well, my husband was raised with parents who loved back roads. When we lived in Pennsylvania they voluntarily took a back way to our house that doubled their travel time. When my husband was a kid he collected a series of books called “Uncle Wiggily’s Adventures” and his parents read them with him. Even now when we wind up on one of these back roads he gleefully announces we are on an Uncle Wiggily Adventure. That’s how he learned to travel.

Usually, since I am driving, the Uncle Wiggily Adventures are few and far between — or not at all. I don’t know who is right — there probably isn’t a right or wrong. Sure, on these Uncle Wiggily Adventures we’ve seen some interesting things, but we’ve also gotten to spend a lot more time at the destination when we take the efficient route.

One thing is for sure, when we’re heading to Disney we will take the efficient route and never wander those back roads again!