Nearly 75 percent of Americans will take a road trip this year, and California is considered the preferred destination. Alaska and Florida finished second and third, respectively.
Those are among the findings of the 2017 Road Trip Survey of more than 1,300 U.S. drivers. For the purposes of the study, a road trip was considered to be any vehicle-based vacation of at least 200 miles.
Other takeaways from the study:
Where we go
- 25 percent indicated that visiting a national park was on their itinerary
- 20 percent said they would be doing some sort of cross-country trip
What we like to eat
- 39 percent prefer eating the food for which the local area is known
- 29 percent prefer fast food
- 11 percent prefer diner food
- 31 percent consider chips to be their favorite road trip snack
- 15 percent said beef jerky is their go-to snack food
What makes the trip comfortable
- 45 percent of respondents indicated an SUV is the preferred vehicle for trips (only 3.8 percent cited a sports car for such a trip)
- 51 percent said ample leg room was the most-important vehicle feature on a trip
- 45 percent said the sound system was critical
Traveling companions
- 58 percent are willing to spend more than 20 hours with their significant other in a car
- 19 percent are willing to spend only up to six hours in the car with their significant other
- 4 percent indicated they would most want to go on a road trip with either of their parents
- 6 percent said they preferred to go on a road trip alone than with a sibling
What we spend
- 49 percent consider hotels their largest expense on long trips
- 17 percent spent more than $1,000 on their trips
- 48 percent were planning to pay for everything by credit card.
