Travel

Today’s tale begins with the background behind this crazy caper. Instead of going to Japan to visit my wife’s family like we normally do annually, they opted instead to come to the States this year. That’s all fine and dandy in my book, but there was one stipulation: They were flying into LA instead of Cincinnati, and all four adults and two children wanted to go on a “Wild West Road Trip.”

If you’ve ever dreamed of racing in the Baja 1000, the guys at Wide Open Baja can make that dream come true. The Ensenada-based off-road company offers several different ways to get your feet wet (and helmet dirty) in a real Baja challenge car.

The Land Rover Discovery has a long and illustrious history, dating back to 1989. Throughout its nearly 30 year run, the Discovery has always been a rugged and spacious vehicle, though this time out, the Discovery has knocked it out of the park on all fronts, delivering on the brand’s promises of versatility and capability without exception, and wrapping it all in a modern, appealing, and luxurious package.

Jaguar Land Rover recently launched a new program that lets fans of their vehicles experience them like never before – driving sideways on a massive ice-covered lake Northern Sweden – the same lake that car companies have been using for testing vehicles in the most extreme winter driving conditions since back in the 1970s.

Audi decided to launch its new compact SUV the Q2 to journalists in the recently opened up Cuba. That’s good for fans of classic cars and architectural diversity, not so much for the (to my eyes) bland Q2.

We all know that Texas is a huge state, we measure driving distances in hours not miles in these parts. California might not be as wide as Texas, but the state offers travelers some serious mileage down the Pacific coast.

When Chevrolet reached out to ask if I wanted to borrow a new 2016 SS for a week, I was pretty excited. But when they said they’d like me to drive it from Chicago all the way to Florida to go see the Daytona 500, I was even more stoked.

Now in its 25th year of production, the Ford Explorer really was the vehicle that created the whole SUV industry. What originally started as not much more than a pickup truck with an enclosed bed is now a sophisticated and steadfast daily driver for millions.

We’ve seen numerous time-lapse clips of drivers making their way across America, but to be honest, most of the roads here are nothing like the ones you can find on the other side of the pond.