Hit the road, Jack.
Driving on the highway might save time, but about half of Americans prefer to go through small towns on road trips, according to a survey of 2,000 drivers also revealed that 42% worry about driving in the dark — making it a scarier prospect than foreign (41%) or unfamiliar roads (37%) for most respondents.
And even though the majority of people (40%) think they’re the best driver they know, 61% claim they would only go on a road trip if they didn’t have to drive.
They’re also only willing to journey about seven and a half hours, on average.
The poll, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of EconomyBookings.com, found that the typical person has taken about seven road trips in their lifetime.
More than three-quarters (78%) of Americans have found hidden gems along the road that they wouldn’t have seen if they were traveling another way.
In fact, more than one-third (35%) said they prefer a mix of both planned and unexpected stops, with the most popular destinations including restaurants (46%), historic locations (40%) and roadside attractions (38%).
Almost one-third (32%) prefer to listen to a curated playlist — and although 40% said the driver should get to choose what comes out of the speakers, 42% end up taking turns with their passengers anyway.
Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed that the journey is more important than the destination, which may contribute to why 70% of people would prefer to rent a car that is different from their current vehicle.
One-third of respondents said they’d choose a convertible.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Not only do road trips give people the chance to get behind a different wheel, 53% said it gives them the opportunity to travel on their own schedule.
According to respondents, other perks of road tripping include bonding time with family and friends (51%) the opportunity to make stops (48%) and saving money on a more cost-effective method of travel (46%).
And it turns out that a life partner is also the best road trip partner. More than half (51%) of people said their partner/spouse is the best person to travel with.
More than three-quarters (76%) said they would actually choose driving over flying if they knew the drive would be enjoyable.
