Who doesn’t love road trips? It’s probably one of the best travel options, especially if you have the equipment and the time. Traveling by land can get you closer to the spectacular views.
You can take the time to enjoy the scenery. You can even pilot your own playlist during the trip. There are many pros to taking road trips.
When it comes to road trips, (sans road less travel and all that cliché) it’s always fun to go on the ones with the longest roads that would take hours, sometimes even days, to travel.
It is a road trip anyway. It’s the relaxing thought of having to go on a long drive with family or friends and seeing one place at a time.
Road trips may come in different ways – short trips, long trips, trips on different roads, and any other way you may prefer it to be.
One common thing about these is the desire to drive on a long, smooth, and hassle-free road. What more could you ask for with a highway that’s well known across the world as the longest motorable road?
Pan-American Highway
From Alaska to Argentina, the Pan-American Highway runs for 48,000 kilometers or 30,000 miles, and is named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest “motorable road”.
There is, however, a 100-mile gap between Central and South America which is called the Darien gap. Nevertheless, the official road stretches out and is the longest one in the world that can be driven by.
Driving by from the northern to the southern parts of The Americas, you will be treated to different kinds of landscapes. Since it also passes through a number of countries, you will also be experiencing different climates and weather as you go on. There are forests, tundra, jungles, mountains, and deserts to pass by that will give you a throwback on studying geography.
The Pan-American Highway was described by Jake Silverstein as “a system so vast, so incomplete, and so incomprehensible it is not much a road as it is the idea of Pan-Americanism itself.”
He is right. With the different countries it links through, the Pan-American Highway also links the diversity that is The Americas.
The Countries
- Canada
- The United States
- Mexico
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Nicaragua
- Honduras
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Colombia
- Chile
- Peru
- Argentina
What Do I Think
Fourteen countries, all of which are rich in culture and history, and you have the chance to explore each one intricately through a long and fulfilling road trip.
From north to south, the Pan-American Highway will keep you in awe for its elegance and brilliance. It is the perfect depiction of the long and winding road. Sure enough, this can be the longest road trip you may take.
