I lifestyle _ travel Enjoy your trip and indulge in the journey! Author & Photographer_ Annemarie Fischer, Germany rican Road T rip isn’t just a pastime; it ’s a a necessity, birthright, a rite of pas sage, it’s a way of life.” (Erin McH ug h, The Littl e Road Trip H andbook) “The Ame _The road trip is a constant narrative in US-American pop culture and is synonymous with escape, freedom, and independence from borders and boundaries. In the land of the free and the home of the mobile, the Asphalt Nation of America, as observed by Jane Holtz Kay, is built around automobiles and cherishes the ideal of mobility. Some road—enthusiasts, referring to themselves as road trippers— have developed the science of a road trips, roadology, that explores the effects of roads on societies. A true American road trip starts at the first crossroads, not knowing if you would like to go straight, left or right, and not planning ahead too much. It is about impromptu ‘moseying’ down the road rather than following a strict schedule. This road trip combines two routes, the hiker-favourite Appalachian Trail, starting in Pennsylvania and exploring Southern Atlanta, and the NYC–Miami Atlantic Coast Route to Florida. The routes explore the historical birthplace of the United States in Philadelphia, the impressive nature of the Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains and Everglades National Parks, Ivy League university campuses of Cornell, Princeton and Pennsylvania University, the cradle of the African-American civil rights movement and global news in Atlanta, the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, and the colourful Miami. 42 I roots 4_ 2009