The new book “Brits on Route 66” (self-published, 86 pages, e-book, print version available Oct. 1), as you might expect from the title, is an engaging travelogue on the Mother Road from author Vicki Graves’ British perspective.
Subtitled “A Very British Guide to the World’s Greatest Road Trip,” the book also serves as a useful — and budget-priced — guide for other Britons who are thinking about embarking on that 2,400-mile journey from Chicago to Santa Monica. Route 66 businesses — particularly in the hospitality sector — might take away a few tips to better serve their British customers.
The book begins with Graves and her boyfriend meeting Route 66 legend Angel Delgadillo in Seligman, Arizona, for the first time.
In the next chapter, Graves, acknowledging herself as a “planner,” gives researched or hard-won advice to her fellow Britons on traveling Route 66:
- When to go
- Eastbound or westbound
- Self-guided or organized trip
- What to drive if self-guided
- What to bring (broken down between essentials and nice-to-haves)
- How much to budget
- Whether to book accommodations in advance
- Advice about vehicle fuel levels
- “Storms, snakes and creepy crawlies”
- U.S. driving laws
- Time zones
- Other words of wisdom
- Suggested reading
The advice likely would be worth the price of the book alone. Fortunately, Graves proves to be a likable storyteller. Here’s her account of her meeting with a stranger at a hotel bar in Springfield, Illinois:
We were soon joined by an American bridge engineer who was relaxing after a long day spent repairing a nearby freeway. Intrigued by our accents, he asked where we were from and what we were doing in Springfield. After correcting his initial suspicion that we were from Australia (it always makes me laugh how the Essex accent is interpreted abroad – he wasn’t the first person on our trip to think we were from Down Under), we explained we were on holiday. ‘Vacation,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard people use that word. It’s not something I’ve experienced myself.’ He must have been in his fifties.
He told us he worked mostly outside on the roads for six days a week, four hours away from his wife, who lived in the next state. Although workers can stay in cabins on the construction sites, he chose to stay in the hotel because it’s more comfortable. He often shared a room with his colleague and, although many lodgings offer discounts for construction workers, his half of the bill was paid for out of his own pocket. On Sundays, he would travel home to see his wife and cut the grass.
The world’s media can sometimes give the United States a bad reputation. But that evening in Springfield showed me something wonderful about today’s Americans. Even though the bridge engineer could only afford to see his family for a few hours each week and spent most of his spare cash on the luxury of a warm bed, he insisted on buying us a beer. We were the ones with the money to travel the breadth of his country, with dollars reserved for sightseeing, but when we offered to pay, he wouldn’t accept. When Dave tried to return the favour, he insisted on buying us another. ‘American hospitality,’ he called it. It was the same kindness, community spirit and appreciation of our tourism that we felt in every state we visited. UK newspapers may report on questionable US politics, but the real America is all heart.
Graves doesn’t wear rose-colored glasses for the entire trip. She shares bad experiences in Albuquerque and Victorville, California. But plenty of wonderful moments also occur, including one at the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas, that I won’t spoil for potential readers.
The British-made “Billy Connolly’s Route 66” television documentary in 2011 led to a surge in British tourists on Route 66 that continues to this day. Britons who are considering that trip should consider this book, as well.
Recommended.
(Image of Vicki Graves at the Route 66 Village in Tulsa, courtesy of the author)
The quote from Vicki Graves’s “Brits on Route 66” bears out what I have observed for a long time: Americans expect to work much longer weeks than British people. The six day American working week still seems to be quite common (am I right, Ron?), whereas anything over a five day week is though of as slavery in the UK. And US annual leave allowances seems much shorter than in the UK.
While travellers find good and bad people in any country, I found surprisingly generous Americans on my visits there.
LOVED the book. I have visited with the author, she sent me pictures of her wedding which was Rt 66 themed. See she got engaged at the U-Drop Inn on Rt 66, where I work.
It is a very good guide about the route from her own experiences.