Road Trip Quotes To Inspire Your Journey

Looking for great road trip quotes to get you stoked on your upcoming adventure? Or want to find the perfect quote to summarize an epic road trip you’re on right now? You found the right article!

In this post, we showcase the best road trip quotes that have inspired our own journeys in the past years. We’ve spent countless hours in the car on the way to our destinations. Sometimes it’s hard to open the door and turn the key, knowing you’ve got hundreds of miles ahead of you.

But with these road trip quotes, you will be motivated to embrace those moments on the open road and take it all in stride! There’s nothing like breathing in that fresh air away from the hustle and bustle. We’ve found that road trips can bring us an inner peace that is rarely found other experiences. After all, when traveling it’s about the journey, not the destination. And the open road brings the journey to life. You never know what to expect when you’re cruising through forests, deserts, or ocean.

Want all the best travel quotes in the world? Download our free eBook with 200 travel quotes that you can download to your phone or computer!

Road Trip Quotes

The adventure has just begun so buckle up, crank up the tunes, and get your mind blown by our favorite road trip quotes! Feel free to use these quotes and images for your own travel inspiration and to motivate your next road trip.

“I travel not to go anywhere but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

This is so true! In our experience on road trips, it’s best to not only think about the end destination. There have been times that we had to drive 4 or more hours to get to a new hike or city. We’ve even take a 24-hour bus ride before! But it only sucks when we start thinking about how long it’s going to take us to get there. If we enter into the mindset of living in the moment and taking every small experience for what it is, then we start to see the road trip with open eyes. The trees become greener, the sky bluer. It all comes naturally!

“The freedom of the open road is seductive, serendipitous, and absolutely liberating.” – Aaron Lauritsen

There’s nothing quite like letting it all go and just driving. Sometimes you don’t even have to know where you are driving to. Our best road trips have come after we just started to drive in the direction of something new. For instance, we drove for miles in the Canadian Rocky Mountains just gazing at the glacial lakes around us until we happened to see an entrance to a small parking lot on our right. We made a stop, realized it was a hike, and took a leap of faith that it would be a good one. When we got to the top, we had the most spectacular views of the entire Rockies! We had no idea we would get to that point, but the road brought us there. It was fate! It's these moments and quotes that bring us the most inspiration.

“I just go with the flow, I follow the yellow brick road. I don’t know where it’s going to lead me, but I follow it.” – Grace Jones

It’s so important to go with the flow and live in the moment on every road trip. You never know where the road is going to take you. If you make a wrong turn, there’s no reason to get mad about it. Rather, take it in stride, see where that road takes you, and if you end up getting lost it may be a good thing! You may discover something new that you never heard of before.

“All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.” – Jack Kerouac

This poetic travel quote by Jack Kerouac speaks to us on a deep level. You truly don’t need more than the wheels of a car to have a great road trip! You don’t need fancy equipment, a great camera, or a glamorous camping set up. All you need is a vehicle to take you on the journey. Let nature do the rest. Jack Kerouac always has the coolest travel quotes ever!

If you like this travel quote, you will love our Adventure Hoodie for road trips.

“Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma

Some say that routine can be lethal. We believe that to be true! There’s nothing worse than grinding through a job you don’t enjoy or studying something you’re not interested in. Instead of just getting through it, try spicing things up with a road trip! It could be the best decision of your life. Get out on the open road for a bit, let the world enchant you, and see how your perspective changes when you get back. You’ll be surprised!

“Road trips aren’t measured by mile markers, but by moments.” – Unknown 

The moments that lead us to our end destination are always the ones that define our trips. There’s something special about the spontaneity that comes with a road trip. You never know what’s going to happen on the road, but when you look back at the end of the trip, we can guarantee that those moments will stick in your mind just as much as the final destination did. Whoever wrote this travel quote should be famous!

“If you’re not lost, you’re not much of an explorer.” — John Perry Barlow

We recommend getting lost on at least a monthly basis. Don’t let yourself get stuck in the ordinary. Continue to push yourself out of your comfort zone and see what happens. It’s the only way you will truly grow as a person and you’ll have a heck of a lot more stories to tell once your road trips are over. True explorers never stay on the same path for too long in their lives!

“When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So, it's not so much which road you take, as how you take it.” – Charles de Lint

While you may get lost along the road, you will always find what you’re looking for in the end. It may not be the landscape or physical location that is so important, but rather the deeper meaning of why you are going on a road trip. Everyone is motivated by some goal, even if they don’t consciously know it. So, make sure to get out on the open road and just yourself go. You’ll find what you are looking for eventually.

“At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.” – Shanti

A true adventure can only come once you’ve gotten some dirt on your skin! Your road trip shouldn’t be complete unless you need a long shower when you get back. Although you will get sweaty and dirty along the path, your soul will shine with brightness. You will be revitalized and have a great outlook on life. So, get dirty. It’s worth it! Unleash your wanderlust with travel quotes like this.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

Some people will go through life and experience very few new things. Often times they are either afraid to get hurt or afraid to trust. The unknown can be a terrifying thing. But we say, “Embrace the uncertainty. Live for the unknown”. You have everything to lose and nothing to gain if you only take the safe road. Life won’t wait. You only have one, so live it to the fullest!

“The wise man travels to discover himself.”– James Russell Lowell

Road trips are a great medicine for those looking to find themselves. No matter what you are looking for, the open road will lead you in the right direction. It will lead you to a greater understanding and a higher trust in your own abilities. A road trip a day keeps the doctor away!

“I climb behind the steering wheel… I drive off immediately without once looking back; it’s a long journey but it leads to freedom.” – Corinne Hofmann

This road trip quote is perfect for the wandering soul and one of the greatest travel quotes that we've ever come across. We can relate! There have been road trips where we leave our phone turned off for days at a time. Just totally immersing ourselves in the moment and letting the road guide us. These are the kind of trips we live for. The freedom and ultimate feeling of being off the grid. There’s nothing else like it.

“I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me.” – Walt Whitman

You must be in the right mindset to go on a road trip. You can’t have too many things weighing you down back where you’re coming from. The world is your oyster out on the open road and it would be a shame to have a feeling of concern dampening your experience. Do your best to stay in the moment while on a road trip and all will be fine. Let the road take you where you need to go.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” – Douglas Adams

Getting lost is not always a bad thing. In fact, when we travel we actually prefer to get lost sometimes. Relying on ourselves to find our way back to the path is a trait that we have been able to take into our everyday lives. It’s helped us grow individually and taken our personal development to a new level. Try getting lost for yourself! The nature may bring you more inspiration.

“The most beautiful in the world is, of course, the world itself.” – Wallace Stevens

There’s nothing more special in this world than letting yourself fall in love. And we mean falling in love with the world itself! With what is around you. A great road trip may lead you to nature you’ve never seen before or to a new town where you discover an entirely foreign culture. These moments will change your life forever and help you to see the world from different perspectives. The world is a truly beautiful place, you just need to let yourself see it.

“That's why I love road trips. It's like doing something without actually doing anything.” – John Green

The best thing about being on the road is just letting whatever happens to you happen. Knowing that you can’t control everything will alleviate any pressure that you have weighing on you. Think of a good road trip like a life cleanse. All the things that don’t matter will melt away from your mind while the things that do matter will stick like glue. Leaving you happier and more satisfied with life in general by time you get back from your travels.

“Still, ‘round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

You never know what awaits around the corner! This is especially true on the open road. There will be times that a mountain appears seemingly out of nowhere. Or you may notice an animal grazing next to the cement. Or a tribe bringing water to their home from the local watering hole while walking on the tar. All of these things can and will happen on one of your future road trips if you take the time to look and enjoy them!

“I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads.” – Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho is speaking to us in this road trip quote. It’s like he’s reading our mind! We believe there is a true connection between the souls of all humans and nature. It’s a connection that has slowly been disintegrating since the invention of the internet. However, it’s a connection that we believe can easily be rekindled. All it takes is getting out in the wilderness once to explore. Once you try it and feel it, you never want to stop! It’s where we all belong.

“I guess the lesson is you can’t go everywhere. You should still go everywhere you can.” — Charles Finch

We travelers always have a desire to visit every place on earth. Our bucket lists our pages long and we want to do it all! While we may never check off all our bucket list items in our lifetime, it doesn’t mean that we can’t try. Tick off as many of those items as you can. You’ll never be disappointed that you tried. After all, that’s the true human spirit; to never stop exploring!

“Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.” – Byrd Baggett

When you go on a road trip or travel in general, never look back. Never ask yourself “what if”. Because you will only cause yourself unneeded stress. The fact is, you cannot change the past. You can only control your own actions and do what’s best to lead to your ideal future. Keep your eyes up and your head forward. All will be good!

Find other great road trip quotes around the web: 

1. Jones Around The World - 78 Road trip quotes to inspire your next adventure

2. Pretty Wild World - 50 Inspiring quotes about the road

Did we miss any great road trip quotes? We would love to hear your favorites below!