|

170 Best Road Trip Quotes: Quirky, Funny and Deep

ByDonna Garrison

Packed for Life contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure policy for more info.

Road trips are a great way to spend time with family or friends, see new places, and take in the great outdoors. They also provide plenty of opportunity for funny and memorable quotes. Whether you’re packing up your car for a trip this weekend or just reminiscing on times gone by, we’ve rounded up the 170 best road trip quotes – some funny, some deep, some inspirational – all perfect for sharing with those you love. In preparation for your next long drive!

What Is A Road Trip Quote ?

A road trip quote is a short, catchy phrase that captures the feeling of a journey or adventure. It’s fun to come up with your own and share them with friends on social media sites like Instagram.

Quotes about journeys and traveling can be both whimsical and profound, making them the perfect thing to ponder as you prep for your next adventure and then hit the open road. Below you’ll fund some of our favorite quotes about road trips and travel to get you inspired for your next journey!

Why Are Road Trip Quotes So Popular ?

 Road trip quotes are popular because they evoke a sense of nostalgia for the open road. They also serve as little reminders to appreciate the journey, not just the destination.

Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links. If you click one of the links and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you! See full disclosure and disclaimer policy here.

Best Quotes on Road Trips – Quirky, Funny, Deep

What is it about  jumping into your car and hitting the open road that can invoke feelings of excitement, joy and freedom?

Maybe it’s the endless possibilities for gorgeous views, adventures, and the company of friends and family.

Maybe it’s the chance to let the winds blow you where they may, taking the next fork in the road, getting lost and found.

Maybe it’s the wind blowing through your hair, the snack stops along the way, and a new place to lay your head each night or three.

In honor of all that is the open road, here are the best quotes on road trips and captions about the road and journeys. We hope they inspire your next vacation, or epic road trip across the country.

Short Road Trip Quotes

Heading down the open road can be liberating. It can help you, your family and friends leave worries behind and focus on the short or long journey ahead. Here are a few inspiring short road trip quotes to get you in the spirit:

  1. “Life is a journey, not a destination” – often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
  1. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, in Fellowship of the Ring
  1. “All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, in Fellowship of the Ring
  1. “We do not take a trip, a trip takes us.” – John Steinbeck
  1. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Caroll Alice in Wonderland
On the right, the Edge of a car window and side mirror faces an empty, windy road through rock formations. Quote ' Roads were made for journeys, not destinations."
  1. “Roads were made for journeys, not destinations.” – Confucious
  1. “There’s always a way if you’re not in a hurry.” – Paul Theroux
  1. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I … I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost
  1. “I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me.” – Walt Whitman, ‘Song Of The Open Road’.
  1. “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
  1. ” Life is a Highway, I want to ride it all night long.” – Tom Cochrane
  1. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
  1. “The journey is my home.“ – Muriel Rukeyser
  1. “Still, round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
  1. “Travel far enough you meet yourself.” – David Mitchell
  1. “You may not find a path, but you’ll find a way.” – Tom Wolfe
  1. “Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.” – Byrd Baggett
  1. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
Woman with arms flung in the air, head tilted back facing the sun while standing in a field of tall grass. Quote: " Not all who wander are lost."

👉 You may also like 150 Fun Questions for a Road Trip. Avoid boredom & awkward silences

Free Road Trip Planner fanned over paved road through barren hills and sunset

Family Road Trip Quotes

We love a good family road trip, to a National Park, or a day trip down the highway. Family road trips are measured in mile markers, conversations, new sites, endless snacks, and the occasional sibling fight or two. Here are a few family road trip quotes to inspire your next road trip adventure and celebrate the wild stuff that happens in this wonderful world of ours:

  1. “May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” — Trenton Lee Stewart
  1. “Traveling with children isn’t going on a vacation. It’s more like entering into a war zone and your hostages are the kids.” – Erma Bombeck
  1. “A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting and new places.” – Tom Lichtenheld
An Asian family, man, woman and two young girls sitting on the grass with car door open, eating a picnic.
  1. “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
  1. “Traveling with young children is the perfect time to discover that your children are people.” – Pico Lyer
  1. “There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” – Walt Streightiff
  1. “And that’s the wonderful thing about family travel. It provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind.” – Dave Berry
  1. “The family that travels together, stays together.” – Unknown
  1. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr Seuss
  1. “There are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way.” – Dave Willis
A man and woman sitting in the back off an open car eating out of bowls, in a forest.
  1.  “Every day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” 

– Unknown

  1. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain
  1. “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” – Leigh Hunt
  1. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” –Arthur Ashe
  1. “The only thing worse than starting something and failing…. is not starting something.” –Seth Godin
  1. “Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” –Emma Chase
  1. “You can be writing every day. When you go on a road trip, the trip itself becomes part of the story.” –Steve Rushin
  1. “Kids don’t remember their best day of television.” –Unknown
  1. “When you travel with your children you are giving them something that can never be taken away … experience, exposure and a way of life.” – Pamela T. Chandler
  1. “Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children, roots and wings” – Hodding Carter

Family Road Trip Quote. Two kids looking back over back seat of car.

Funny Family Road Trip Quotes

Family road trips can be amazing, and a disaster, and then there are those special or funny moments that make it all worth it. Here are some family road road trip quotes that are funny and poignant.

  1. Parent’s don’t really go on holidays. They just look after their kids in a different country for a while.” – Unknown
  1. “Family trips are the perfect time to create memories that your kids will someday try to erase.” – Dave Barry
  1. “In 1903 the Wright brothers invented airplanes because in 1902 they took a road trip across the country with their family.” – Bill Engvall
  1. “Going on a road trip with kids. Need about 5 outfits, packed 25 just in case. ” – Unknown
  1. Happiness is a family road trip, with a loud playlist. –Unknown
  1. “You can’t find the right roads when the streets are paved.” – Bob Marley
  1. “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” – Angela N. Blount
  1. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman
  1. “You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” – Franklin P. Jones
  1. “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” – George Burns
  1. “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… Let’s go exploring! “ – Calvin & Hobbes
  1. “When you choose to collect experiences rather than things, you will never run out of storage space.” – Unknown
Inspirational road trip quote over jeep heading out on a mountain road.

Looking for family friendly road trip destinations? Take a look at:

Funny Road Trip Quotes

Taking the scenic route in good company can lead you on daring adventures, quiet moments or disasterous but funny after the fact events. Often in the same trip. Here is a list of our favourite road trip sayings and quotes as well as funny road trip captions:

  1. “Well, we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but we can see it from here.” – ‘Thelma & Louise‘
  1. “I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.” – David Bowie
  1. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.” – Paulo Coelho
  1. “Road trips require a couple of things: A well-balanced diet of caffeine, salt and sugar and excellent selection of tunes—oh, and directions.” Jenn McKinlay, Books Can Be Deceiving
  1. “Get your motor runnin’, Head out on the highway, Lookin’ for adventure…” – Steppenwolf, ‘Born To Be Wild‘.
  1. ” I have found out that there ain’t a no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
  1. “Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” – Unknown
  1. “My life is a constant quest to find the best parking spot. – Unknown
  1. “It’s not the size of your gas tank that matters, it’s how much is in there when you need it.” – Unknown
Flat highway with no cars, leading to a mountain range in the distance. With quote " Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long."
  1. “I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am.” – Confused driver
  1. “A tourist is a fellow who drives thousands of miles so he can be photographed standing in front of his car.” – Émile Genest
  1. “Driving is boring,” Rabbit pontificates, “but it’s what we do. Most of American life is driving somewhere and then driving back wondering why the hell you went.” – John Updike
  1. “Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Just to be silly!” – George Carlin
  1. “Sometimes all you need is a great friend and a tank of gas.” – Thelma and Louise
  1. “Road Trips: Because they’re cheaper than therapy.” – Unknown
  1. “Have you noticed that anyone going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” – George Carlin
  1. “When traveling with someone, take large doses of patience and tolerance with your morning coffee.” – Helen Hayes
  1. “Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason!” – Jerry Seinfeld
  1. “The inside of the old Camaro smelled like asphalt and desire, gasoline and dreams.” – Maggie Stiefvater

Road Trip Captions Funny

  1. “Map out your future – but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.” – Jon Bon Jovi
  1. “If you’re on a road trip, you need driving music.” – Edgar Wright
  1. “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
  1. “I’m so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station.” -Chevy Chase
  1. “Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, and scorn in the one ahead.” -Mac McCleary
  1. “Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic.” – Dan Rather
  1. “It doesn’t matter how old you get, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9 year old was given $100.” – Unknown
  1. “Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save fuel, take your next trip in Kilometers.” – George Carlin
  1. “You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said ‘Parking Fine.” – Tommy Cooper
  1. “I don’t drive fast, I drive YOUNG.” – Musawir Masood
  1. “Technically speaking, you drive like a rabid chicken who has hijacked a tractor.” – Sarah Rees Brennan
  1. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
Mom and toddler girl,stopping on a family road trip, beside a mitsubishi van, on the side of the road.

Road Trip Quotes for Instagram (Captions and Puns)

On your next roar trip, don’t let those moments fall through the cracks. Pull out your phone, capture those moments, and grab these road trip instagram quotes, captions and puns to share.

  1. Been driving all day. I need a brake!
  1. I love road trips, but all the driving is tire-ing!
  1. Get Miata here!
  1. I’d go the extra mile for you.
  1. Are we there yet? How far is that?!?
  1. Turns out I need a day off, a dirt road and snacks.
  1. Wanderlust & highway dust.
  1. Road trips are measured in moments, not mile markers.
  1. Nowhere, but everywhere all at the same time.
  1. There are no wrong turns, only new adventures.
  1. Making memories, one mile at a time.
  1. Windows down, music up, snacks out.
  1. Road trips are the best therapy.
  1. The open road is seductive.
  1. Life is a highway.
  1. Road less travelled.
  1. The trip becomes the story.
  1. My mood is a long drive, loud music & coffee on repeat
  1. All I want for Christmas is the open road, wind in my hair & good friends.
  1. Detours are life’s way of keeping you on track.
A person sticking their lower legs out of a convertible wearing flip flops. Road leading to mountain rainge in the distance.

Inspirational Road Trip Quotes

The open road can provide inspiration to find yourself, contemplate life in beautiful sunsets, mountain ranges and inspire epic road trip books like “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.

  1. “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” – Douglas Adams
  1. ” A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. ” -John Steinbeck
  1. “I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.” -Muriel Strode, from the poem “Wind-Wafted Wild Flowers”
  1. “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” -Ibn Battuta, from The Travels of Ibn Battutah
  1. “Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” – Emma Chase, from Tamed
  1. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch, from  Conversations with God
  1. “I love road trips. You get into this Zen rhythm; throw the sense of time out the window.” – Miriam Toews
  1. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey”  – Babs Hoffman 
  1. All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber
  1. “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” – Angela N. Blount
  1. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller
  1. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” – Zig Ziglar
  1. “If you make the mistake of looking back too much, you aren’t focused enough on the road in front of you.” – Brad Paisley
  1. “You can’t find the right roads when the streets are paved.” – Bob Marley
  1. “Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” – Tom Stoppard
  1. “I wonder why it is that when I plan a route too carefully, it goes to pieces, whereas if I blunder along in blissful ignorance aimed in a fancied direction I get through with no trouble.” – John Steinbeck
  1. “There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.” – Charlotte Eriksson
  1. “You steer down lightless highways, and you invent a destination because movement is key.” – Nic Pizzolatto
  1. “Road trips are the gateway to curiosity, freedom and a belly full of snacks.” – Donna – Packed for Life
Funny road trip quote over a van parked at a pullout on the road.

Long Drive Captions

Sometimes the best way to see a place is on a long road trip. Whether you’re taking a road trip to your favorite vacation spot or planning travelling across country in an RV, here are our top long drive quotes and long drive captions:

  1. “Map out your future, but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.” – Jon Bon Jovi
  1. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
  1. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – J.R.R Tolkien
  1.  “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac
  1. “When you come to a fork in the road; take it.” – Yogi Berra
  1. “No road is long with good company.” – Turkish Proverb
  1. “The freedom of the open road is seductive, serendipitous and absolutely liberating” – Aaron Lauritsen
  1. “There is nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” – Jack Kerouac
  1. “Road trips aren’t measured by mile markers, but by moments.” – Unknown
  1. “No one you have been and no place you have gone ever leaves you. The new parts of you simply jump in the car and go along for the rest of the ride. The success of your journey and your destination all depends on who’s driving.” – Bruce Springsteen
  1. “There is something about the momentum of travel that makes you want to just keep moving, to never stop.” – Bill Bryson
  1. “On the road again, Goin’ places that I’ve never been, Seein’ things that I may never see again, And I can’t wait to get on the road again.” – Willie Nelson

Grab some Road Trip tips for easier, more budget friendly vacations:

Road Trip Quotes With Love & Couple Travel Quotes

The open road is a place to start fresh, expand your horizons and find an adventure. Road tripping with your honey can make a memorable journey. Solo adventures can be freeing and invite introspection and self love. Both can lead you on beautiful paths of discovery. Here are our top road trip quotes with love and about love on the open road:

  1. “A road trip is always better with someone you love.” – Unknown
  1. A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
  1. “I love you more than a car can hold. I love you more than the miles between us.” – Unknown
  1. “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll
  1. “And the purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
  1. “I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads.” – Paulo Coelho
  1. “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
  1. “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” – Leigh Hunt
  1. “Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself.” – Unknown
  1. “Love is the food of life, travel is the dessert.” – Unknown
  1. “People never forget two things, their first love and their first day in New York City.” – Unknown
  1. “Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
  1. “What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with.” – Robert Brault
  1. “I would like to travel the world with you twice. Once, to see the world. Twice to see the way you see the world.” – Unknown

Road Trip Quotes With Friends

What could be better when seeking new adventures and making travel memories than with friends. A journey is better when you have someone to share it with. Plus it provides opportunities to grow closer, and make your friendship stringer.

Here are a few of the best travel quotes with friends.

  1. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
  1. “Happiness [is] only real when shared.” – Christopher McCandles
  1. “Some roads aren’t meant to be travelled alone.” – Chinese Proverb
  1. “Life was meant for great adventures and close friends” – Unknown
Four friends holding hands beside an old van. "In life, it's not where you go - it's who you travel with."
  1. In life, it’s not where you go – it’s who you travel with.” – Charles M. Schulz
  1. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
  1. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin
  1. “One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.” – Edith Wharton
  1. “Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” – Izaak Walton
  1. “We all start as strangers.” – Unknown
  1. “Just grab a friend and take a ride, together upon the open road.” – The Goofy Movie
  1. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll,
  1. “A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” – Maya Angelou
  1. “There is an unspoken bond you create with the friends you travel with.” – Kristen Sarah
  1. “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.” – William Butler Yeats
  1. “Best friends are people hard to find, difficult to be, and impossible to live without. They are the people you get along with so easily in the journey called life.” – Khushi Parwal
  1. “The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.” – Aaron Lauritsen
  1. “A true best friend may get you into trouble, but they will always be there to pull you out of it too.” – Kaylee Stepkoski
  1. “The more I traveled, the more I realized fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine
  1. “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
  1. “Getting to know new people and gaining new friends is one of life’s greatest pleasures. So, conquer your fears and get out there.” – Tony Clark
  1. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin
  1. “I get a friend to travel with me… I need somebody to bring me back to who I am. It’s hard to be alone.” – Leonardo DiCaprio
  1. “The fastest way to make a friend for life is to travel with a stranger.” – Christina Pfeiffer
  1. “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfrey
Six pages of Free Road Trip Plnner printables Grab here.

Road Tripping Quotes for Everyone

I hope this quotes about road trips have inspired you to explore the open road, enjoy some laughs and fun with family and friends.

Road trips can inspire so many things, curiosity, exploration, poems, epic stories.

If you love road trips, check out our road trip travel tips, and destinations:

Donna Garrison is the founder of Packed for Life, an ever curious traveler with a passion for making memories with her family. With a unique perspective on travelling on a budget gathered over 30 years, 20 countries and 5 continents she gives families the tools & resources they need to experience the joys of travelling more for less through practical solutions. She helps over 20,000 families a month plan & take the family travel, camping and road trip adventures of their dreams in Canada, the USA and around the world.
Contact her at: Donna [at] packedforlife.com

Similar Posts