TheRoute-66.com

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Plan the Road Trip of your Life


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Road Trip Journeys

Travel is a great blend of excitment, discovery and fulfillment. I created Road Trip Journeys to help you plan your vacations, enjoy the process and anticipate the pleasure and the adventure of your holiday trip.

I hope that our websites will help you plan the road trips of your lifetime!

Austin Whittall

About Us: Road Trip Journeys

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Hi, I am Austin Whittall; I have had my fair share of travel over the years, visiting scores of countries around the world, and I love it. There is still so much to see out there.

For the last twenty years (it all began in 2000!) I have been helping people to travel.

My Vision

Roman philosopher Seneca summed it up very clearly: "Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind".

Travel whether for work or leisure; solo, with your partner or as a group is always a mind changing experience.

I have a passion for travel and I love sharing it, to encourage others to embark on journeys of discovery, new experiences and adventure.

My love for Traveling

I guess it began when I was four years old and my parents decided to migrate from Argentina to Australia. In those days it was a long voyage by sea crossing the Atlantic Ocean, changing ocean liners in Europe and then heading Down Under via the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean.

Mom would mark our route across the vast seas on a colorful world map. It put the size of Earth into perspective and also made me wonder about all those countries on the map... my love traveling began back then and so did my love affair with maps.

My websites and my passion

It began as a hobby in 2000, to help others trek in Patagonia. My first website was www.rotrek.com, and it was a great resource for planning a trekking expedition in Argentina's Patagonia region.

In 2010 I created a blog on Ruta 40, an epic highway in Argentina, giving useful tips and info for those who wanted to take a road trip along it, like I have done, several times. A year later it became my www.turismoruta40.com.ar website, which has been visited 5.7 Million times since then.

After doing Road trips with my wife in Southern Europe in 2011, South Africa in 2012, Western US in 2013 and Eastern Europe in 2014 I created www.theroute-66.com. And it has grown far more than I ever expected (5.5 Million visitors).

I enjoy writing and updating my websites, and also finding, cross-checking facts and entertaining information.

By reading about Route 66 and Ruta 40 not only do I learn something new every day, I also travel, in my mind!

I learned how to write in html, javascript and basic PHP, SEO is fun too (due to my marketing orientation).

About Travel

I adhere to a phrase by Ralph Waldo Emerson written back in 1841, which is always misquoted as follows: "Life is a Journey not a destination"; actually Emerson's thought was far deeper than that; he wrote:

To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Road Trip is a not only a trip by car along a highway, it is also an internal journey of self discovery.

A trip that is full of surprises and positive experiences, memory making events happen during road trips!

Savoring every step of the road is what it is all about.

My partner Perla and I have embarked on many trips all over the world and we have grown closer with our shared memories and experiences, and also stronger, and, why not, wiser, in the sense of wisdom as conceived by Emerson.

Human vs. AI writing website content

written by human, not by AI

All of the content in my website has been written by me. There has been no artificial intelligence or AI (I call it alien intelligence) involved in preparing the content, researching, analyzing, reviewing and writing my website's content.

AI has serious shortcomings when it comes to copywriting:

  1. It does not research. It just combs the web, finds information and writes an essay based on an algorithm. Gathering information isn't the same as human researching. The Internet is full of outdated, false, mistaken and fake information. Human mind curating this during research is a must!.
  2. Lack of fact-checking. I read, and I read a lot. I cross check information, use different sources, validate the data. I look at photos, images from different angles, aerial photos, postcards, Google street views, old newspaper articles and then reach a conclusion based on human analysis. This adds value to your experience.
  3. Zero creativity. AI is still a coarse writer. It sounds like Wikipedia, dry, formal, no originality. It lacks the human feel. I add that to my posts, trivia, creativity, emotion.
  4. Details make a story. AI doesn't tell stories. It writes essays but lacks the human touch.

About Me

Austin Whittall

Avatar: a photograph of Austin Whittall

Travel is my hobby but I do work for a living, and I really enjoy my job.

For over 35 years I have worked in international sales and marketing of specialty and commodity chemicals.

I am an industrial engineer from the University of Buenos Aires, which gives me a solid background in physics, chemistry, maths, industrial planning and business administration.

I have traveled extensively around the world both on business trips and on vacations.

Among my many interests (apart from traveling) I'd like to highlight History, Geography and Science in general, which are pros when it comes to traveling.

I have researched the myths of Patagonia and published a book ( Monsters of Patagonia by !) in English, a non-fiction research work on Patagonia's mythical creatures and legendary monsters.

I am a member of International Travel Writers Alliance, IPPA (Internet Professional Publishers Association), IWA (International Web Association), and SLTC (Sociedad Latinoamericana de Tecnología del Caucho).

And as I enjoy reading reviews posted by other travelers -I find them very helpful- I also post my own: I am a Level 6 Contributor in TripAdvisor.

Some pictures of our trips around the world

Many years of travel and road trips in good company!

With Perla on Robben Island, South Africa and in Hackberry AZ Austin driving and in Parks Arizona Austin in Amsterdam and Cafayate, Salta, Argentina With Perla in Bora Bora, French Polynesia, and on the Great Wall of China Austin at the Taj Mahal in India and in Istanbul With Perla in Ischigualasto and in Jaspers Canada Austin in Petra Jordan and with Perla 14,800 feet up in the Andes With Perla in San Andres Colombia kayaking and by the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia Austin on Route 66: Bagdad and Oatman Austin in Hackman Arizona and Mendoza Argentina with Perla in Talampaya Argentina Ruta 40 and in Venice Italy Austin in Tokyo Japan and in Yellowstone USA Austin in Santa Fe NM USA and Vancouver Canada Austin behind the wheel on a roadtrip Austin in Athens Greece and the Petrified Forest USA

All photos are © Austin Whittall and cannot be used without my written permission.

Credits

Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat.

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