“If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, take the highway that is best
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six …”

-Route 66

Few symbols hold the persuasive allure of the open road: the horizon stretched out before you, the floor littered with the discarded remnants of sustenance acquired at a gas station, radio blaring, a good friend beside you and the whole world in front of you. Freedom. Adventure. Companionship. This classically American adventure also makes for a compelling storytelling technique, as indicated by dozens of iconic songs, movies and television episodes. Since May 24 is National Road Trip Day, we're going on a journey of our own through some of the most epic, memorable, poignant and just plain ridiculous road trips in the history of popular culture.

But how and when did road trips rise to prominence? Time attempted to document the rise of the American road trip and the factors that contributed to the road trip's popularity in “How Americans Fell in Love With Taking Road Trips.” The very earliest of these adventures began in the early twentieth century with the increased availability and reliability of the automobile. Crowded, unsanitary conditions that dominated city life are largely credited with motivating Americans to take to the open road. “Early 20th century urban environments had their drawbacks: sidewalks overflowing with scurrying pedestrians; streets crowded with unending waves of trolleys, delivery wagons, carriages, and pushcarts; the persistent stench rising from mounds of horse manure; raw sewage emptying into open gutters; rotting piles of uncollected garbage and dense clouds belching from factory smokestacks," the article describes.

Contrasting this unsavory, oppressive vision was the alternative: “Upper-middle-class tourists motored through the countryside and then camped by the side of the road, finding the sentimentalized image of the gypsy or the tramp quite a compelling identity to assume. They reveled in their sense of independence from stodgy summer resorts and the tyranny of inflexible timetables set by railroads or steamship lines.” Earliest road trippers considered themselves pioneers carrying on the legacy of such iconic figures as explorers and frontiersmen Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. And, to be entirely fair, setting off on a road trip in the early twentieth century did entail any number of challenges few modern Americans can imagine. A 1924 book by Mary Crehore Bedell titled Modern Gypsies: The Story of a Twelve Thousand Mile Motor Camping Trip Encircling the United States outlines a comprehensive list of recommended supplies including a tent, duffel bags, gasoline stove, Adirondack grate and a kit of aluminum kettles among many additional items totaling more than 400 pounds of gear.

In fact, as the twentieth century wore on and the popularity of motorized adventures rose, the American landscape began to change to meet the needs of these adventurers. Time described these developments, stating, “Garages, gas stations, roadside cafes, and diners began to pop up along more frequently traveled routes while hotels, restaurants, and general stores started to advertise in the earliest guidebooks …” Many of these businesses that sprang into existence specifically to cater to road trippers would eventually become mainstays of the films, television episodes and music devoted to the experience.

Film School Rejects explains the significance of road trips in film in the article “The 25 Best Road Trip Movies Ever” stating, “In films, road trips literalize the journey that characters are on, often serving as an allegory for the entire narrative that reminds us the destination is rarely as important as the experience of getting there. Road trip movies also encompass a wide range of genres, from slapstick comedies to prestige dramas and everything in between. Whether you're after a slice of life representation of a road trip or a thrilling adventure, there's a film for you.”

Road trips are so popular, in fact, that there's a magazine called Roadtrippers filled with trip-related advice, news and events. And while the basic premise of each road trip is roughly the same—combine one vehicle, a ragtag gang of friends and family members, an open road and shenanigans and life lessons ensue—“Roadtrippers definitive guide to the biggest road trip trends of 2019” attempts to position the adventure as a modern phenomenon with the following "trends":

• We'll take shorter but more frequent trips
• Working remotely is not just for digital nomads
• Eating on the road doesn't have to mean junk food
• Independent and off-the-beaten path locations are trending
• Tech is here to stay, for better or worse
• Being conscious and responsible is in
• We're trying new modes of travel

Whether you subscribe to the modern health food/technology-powered vision of road trips or the Easy Rider grab-yourself-a-chopper-and-a-buddy-and-head-east-towards-New-Orleans approach, the one thing everyone can agree on is that there are adventures to be had, life lessons to be learned and friends to be made along the way. Ranker's list of “The Best TV Road Trip Episodes of All Time” explains the appeal of a good road trip episode of your favorite television show, stating, “They give viewers the chance to see the characters they know and love in a new light. A change in scenery can breathe new life into a long-running series. When characters leave their comfort zones and embark on new adventures, a true fan travels alongside them—whether they're visiting that college they've always dreamed of attending, confessing their feelings to a coworker or picking up a friend from rehab.”

In case you're wondering which episodes made the cut, the top three television road trips according to Ranker are Gilmore Girls' “The Road Trip To Harvard,” Parenthood's “Road Trip” and Girls' “Truth or Dare.” Paste Magazine might not necessarily agree about the exact order or ranking of road trip episodes, but the magazine's list of “25 Excellent TV Road Trip Episodes” does include Ranker's top three. However, Paste Magazine's top three include The X-Files' "Drive," The Sopranos' "College" and Family Guy's “Road to Rhode Island.”

The internet is littered with similar lists of the best road trip movies including Business Insider's “The 23 best road trip movies of all time that are perfect to watch during the summer.” The chief premise of the article, beyond the notion that road trip movies are rife with adventure, is that summer is the ideal season for this particular brand of adventure and that's not merely owing to the absence of snow and other inclement weather. It may simply be a holdover from childhood schooldays, but summertime is sunshine, indulgence, freedom, nostalgia, the pungent scent of chlorine and gentle slap of water against bare legs, chilled drinks accessorized by tropical umbrellas.

Film School Rejects' list of the best 25 road trip movies has little in common with the Business Insider list proving that the road trip movie genre is fertile grand rife with compelling stories. In fact, the two lists only share seven films in common: Almost Famous, Dumb and Dumber, Easy Rider, It Happened One Night, Little Miss Sunshine, Thelma & Louise and Y Tu Mamá También.

Of course, no road trip movie, show or experience would be complete without the music that captures the spirit of the journey. Just as there are lists of the best road trip movies and television episodes, there are lists of the best songs to play on road trips. Time Out's “The 50 best road trip songs of all time” includes fairly obvious musical fare from Bruce Springsteen's “Born to Run” to Prince's “Little Red Corvette” to Arcade Fire's “Keep the Car Running” with several decades of musical hits in between. So whether you're on a road to nowhere, can't wait to be on the road again or you've gone to look for America, there's something for you.

Movies to Watch on National Road Trip Day

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Almost Famous
Away We Go
Badlands
The Blues Brothers
Bonnie and Clyde
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Cannonball Run
Crossroads
Death Proof
Duel
Dumb and Dumber
Easy Rider
The End of the Tour
Flirting with Disaster
The Hitch-Hiker
Inside Llewyn Davis
Into the Wild
It Happened One Night
Joy Ride
Little Miss Sunshine
Logan
Mad Max: Fury Road
Midnight Run
The Motorcycle Diaries
My Own Private Idaho
National Lampoon's Vacation
On the Road
Over the Top
Planes Trains and Automobiles
Rain Man, Road Trip
Seeking a Friends for the End of the World
Sideways
Stagecoach
The Straight Story
Stranger Than Paradise
Thelma & Louise
Tommy Boy
Transamerica
True Romance
Y Tu Mamá También
Zombieland

Your National Road Trip Day Television Programming Guide

30 Rock
“Stone Mountain” Season 4, Episode 3

Adventure Time
“Thanks for the Crabapples, Giuseppe!” Season 6, Episode 13

The Adventures of Pete
“King of the Road” Season 1, Episode 1

ALF
“On the Road Again” Season 1, Episode 11

American Dad
“Independent Movie” Season 9, Episode 6

Arrested Development
“Good Grief” Season 2, Episode 4

Beverly Hills, 90210
"Speechless" Season 6, Episode 6
“Remember the Alamo” Season 7, Episode 1

The Big Bang Theory
“The Love Car Displacement” Season 4, Episode 13
“Bachelor Party Corrosion” Season 9, Episode 3

Big Love
“Come, Ye Saints” Season 3, Episode 6

Black Books
“A Nice Change” Season 2, Episode 6

Bob's Burgers
“Christmas in the Car” Season 4, Episode 8

Boy Meets World
“Road Trip” Season 6, Episode 15

The Brady Bunch
“Ghost Town, U.S.A.” Season 3, Episode 1
“Grand Canyon or Bust” Season 3, Episode 2
“The Brady Braces” Season 3, Episode 3

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
“The Road Trip” Season 2, Episode 9

Community
“Basic RV Repair and Palmistry” Season 6, Episode 10

Dawson's Creek
“Road Trip” Season 1, Episode 9

Designing Women
“On the Road Again” Season 7, Episode 4

Desperate Housewives
“Look Into Their Eyes and See What They Know” Season 5, Episode 19

Dollhouse
“Epitaph Two: Return” Season 2, Episode 13

Family Guy
“Baby Not on Board” Season 7, Episode 4
“Cool Hand Peter” Season 10, Episode 8

Flight of the Conchords
“What Goes on Tour” Season 1, Episode 9

Frasier
“Travels with Martin” Season 1, Episode 21

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
“You Bet Your Life” Season 3, Episode 21

Friends
“The One Without the Ski Trip” Season 3, Episode 17

Futurama
“Bendin' in the Wind” Season 3, Episode 13

Gilmore Girls
“The Road Trip to Harvard” Season 2, Episode 4

Girls
“Truth or Dare” Season 3, Episode 2

How I Met Your Mother
“Duel Citizenship” Season 5, Episode 5

I Love Lucy
“California, Here We Come!” Season 4, Episode 12
“Off to Florida” Season 6, Episode 6

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
“The Gang Hits the Road” Season 5, Episode 2

Louie
“Country Drive” Season 2, Episode 5

Mad Men
“The Milk and Honey Route” Season 7, Episode 13

The Mindy Project
“Road Trip” Season 4, Episode 6

Modern Family
“Games People Play” Season 4, Episode 23

New Girl
"Chicago" Season 2, Episode 20

The Office
“The Lecture Circuit” Season 5, Episodes 16-17

Parenthood
“Road Trip” Season 3, Episode 12

Parks and Recreation
“Road Trip” Season 3, Episode 14

Seinfeld
“The Bottle Deposit” Season 7, Episode 20

Sex and the City
“Luck Be an Old Lady” Season 5, Episode 3

The Simpsons
“Bart on the Road” Season 7, Episode 20

The Sopranos
"College" Season 1, Episode 5

Steven Universe
“Keystone Motel” Season 2, Episode 12

Supernatural
“Road Trip” Season 9, Episode 10

Teen Titans Go!
“Road Trip” Season 2, Episode 22

The Vampire Diaries
“Heart of Darkness” Season 3, Episode 19

The West Wing
“20 Hours in America” Season 4, Episodes 1-2

The X-Files
"Drive" Season 6, Episode 2