“All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change.” And with this simple statement, the chain of events leading to Huck Finn’s trip down the Mississippi River begins.

However, if we’re settling down with a contemporary book, chances are that our travels aren’t going to happen on a river, but rather out on the open highway.

But what is a road trip novel? What makes one book a road tale and another a vacation story? Dictionary.com says a road trip is “a journey via automobile, sometimes unplanned or impromptu.” Well…yes and no. A road trip novel does not always need to be in a car (sometimes there’s walking, swimming, horse-riding, sailing, etc., involved). But it needs to be about a journey where the road provides both geographical and narrative structure.