A good ol' road trip has some distinct advantages

Kudos to outdoors writer John Gierach for producing an enlightening book entitled "Fool's Paradise."

This piece of work from the noted traveler and fly fisherman echoed my sentiments about getting around this country in recent times. I wholeheartedly recommend the book.

I have racked up a lot of air miles, only because I had been foolish enough to think that getting someplace quickly was more important that getting there without heartburn.

Photographer Mike Seeling and I have traveled to the far northern reaches of Canada, schlepping extreme weather gear, tackle and camera equipment in order to make a trip come alive in this column and other various outdoor publications.

Getting on an airplane at most major airports has become more of a major burden than a pleasure. Of course, that may be a different story for some of you, but still, at the end of many of our trips, Seeling and I look at each other, measuring our displeasure and declaring that we should drive the next time.

Out of all the airlines I've used, Air Canada, with an occasional glitch, seems to come through for us quite a bit better than some of the other big-time carriers. In fact, the friendly skies have been rather inhospitable on numerous occasions.

On one adventure to an outpost camp on Manitoba's North Seal River, Air Canada lost our duffel bags somewhere in the labyrinth of Winnipeg's luggage handling operation.

We begged the charter flight captain taking us northward to make a stop for us in Thompson, Manitoba, so Seeling and I could buy some underwear and shirts along with other necessary items.

Three days later, a bush plane glided up to our shoreline cabin and deposited our gear on the dock. I know that bush plane haul from Winnipeg cost Air Canada and arm and a leg, but they came through for us.

As Gierach mentioned in his book, getting to a destination by driving one's vehicle has its advantages.

I do not have to be limited to 50 pounds by an airline. If I'm over their limit, I often feel as if I had to take out a second mortgage.

But if we travel over the road, I can take everything I need and more, simply because I believe in gear redundancy.

I've lost track as to the number of times I've lost items I needed for a particular trip. I can't remember how many times I've damaged gear while going through a portage from one lake to another.

Traveling by vehicle may be tedious for some, but for me the only negative part of a trip traveled that way is the ride home, in which that typical "down feeling" magnifies itself because of the many hours behind the wheel to think about the great territory I just left behind.

My personal vehicle is a four-wheel drive SUV which gets decent gas mileage. This rugged mini-pickup allows me to haul a lot of gear I could never bring on an airplane. It also gives me the freedom to carry or pack the knives and tools I need to augment my outing.

Seeling in turn doesn't have to stand on a cold floor in his stocking feet, emptying his massive camera case while trying to explain to a Transportation Security Administration agent what a 2-foot coiled cord is used for.

Many of my angling and hunting friends, the ones with pickup trucks, will not get on an airplane to get to an outdoors destination because they too have had many bad experiences with various carriers.

On one trip in to the sub-Arctic, an airline destroyed a heavy duty rod case with over $800 in fly, casting and spinning rods. It took six months to get the airline to pay for the damaged goods.

Jerry Klein and I drove my vehicle into the Ontario bush for one trip years ago. We had to get off a side road and subsequently four-wheel it through swamps and shallow sand traps.

I was able to navigate through these obstacles and ultimately set up our tent camp on a lake where no one else would dare travel. We felt like we were on a Lewis and Clark expedition. The smallmouth fishing was spectacular.

I will fly to Costa Rica this year to go fishing, but at this stage of life the heartburn factor is making me think about some time in the future driving down there and see the world as it passes by my windshield.

angler@mikejacksonoutdoors.com