If you want a bit of a lark, spend some time checking out /r/roadtrip. Seems like at least a few times a week someone will show a map of their planned route: 8,000 miles across 10 states, 7 national parks, and 14 cities. "Hey guys! I'll be driving this route during a long weekend. Any other places I should stop??"
So is this mainly for a virtual highscore? Gamification of real life, tick all the boxes on your mission list, to feel accomplishment?
I doubt one can see the real gems this way. I travelled a lot, but the highlights were never the famous tourist spots and I would not have felt them as highlight by just stopping by and making a picture. But each to his own I guess.
People want to make the most of their limited vacation time and don't understand how time consuming and draining traveling between places is.
I once met a Japanese guy who was "doing" Scandinavia in a single weekend, which basically meant flying into Copenhagen, taking a train to Oslo, another to Stockholm and flying out. I don't think he ever saw a fjord or an island.
Consider the number of people whose dating profiles say that they've been to X countries by the age of 20-something.
Yep, easy way for that to be true is to just drive through them.
