It evokes nostalgia for an era of leviathan automobiles that seemed akin to great vessels, a golden age before seatbelt legislation had even been conceived, and bygone days when travelers would pause before those roadside spectacles billed as the "World's Largest" whatever.
它令人追忆起恍若舟楫般庞然的汽车、安全带法规尚未问世的黄金年代，以及在那些“世界最大某某”景观前驻足的往昔岁月。
Works such as Jack Kerouac's On the Road enshrined it in literature, while films like National Lampoon's Vacation subjected it to affectionate mockery and satire.
杰克·凯鲁亚克的《在路上》等著作将其铭刻于文字，而《疯狂假期》之流的影片则对其施以揶揄讽喻。
It consisted, by and large, of an unbroken stretch of driving time that ought to have been stupefyingly tedious—and yet, somehow, it was not?
它大抵由绵延不绝的驾驶时光所构成，本应令人百无聊赖——然而不知何故，竟并非如此？
Perhaps it was the anticipation of arriving at some mythic destination—the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Death Valley.
或许是那份即将抵达某处神话般目的地的期许——大峡谷、黄石、死亡谷。
Perhaps it was the unforeseen sights encountered along the way.
或许是沿途那些始料未及的景象。
They were actually real!
它们确是真的！
Americans harbour a heartfelt affection for the very idea of the road trip, yet we invariably tend to reach our destination as swiftly as possible.
美国人对公路旅行这一理念怀有由衷的钟爱，然而我们每每倾向于以尽可能迅捷的方式抵达目的地。
The rise of budget airlines has rendered travel effortless, sparing us the myriad vexations of long-distance driving.
廉价航空的兴起使出行变得轻而易举，无需忍受长途驾驶的种种烦扰。
Even when we do opt to drive, we are overwhelmingly likely to confine ourselves to the interstates, hurtling past those towns we idealise at speeds exceeding seventy miles per hour.
即便我们确实选择驾车出行，也极有可能固守于州际公路之上，以逾70英里的时速疾驰掠过那些我们心目中理想化的小镇。
Such choices are quicker, and for some, safer as well.
此类抉择更为快捷，对部分人而言亦更为安全。
As early as 1921, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. had already chronicled the road trip he took with his newlywed wife, driving from New York City to Hot Springs, Virginia.
早在1921年，小科尼利厄斯·范德比尔特便已记述了他与新婚妻子自纽约市驱车前往弗吉尼亚州温泉城的公路之旅。
"We had heard people murmur that these roads would prove impassable, and even that to venture upon them rashly would be nothing short of folly," he wrote.
“我们曾听闻人们低声议论，称这些道路将无法通行，甚至认为贸然尝试实属愚不可及，”他写道。
"Yet, four days after leaving New York, we arrived at Hot Springs safe and sound, and all the more elated for the experience."
“然而，离开纽约四日之后，我们安然无恙地抵达了温泉城，且因这段经历而倍感欢欣。”
Long-distance travel went into decline during the Great Depression, then contracted further during World War II owing to rationing; yet as returning veterans came home, married, and started families, it made a resounding comeback.
长途旅行在大萧条期间趋于式微，继而在二战期间因配给制而再度萎缩，然而随着退伍军人返乡成家，它又声势浩大地卷土重来。
In her book Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations, the historian Susan Rugh argues that the period between the end of the Second World War and the oil crisis of the 1970s constituted the heyday of the family road trip.
在《我们到了吗？美国家庭度假的黄金时代》一书中，历史学家苏珊·鲁格提出，第二次世界大战终结至1970年代石油危机爆发之间的那段岁月，堪称家庭公路旅行的鼎盛时期。
At that time, growing numbers of Americans were joining the middle class, many were enjoying paid vacation for the first time, car ownership was soaring, and the federal government was pouring money into highways, making long journeys ever more comfortable and agreeable.
彼时，越来越多的美国人跻身中产阶级之列，许多人破天荒地享有带薪休假，汽车保有量急剧攀升，而联邦政府亦斥资兴建高速公路，令长途跋涉愈发舒适惬意。
Numerous veterans who had once fought and shed blood on the battlefields of Europe were eager to show their children and grandchildren everything they had fought for and sworn to defend.
众多曾远赴欧洲战场浴血奋战的退伍老兵，殷切期盼向子孙后代展示他们当年为之奋战、誓死捍卫的一切。
Washington, D.C., was one of the most favored destinations—the Allied victory had made the city's standing as the capital of the free world all the more pivotal.
华盛顿特区便是备受青睐的目的地之一——盟军的胜利使这座城市作为自由世界首都的地位愈发举足轻重。
In addition, these families would visit historical monuments, tour the former homes of famous figures, and pay their respects at bygone battlefields.
此外，这些家庭还会瞻仰历史纪念碑、探访名人故居，并凭吊昔日战场。
In the West, those magnificent national parks belonging to the people were not merely tourist destinations but veritable concrete symbols of American democracy.
在西部，那些归属于人民的宏伟国家公园，既是旅游胜地，亦堪称美国民主的具象象征。
Ruger wrote that, as the government poured more than a billion dollars into upgrading facilities, visitor numbers soared dramatically, rising by over 650 percent between 1946 and 1966.
鲁格写道，随着政府斥资逾10亿美元用于设施升级，游客数量急剧攀升，1946年至1966年间增幅逾650%。
Open roads did not necessarily mean freedom for all Americans.
敞开的通途之于全体美国人而言，未必皆意味着自由。
Black families, in particular, frequently had to contend with segregated facilities, even outside the South.
黑人家庭尤须时常应对种族隔离的设施，即便在南方以外亦复如此。
"The experience can be like night and day," says Ellen Petrobon, a professor at Trinity University in Washington, D.C., who teaches a course centered on road trips.
“体验可谓判若云泥，”华盛顿特区三一大学教授艾伦·皮特罗邦如是说，他开设了一门以公路旅行为主题的课程。
"This is by no means a carefree journey.
“这绝非一场无忧无虑的旅程。
You cannot simply pull into any station when you are in urgent need of gas, because the gas station may not serve you."
你无法在亟需加油时随意停靠于任何一处，因为加油站未必为你提供服务。”
National parks, administered by the federal government, ought not to discriminate; yet some persisted in doing so all the same—witness the campgrounds set aside exclusively for Black families.
国家公园由联邦政府管辖，本不应有所歧视，然而某些国家公园却依然故我——譬如为黑人家庭专设的露营地。
So intractable was this problem that it gave rise to guidebooks compiled specifically for Black travelers, such as the renowned Green Book, which enumerated the hotels and restaurants where they could expect courteous treatment.
此一问题之积重难返，竟至催生了专为黑人旅行者编撰的指南手册，如声名卓著的《绿皮书》，胪列着他们能够受到礼遇的酒店与餐厅。
In his writings, Rugh discusses how the formidable barriers encountered by Black families on vacation had repercussions that even extended to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
鲁格在其著述中论及，黑人家庭度假所遭遇的重重壁垒，其影响甚至波及1964年《民权法案》的通过进程。
To this day, the Freedom Rides undertaken by college students, along with the protest actions that organized lunch-counter sit-ins, are widely recognized as pivotal forces that propelled the Act's abolition of racial segregation in public accommodations.
时至今日，大学生自由乘车运动以及组织午餐柜台静坐的抗议行动，已被公认为推动该法案废除公共场所种族隔离的重要力量。
Yet in the Congress of that era, what the Senate Commerce Committee heard was an altogether different narrative—for instance, that of a Black entrepreneur who was turned away from a motel in St. Petersburg, Florida, and whose offer to pay double the standard rate proved entirely to no avail.
然而，在彼时的国会，参议院商业委员会所聆听到的却是另一番叙事——譬如一位黑人企业主在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡遭汽车旅馆拒之门外，纵然他主动提出支付双倍于正常价格的费用，亦无济于事。
This utterly exhausted family, together with their two young children, ultimately had no recourse but to make do as best they could and spend the night in their car.
这个疲惫不堪的家庭，连同两名幼子，最终只得竭尽所能，在汽车里勉强度过一夜。
“Amid the shackles of Jim Crow in the South and the persistent racial discrimination throughout the rest of the country, the cultural symbol of the family vacation was invoked as a compelling piece of evidence, demonstrating the undeniable necessity of resorting to federal legislation to safeguard the rights of all citizens,” Rugg wrote.
“置身于南方吉姆·克劳法之桎梏与全国其余地域种族歧视之绵延不绝，家庭度假这一文化符号遂被援引为颇具说服力的佐证，昭示着确有必要诉诸一项联邦立法以保障全体公民之权利，”鲁格如是写道。
As Americans took to the road, not only did the national parks require more adequate facilities, but vacationers also had to rely along the way on such supporting provisions as lodging, dining, and service stations.
随着美国人踏上旅途，不仅国家公园亟需更为完善的设施，度假者沿途亦须仰赖住宿、餐饮及服务站等配套保障。
Some entrepreneurs vied with one another in a bid to make their lodgings distinctive and stand out from the crowd—Wigwam Village, for instance, whose motel rooms take the form of colossal concrete teepees.
部分企业家竞相角逐，力图令自家住宿别具一格、脱颖而出——譬如威格瓦姆村，其汽车旅馆客房便是硕大无朋的混凝土圆锥形帐篷。
Others, meanwhile, discerned in this a golden opportunity to develop roadside attractions, such as the world's largest nutcracker.
另一些人则从中窥见了开发路边景点的契机，诸如世界上最大的胡桃夹子。
This highway, which began in 1926 and was not fully completed until the late 1930s, linking Chicago and Los Angeles, came into being precisely at a time when the mid-century craze for the Old West of the 1880s was at its height.
这条肇始于1926年、至1930年代末方告全线贯通的连接芝加哥与洛杉矶的公路，恰逢世纪中叶对1880年代旧西部的狂热而应运而生。
A group of entrepreneurs promoted it as "America's Main Street," yet the enduring influence of Bobby Troup's 1946 hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," first recorded by Nat King Cole, far exceeded anything any advertisement could achieve.
一群企业主将其标榜为“美国主街”加以推广，然而鲍比·特鲁普1946年那首由纳特·金·科尔首度录制的热门歌曲《（在）66号公路上找乐子》，其持久影响力远非任何广告所能企及。
The construction of the interstate highway diverted the vast majority of traffic away from the community, whereupon numerous businesses folded in succession and the entire town was consigned to oblivion.
州际公路的修筑致使绝大部分交通流量自社区分流而去，众多企业相继倒闭，整个小镇随之湮没无存。
Yet a movement is gradually gathering momentum to preserve stretches of this iconic highway, and people continue to flock from all corners of the globe simply to behold its neon signage and its garishly kitschy Western-themed attractions.
然而，一场旨在保护这条标志性公路部分路段的运动正渐次展开，人们依然从世界各地纷至沓来，只为一睹其霓虹灯饰与俗艳的西部主题景致。
His book, Don't Make Me Pull Over!: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip, opens with a harrowing scene: as a child, he awoke in the back seat of the family sedan to find the car spinning off an embankment on an icy road.
他的著作《别让我靠边停车！家庭公路旅行的非正式历史》以一幕惊心动魄的场景发端：童年时，他在家庭轿车的后座醒来，只见车辆正从结冰的路面上旋转着滑下堤岸。
The car, stranded along with dozens of others, left the family waiting for hours in the bitter cold before they were finally towed out.
车与数十辆其他车辆一同受困，全家只得在严寒中苦候数小时，方被拖出。
"It was a Saturday afternoon, and everything had shut its doors.
“那是个周六午后，一切皆已闭门歇业。
No vehicle could be rented until Tuesday.
周二之前租不到任何车辆。
And so they found themselves stranded there.
于是他们便困守此地。
Yet what they ultimately reaped was an experience that could only be described as sublime," he said.
然而他们最终竟收获了一段堪称绝妙的经历，”他说道。
"Nowadays the entire purpose of high-end travel is to eliminate all friction.
“如今高端旅行的全部旨归就在于消弭一切摩擦。
I rather think that in all of this we have truly lost something."
我以为我们于此之中确乎失落了某些东西。”
In the era before the advent of the interstate highway system, the road network was in essence little more than an extension of each town's Main Street, with the towns linked to one another by road.
在州际公路尚未问世之际，公路系统实质上不过是各城镇主街的延伸，彼此以公路相衔。
Any traveler who stopped for the night, or even merely for a meal, would find himself absorbed into the life of that town.
凡驻足过夜甚或仅止于用餐的旅人，皆会融入那个城镇的生活之中。
"In encountering so many people from such a wide array of places, it enabled driving families to realize that while Americans from different regions may speak a little differently, dress a little differently, and eat somewhat different things, when all is said and done, we are not, in the end, all that dissimilar," Ratay said in an interview.
“当邂逅来自五湖四海的如此众多之人时，它使驾车出行的家庭得以意识到，美国不同地域的人或许言谈略有差异，衣着略有不同，所食之物亦不尽相同，然而当一切尘埃落定，我们终究并非那般迥异，”拉泰在接受采访时如是说。
Most of today's interstate highways bypass these towns altogether, clustering chain gas stations, eateries, and lodging facilities only near the exits.
当今的州际公路大多绕行于这些城镇之外，仅于出口附近汇聚连锁加油站、餐饮及住宿设施。
While this undoubtedly makes driving faster and more convenient, it also renders the journey increasingly monotonous and devoid of interest.
此举固然令驾驶更为迅捷便利，却也致使沿途愈发千篇一律、乏善可陈。
Air travel, by contrast, eliminates even the minimal local interaction that the interstate highway affords.
而航空旅行则连州际公路所提供的那点最低限度的本地互动亦一并省去。
"We traded one another the opportunities afforded by those unexpected discoveries, along with the chance to come into contact with and integrate into small-town American life," Late said.
“我们彼此交换了那些意外发现所带来的契机，以及得以接触并融入美国小镇生活的机缘，”拉泰说道。
"And we, in exchange for those experiences, purchased speed and convenience in reaching our final destination."
“而我们则以这些经历为代价，换取了抵达最终目的地的速度与便利。”
Even though the completion of the interstate highway system caused many roadside motels, restaurants, and attractions to close one after another, some still managed to survive to this day.
纵然州际公路的落成致使诸多路旁汽车旅馆、餐厅与景点相继歇业，仍有部分设法存续至今。
People can still take the more circuitous route, stop to chat with locals, and immerse themselves in the experience—along with all its minor inconveniences.
人们依旧可以取道更为迂缓的路线，驻足与当地人攀谈，沉浸于这一体验之中——连同其种种微末的不便。
"By all means, pick any old highway you like," Ruge said. "Cross Illinois along the Lincoln Highway; across the entire Midwest, follow the Lincoln Highway. From Arizona up to Canada, take Route 89, and in California, take Route 1."
“不妨随意择一条旧公路，”鲁格道，“穿越伊利诺伊州，沿林肯公路而行，横贯中西部皆循林肯公路；自亚利桑那州至加拿大，则取89号公路，加州则走1号公路。”
Pietrobung points out that in the rather older travel narratives, the destination was all but inconsequential.
皮特罗邦指出，在较为古早的旅行叙事中，目的地几乎无足轻重。
"I wonder who will be the next Jack Kerouac — you know, someone whose writing is about the journey itself, and not merely the fleeting impressions of the places where you stop to rest for the night along the way."
“我寻思着谁会成为下一个杰克·凯鲁亚克，你懂的，他所书写的乃是旅程本身，而非仅仅是你中途歇脚过夜时的浮光掠影。”
This is one instalment in a series of reports commemorating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.
此乃纪念美利坚合众国建国二百五十周年系列报道之一隅。
To view more content, please click here.
欲览更多内容，请点击此处。
To view a display of the objects that transformed the nation, please click here.
欲观改变国家之物品展示，请点击此处。
To read more stories concerning the anniversary, please click here.
欲阅更多关于周年纪念之故事，请点击此处。
