My Husband’s Annual Road-Trip Tradition

During Golden Week last week, my husband headed out on his usual holiday tradition: a solo, four-day, three-night road trip. While he was away, my daughters and I visited my parents. Right up until the day before he left, he was debating: “Should I take the Boxster this time, or the SL?”

He usually takes his 981 Boxster GTS with a manual transmission. But since buying an SL500 (R129) a few months ago, he hadn’t taken it on a long-distance trip.

“I know the Boxster is fun because I’ve taken it on plenty of trips, but I’ve never tried the SL on a proper road trip. I want to see what it’s like. Then again, the Boxster would be better on tight mountain roads…”

Honestly, what a luxurious dilemma! Haha.

After much deliberation, he decided to take the SL.

 This Time, a Tour of the Chugoku Region

The plan was to “explore the rural roads of Yamaguchi, Shimane, Tottori, Hiroshima, and Okayama.” First, he drove from our home in Hyogo Prefecture to Hofu in Yamaguchi Prefecture, then spent three days making his way back. (He booked at the last minute, so almost everything was full—and this route was what he came up with.) Here’s what it looks like on a map.

He visited the Akiyoshidai Karst Observatory,

and Shokasonjuku Academy, where Yoshida Shoin taught,

before driving along the Karst Road.

The next day, he headed to Mount Daisen.

So peaceful and beautiful! And whenever he goes on a trip like this, he wears a Porsche watch sold at Porsche dealerships.

He really does love Porsche, doesn’t he? (￣ー￣)

After that, he drove along a beautiful road in Okayama that reminded him of the Nürburgring,

then looped through the Sayo area of Hyogo Prefecture on his way home. As for the trip’s distance and fuel economy:

■ Distance: About 1,200 km round trip, from home and back
■ Fuel economy: About 10 km/L on highways, and 8–9 km/L on rural roads

On trips like this, my husband usually stays at inexpensive hotels for around ¥5,000 a night, including breakfast, and often just grabs food from a convenience store. (Somewhere like this.)

Even when I tell him, “If you’re going all that way, why not stay at a hot-spring inn and enjoy a delicious meal?” he says:

“I don’t need any of that. As long as there’s covered parking and the facilities are decent, anywhere will do. The car comes first, always! Food and a room for me are secondary! No car, no life!”

Every time I hear him say something like that, I’m reminded that “this man really is crazy…” (Haha.)

How a Road Trip in the SL Differs from One in the Boxster

1) The SL Is Less Tiring Than the Boxster

The Boxster is great fun, but its seats put you in the mood to “get out there and drive!”—or, as he puts it, they keep your shoulders slightly hunched forward. Driving it is a blast, but covering more than 1,000 km in a day is bound to leave you feeling tired. By contrast, the SL’s seats are more like a roomy sofa, so he didn’t feel tired at all.

2) The SL Lets You Relax Instead of Going into Attack Mode

With a manual transmission and GTS badge, the Boxster puts him in the mood to “rev the engine and drive hard!” The SL doesn’t make him want to push on at full throttle, but it’s still thoroughly enjoyable at a good pace. He says the SL is especially well suited to cruising along country roads.

3) The Boxster Is Better on Tight, Winding Mountain Roads

On tight mountain roads with sharp turns, the SL can feel like hard work. He said that was when he found himself wishing he were in the Boxster.

So, Which One Is Better?

Both are convertibles, so driving with the wind in your hair feels wonderful—and it sounds like he had a fantastic road trip. The SL has its own strengths, as does the Boxster, and they offer such different experiences that it’s hard to say, “This is the one to take on a road trip!”

His ideal setup, though, would be:

Take the SL to the destination, switch to the Boxster for driving around once there, then take the SL home again.

That’s what he says, anyway. (Haha.) Someday, it would be fun for the two of us to go touring together in our own cars.