The Theory:

A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can - using a toy car and Google Maps Street View.

Louis Menand:

The interstates changed the phenomenology of driving.

Verlyn Klinkenborg:

Driving is the cultural anomaly of our moment. Someone from the past, I think, would marvel at how much time we spend in cars and how our geographic consciousness is defined by how far we can get in a few hours' drive and still feel as if we're close to home.