Planning the Road Trip
Introduction
Planning a road trip can be an overwhelming process. Below, the process is broken down into digestible chunks. Take one piece at a time, and don’t rush or stress. It’s fun – if anxiety doesn’t overcome your enthusiasm.
First: buy a large, updated road atlas. Combined with online mapping services like Google Maps or Bing!, you can spend a week tinkering the itinerary. Both the atlas and the online service is crucial for planning – the former helps foresee day-to-day travel options, the latter makes big picture planning easier, and quickly calculates miles and hours between various destination points.
Having a GPS on your trip is an amazing luxury: turn by turn directions, points of interests, and detours are just a few features that prove invaluable. An atlas, however, never runs out of batteries. It doesn’t require a signal, it doesn’t scream “Steal me!” You can write on it and mark it up, and stick post-it notes on it. Don’t depend solely upon the GPS.
Remember, the GPS is a luxury.
The atlas is essential.
Planning the Itinerary and Route
Creating a solid itinerary starts with the right questions:
- Where will you start and end your trip?
- What specific cities/towns do you want to see? Why? Because you love the mountain air, because you dreamed about becoming a ski bum, because you’ve considered living there?
- What’s your passion? Designing the itinerary around your passion immediately brings the trip into focus: national parks, music, martial arts schools, beer breweries, distilleries, sushi joints, famous bars.
- Who do you know across the states? It’s a great way to visit family and friends in their native surroundings, where they’re the most comfortable and therefore, the most receptive.
- Of these locations you’re starting to compile, which are absolutely essential to get your full experience? Which are you willing to drive five hours out of your way to visit? Which are destinations you’d like to experience at your leisure?
- How many miles or hours can you spend on the road per day? As a rough guide, calculate 50 mph on roads east of the Mississippi, and 55 mph on roads west of the Mississippi. It’s conservative, and accounts for rest stops and light traffic.
- Lodging logistics – are you going to camp out every night? Is so, how close are your destination spots to campground sites? Or, do you prefer the comfort of the bed to the prickle of brush beneath you?
Spend the time on research. Wrangle in concrete answers to these questions, and the itinerary takes its own shape. If you understand your own comfort levels, your route will lay itself, unfolding like a yellow brick road.
Preparations
You’re about to take your vehicle on a 3,000-plus mile journey; spend the time and money to ensure she’s up for it. Make sure the inspection is updated, your insurance papers are intact, the tires still have good treads, and the oil has been recently changed.
Do you know where your jack and spare tire are? Do you know how to change a tire? If not, learn, and learn how to do it quickly. Murphy’s law dictates a flat will most likely happen in the dead of the night during the middle of thunderstorm. Practice changing that tire until you can do it blindfolded, naked, with your left foot in a cast. Then you’ll be ready when Murphy strikes.
Check your fluids: motor, transmission, coolant, brake, steering and windshield.
Does your auto insurance provide roadside assistance? Do you have AAA membership?
Other notes to remember: check your Entertainment Book for coupons on national motels and auto body shops, notify your insurance company and credit card company you’ll be traveling, and buy a National Parks Pass for $80 if you plan on touring the parks.
Make sure there’s the emergency contact information for everyone in your car (who knows your car and its license plate,) in your wallet, and on your cell phone.
Keep a copy of your medical insurance card, and recent photos of you and your travel mates in the car.
Packing
Clothing
Three sets of clothing (shorts/pants, t-shirts, underwear and socks) and a jacket are all you’ll need in regards to clothing. If you plan on going out, include a nice dress shirt and shoes. Anything besides this is excessive.
See Minimalism Attire for ideas on clothing.
Electronics
If you don’t feel like making a three dozen CD’s, buy an mp3 player and make sure you have a tape hook-up or auxiliary hook-up to your car’s stereo.
Check to see you’ve packed your camera.
Also, a device that coverts the cigarette lighter into an outlet will prove invaluable.
A laptop is useless on the road, unless you need it for writing or when you arrive at your destination. A smart phone and data plan can come in handy, however.
Camping
You’ll save money camping – whether it’s at National Parks, State Parks and Forests, or just pulled over on some side road in Utah. It means you’ll have a few extra items to pack, however.
A cooler – which can be a hard cooler, or a cooler bag, with a refreezeable ice pack.
Extra plastic, zip-lock bags for leftover food and miscellaneous items.
Buy a tent – the ALPS Mountaineering Zephyr 2 Tent 2-Person 3-Season Tent serves well and cost around $90.
A sleeping bag – not just a fleece blanket. Even if it’s the middle of the summer, the temperature drops sharply in late evening/early morning, especially in the hottest parts of the United States. Don’t think you can get away with just a blanket. Spend the money.
A sleeping mat is a nice addition to elevate yourself off cold, rock surfaces. Check out – the ALPS mountaineering lightweight pad.
Other miscellaneous items: knife/Swiss Army Knife, matches, toiletries and toilet paper.
Food
Spending 8 to 10 hours in a sedentary position, staring off into the void called Illinois or Kansas terrain won’t burn many calories, so you’ll eat less. If you don’t require much variety in your diet during the road trip, it’s possible to get by cheaply on food. Two peanut butter sandwiches per day per person, a few bags full of nuts, some fruit, and plenty of water and coffee keeps the fuel in the tank and money in the pocket.
The great part about going bare bones in this area is that if you get bored with your PB&J’s, it’s easy to splurge: one morning, get McDonald’s breakfast. Stop at a dive somewhere. Visit a friend and go out for dinner.
With food, you can really spend as much or as little as you want.
Resources
If you’re looking for inspiration, try these resources:
Books
Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen – an excellent resource that offers a dozen pre-planned routes to choose, and memorable destinations along the way. Use these routes as a guideline while planning your trip – the more you invest in personalizing your journey, the more you’ll take away from the long stretches of pavement, besides asphalt and dust.
Live Your Road Trip Dream by Phil and Carol White – this book is divided into two sections: the planning, and the trip. While “the trip” portion gets dry (think: daily journal, covering a year worth of traveling,) the former covers many areas long-term roadtripping: from telling your family, finances, packing, and what to do with your stuff. It requires scouring and skimming to find notes that you can apply to your trip, but proves well worth the time.
Websites
Squidoo’s Road Trip Lens by kimisoutback – a fantastic lens on every aspect of road trip planning
Road Trip America – features a dedicated forum, articles on road tripping, and a Fuel Cost Calculator
Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen – Jensen’s blog to accompany his book (noted above.) He answers reader questions and discusses in-depth various aspects of the road.
Free Campgrounds – the website includes a search feature for free (or inexpensive) campgrounds in any state.
About: Student Travel provides more information about camping and camping grounds.
Off Road Adventure by Paul Thompson – Thompson wrote a treasure chest’s worth of booty for other road trippers. Two posts of significant note: 10 Things Not To Leave Home Without and The 4X4 Gourmet
Phillip Ryan Johnson – Johnson’s blog posts on his trip from New York to Los Angeles
Road Brew by Teri Fahrendorf – Fahrendorf’s road trip across the country and back, visiting and brewing with professional brewers along the way.
Travel Channel – use the Travel Channel website to create a “theme” to your itinerary.
Taylor Davidson’s 79 Things is a great road trip packing resource.
If you’re looking to put together a California themed playlist, check out Wikipedia’s California Song List.
Continue to XC2LA: Part 4 – The Road Trip
Return to XC2LA: Part 2 – Planning a Permanent Move
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