Planning a roadtrip is a LOT of work. It can be easy to pick some of your high level destinations, but the devil really is in the details. Where do you stay while traveling to a destination? What should we eat? Is there anything worth stopping for? Those are just a few of the questions we’ll help you answer below. For these tips I’ll use an example of a cross country roadtrip
Define how much time you have
It sounds basic, but how much time you have will determine how much you can see on your roadtrip. For example, if you live in Florida and have a week for your roadtrip, it’s probably not worth it to go to Oregon, as you’d spend the whole time driving. Likewise, it’s important to figure out how much time you’re ok driving in a given day. Some people will drive 20 hours straight, while others want six hours at most a day.
Focus your trip by picking your top destination(s)
This will essentially create your skeleton for the trip. Then you can fill in the spaces with other fun activities. This also saves you a lot of driving time. Oftentimes, people will
Setting the right order saves time
It may seem obvious, but it’s easy to get excited about all the destinations you could visit. Pick places that create a natural route instead of weaving across america. For example, in the example below, we knew we wanted to see Denver, Portland, Lake Tahoe and San Diego so we created a loop that naturally took us to each.
Don’t be overly aggressive with your time
It’s easy to try and stuff a lot into your roadtrip, but finding the right balance will ensure you see a lot but you also enjoy the trip. Depending on the location, two nights is a good standard to aim for. This gives you one full day to relax and see the area without. If you’re passing through a city, like St. Louis, one night might work because you can check out the town for dinner and see the Gateway Arch in the morning heading to your next location.
Try to pick places with similar weather and activities
Sometimes it’s not avoidable but to minimize packing you’ll want to stick with either all cold or warm locations.
Just like weather, if you’re going back and forth between the city and nature you’ll end up packing more than you want. Likewise, packing a snowboard when you plan to go one day on your six month trip isn’t very efficient
Decide on a budget
This will largely dictate the places you stay at and your primary mode of transportation. This can impact a range of things for your road trip.We’ll break this down into a few sections
Transportation:
– Fly and rent a car: At the top of your budget would be to fly somewhere, rent a car and book hotels or Airbnb.
– Rv/trailer: this has its own list of pros and cons which we cover in another article, but in general this takes a large upfront cost, more gas and you still need to rent a campsite. The biggest advantage is being able to keep your stuff in one place. If you stay in hotels or AirBnbs you have to fully pack up and move your stuff everytime you switch locations.
– Drive: Driving gives you the most freedom because you can easily visit cities and off the beaten spots. It can also be the cheapest option, but that depends on how much you spend on accommodations
Accommodations:
– AirBnb: AirBnbs are typically the most expensive because of all the additional fees, but this can vary. This is a great option for longer stays, such as more than a week. Sometimes, it’s cheaper than a hotel if you’re staying in a small city with limited options
– Hotels: Hotels provide the most flexibility, especially if traveling with kids or pets and there’s usually a large range of prices. This is the preferred option for shorter stays, such as a few days. Pro tip to cut cost, if you arrive into a city late at night stay the first night in a hotel outside of town. It will be significantly cheaper and you can check out early in the morning then head into town.
– Camping: Whether with a tent or an RV is typically the cheapest, especially if you do dispersed camping but it has some limitations. If you’re camping at an official campground you can expect to pay anywhere from $20-$50 a night on average, but it comes with amenities such as showers or hookups. It’s important to add in the cost of your equipment when determining the total budget. Tents, cooking equipment, etc. gets expensive and if you won’t use it often hotels can be easier to handle. The advantage of this option is being closer to nature, the disadvantage is that you can’t stay in the city so you’ll have to get a hotel or AirBnb if that’s what you’re interested in.
Eating out
This is arguably the most difficult part to stay on budget. After a long day it’s easy to want the nice sit down dinner over cooking or getting something simple, so setting good dining habits is important. If your budget allows, eat wherever you want. If not, focus on fast casual or counter style places. It’s healthier than fast food but usually doesn’t cost more than $15 per meal. Another option is getting premade food from the grocery store. Again, it’s healthy and cheap but you don’t have a place to eat it (pro tip, grab some wine while you’re at it)
Make a few long stops or frequent short stops, but not both
Everyone has a different definition of vacation (adventure vs relaxation) so it’s important to agree on this with your group when planning the roadtrip. You might want to power through the drive and get to your final destination, or take it slow and make frequent stops along the way. Keep in mind, making frequent stops can really drag on the roadtrip and in my experience, I don’t enjoy them as much. I feel like I’m constantly checking my watch so we don’t spend too much time and miss our stop that night. Making frequent stops allows you to see unique towns and attractions, but when you add in driving time, stopping time, etc what should be 15 minutes out of the turns into a few hours.
Depending on who (or what) goes with you makes a difference
If you have kids I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of this, but it’s important to keep in mind. Certain cities (like Gaitlinburg, TN) cater to families very well and are more ideal stopping points.
Even different friends will have different ideas about what an ideal vacation looks like. It’s important to get an idea of whether they like to hike, drink and eat, or just relax at the beach when planning your top destinations.
Traveling with pets is amazing, but it limits your options
Deciding to travel with pets is also an important factor. We always bring our dog, but it adds a certain level of difficulty. Only about 25% of hotels or AirBnbs allow pets so your options are limited and it’s usually a bit more expensive. If you’re doing an all day activity you’ll also need to think about boarding them.
Figure out what transportation you’ll need
This goes along with budget but it’s important to map out any modes of transportation you’ll need to take. If you want to do a West Coast roadtrip but you live on the east coast, you’ll either need to add a few days of driving to get there, or you’ll need to fly and rent a car/rv. You might even run into situations where a ferry is required (most cars and trailers are allowed but it’s always important to check). If you have the extra time driving is the lower cost option and you’ll have a chance to view a few hidden gems (such as the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX).
Pick a time of year that matches your destinations
You wouldn’t want to plan a river trip in Montana during the middle of winter, or a hiking trip in Arizona during the middle of summer. There’s typically some wiggle room but plan accordingly. In general, you want to visit the northern states in the Summer and southern States in the winter. Places like Arizona, Utah, Nevada and the desert of California aren’t suitable for outdoor activities from June-August. Likewise, if you try to visit Glacier National Park in Montana during the Winter most of the roads will be closed (for reference, most mountainous areas will have some type of road closure during the winter).
Some views or activities may only be available during certain times of the year. For example, the autumn trees are in peak bloom for about two weeks sometime between September-October, but it varies depending on how far north you are.