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.
We’ve learned this tips over the course of two six month roadtrips across the United States. Your job, length of trip and transportation will change how each tip is implemented.
To help, I’ll reference a specific example as I talk about each tip. This is based off a six month roadtrip we took from Florida to Portland, OR.
1. Set a time frame
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.
If you plan on doing extended stays at your destination while you work, you’ll like want to take some time off to drive to and from your location.
Example: For our trip, we set six months as our time frame. This included roughly two weeks of travel to get to Oregon with a few stops to work, and a similar timeframe going back.
2. Pick your top 2-3 destinations first
This will essentially create your skeleton for the trip. Then you can fill in the spaces with other fun activities. You’ll likely have many ideas of what you want to see on your trip so it’s important to rank them based on priority. This helps keep the trip relaxing so you aren’t racing to see three sites in one day. Oftentimes, the best experiences of your trip will come from local recommendations so save some time to really visit each location.
Example: Our focus was Portland, but because we were gone for six months we also added Lake Tahoe and San Diego. We stayed at each for over a month.
3. 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.
Example: We created a loop that naturally took us to each of our destinations.
4. 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
Example: We stayed in Moah, UT for four days so we could work during the day then check out Arches and Canyonland National Parks at night. It was a lot but because we stayed there for a few days we could take our time instead of racing around.
5. Book your accommodations early
You don’t want to be stuck with the gross hotels or overpriced AirBnbs. Particularly if you’re traveling with pets, there’s limited options so you want to get the good ones while they last. If you’re doing a longer trip, it’s rare to have AirBnbs for more than a week given the flexibility of their scheduling. There’s typically a discount for month long stays, also.
Example: We booked Portland and Lake Tahoe early and had great places for reasonable prices. We didn’t know how long or where we wanted to stay in San Diego so we had to change places every 1-2 weeks for our two month stay.
6. 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 have a post that goes into more details but below is a brief summary.
- Transportation: Will you fly, drive or take an RV/trailer.
- Accommodations: How much are you willing to spend on AirBnb, Hotel or camp sites. Pro Tip: Rent out your house (apartment if you can) while you’re gone to cover the cost of your accommodations.
- Eating out: What quality of restaurants are you going to eat at. This is arguably the hardest part to stay on budget because when you’re visiting new locations you want to try the food!
7. 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.
Example: We drove down the Oregon coast with a plan to make frequent stops at the small beach towns. We’d either spend too much time in one town or drive past others because we were tired of stopping. We wished we’d taken an extra day to soak it all in.
8. 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.
Example/Pro Tip: We wanted to visit Mt. Rainier from Portland, which was a 12 hour day so we had to board our dog. Another example, when traveling down the Oregon coast we couldn’t walk into shops because we had a dog so we were limited to outdoor seating at every restaurant.
9. 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).
Example: We drove because it was the cheapest and easiest option, but this added about two days on both sides of the trip just to get across the country.
10. Time of year makes a big difference
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).
It’s important to note that 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.
Example: We visited Utah mid-June and it was boiling hot. Luckily, we worked during the days and it was cool enough at night to go exploring.