There can be a lot of ways to plan a road trip. Sometimes people enjoy planning their trip by the mile, but others like to leave it entirely up to how they are feeling any particular day on the road. Either way, you prefer, you will need to know your final destination when you want to go, and your purpose for going. If you are going to make your plans ahead of the trip, you will need to take into account the various logistics of your trip that can include things like how long your trip will last, how you are going to pay for gas, what you are going to eat, where you are going to sleep, etc. It can be an amazing thing to be prepared, but remember to leave a bit of wiggle room for the unexpected things that always happen on trips.
1. Get Covered
It is important before you start out on your road trip that you have the proper insurance. Even if you are a high-risk driver who has previous DUIs, or even a few accidents, you can still get online car insurance pretty easily. You should never leave home without having insurance, but this is especially true when you are going on a road trip.
2. Be Spontaneous
Road trips don’t always have to be about driving all day just to reach a destination quickly. Take your time. Stop. See the sights. Play games with your road trip companions. Taking a road trip is supposed to be a grand adventure where you have your fun not just at your destination but also on the way there and back.
3. Make Plans
Even though you can be spontaneous on your trip, you can also plan the route you will travel and your overnight stops when you want to take the perfect road trip. You also need to ensure that everyone who is going on the trip with you knows where you are headed and what the stops will be before your trip begins. If you know that you will be road-tripping with someone that you don’t always see eye to eye with, make your trip a shorter one.
4. What’s The Point?
Why are you going on your trip? Maybe you will be heading to another city to pay a visit to an old friend or planning a party bus trip to Corpus Christi. Maybe you have a hankering to explore some of the national parks. Maybe have just reached your breaking point with the rat race and need to get away from it all for a few days. If you know where you are going and why you are going there, it will be easier to map out the whole trip. Then again, you might just want to be on the road for a few days and wind up where ever your nose takes you.
5. Time
How long do you have for your trip? Road trips can last for as long as you like. The only limits you have have to do with your budget, how long the road is, and what your obligations are back home. Road trips that are the longest can be the ones that are very ambitious or they can be incredibly open without even a set destination in mind. Try to make sure that your road trip is set within an unscheduled block of time when you don’t have any commitments to school or work. Take the logistics into consideration too. Make sure that you have the funds to cover the trip and all it will entail. Make sure that you can get the time you need off work. Remember that the more time you have, the more you can explore while you are on the road. You won’t need to drive straight to your destination and then straight back again.
6. Routes
You might find it easier driving through certain areas at certain times of the year. For example, you might not enjoy driving right through the middle of the desert in July. Then again, you might want to avoid the mountains in December. If your end point is someplace that if far away, you will have different options for the route you will take. Check out the weather before you go and be aware of any incoming storms or other sorts of obstacles.
Happy Road Tripping!