Rules of the Road Trip

The Long Lonely Road

Tips and tricks learned from our recent two week road trip.

1.      Be Organized

This applies to both before and during the trip.  Plan where you’re going, how long it will take to get there, how much time will be spent at each place.  I kept a spreadsheet to calculate a budget that included gas, tolls, entry fees, food, hotels, etc.

During the trip, I carried a piece of paper with the name, address, and phone number of each hotel booked as well as what type of room, final price, confirmation number, and credit card used.  It was easy to plug the address into Google Maps for directions for each leg.  I also wrote down the wifi password and lockbox combination of the AirBnB we stayed in for a few days.  So handy.

A place for everything and everything in its place.  A saying to live by when packing both luggage and the car.  Helped get in and out of hotels quick, painless, and without forgetting something.

2.       Make Reservations

When you’ve been on the road for 9 hours, not including your stops, all you want to do is crash.  You don’t want to search for a hotel as well.  Most of our hotels were reserved at least a few days to a couple of weeks in advance.

But, only most.  Want to stay in an historic hotel?  Or in a popular tourist trap?  Or maybe you want to stay in an AirBnB?  You may need to reserve months in advance.  We structured our trip around when we could reserve a room at the historic Blue Swallow on Route 66 in New Mexico.  Five months prior to leaving, when we were making our plans, they already had their weekends booked.

Also reserve tickets.  If we hadn’t gotten our tickets for the Grand Canyon Train in advance, we would have been driving.  They were sold out the day we went.

3.       Use Technology

Although we got a TripTik and maps from AAA, we also used a tablet with travel helping apps.  Before our trip, we added our car to our mobile data plan.  This made the car a wi-fi hotspot.  The tablet and laptop could connect to the car as well as boosting our phones’ data signals.

On the tablet, we used Google Maps for turn by turn directions, Gas Buddy to search for the cheapest gas we could use, Rest Stops to know where those were and whether or not they were open, and Waze to get road information.  Each of these are great, but they all have their drawbacks.  Google Maps doesn’t let you search for gas stations too far from your current location, nor do they mark rest stops.  Gas Buddy is better in map mode and is only as correct as the people who report.  Rest Stops didn’t tell you exactly how far the stop was from you or at which mile marker.  Waze works best in more populated areas (essentially highways east of Kansas and Oklahoma).

Other useful apps were My Radar and 1 Weather.  They gave us weather notifications for where we were and where we were going.  In 1 Weather, we could add up to twelve locations to check the forecasts.  Their widgets worked great to give us weather at a glance.

However, technology didn’t always work or was accurate.  Hence, the paper of written things.  Arizona was the worst state for cell service.  We used a ton of data on our trip.  I highly recommend engaging the data savings in settings and manual app updating.

4.       Be Efficient

Make the most of your stops.  When stopping for gas, try to refuel at a travel plaza.  They have large restrooms, convenience items, small gifts, and fast food.  Using the bathroom at the same place where you get gas reduces the number of stops.

Carry a cooler in your back seat.  We kept water and snacks cool with the help of reusable ice packs.  When heading to high elevations, water is essential for combating altitude sickness.  Two of us went through two and half cases of water during the two weeks.  Not only were we at least five thousand feet higher than usual, but thirty degrees hotter than when we left and returned.  Snacks in the form of cheese and flat bread or tortillas makes a great lunch.  Saves money and time.  Most hotel rooms have mini fridges to store cooler items overnight.

Stay at hotels that have a free breakfast.  Then, actually eat that breakfast.  I purposefully made reservations at places with breakfast.  However, we never ate there.  We filled our travel mugs with their coffee though.  Breakfast consisted of a Cliff bar and jerky.

Pack light.  I can’t emphasize this enough.  Sure, there’s no luggage fees in a car, but how many bags do you want to carry in and out of hotels every night and morning?  I rest my case.

5.      Be Flexible

Sometimes, you find that you don’t have enough time to do everything you wanted.  That’s when you get out your trusty online map and search for other points of interest near your route.  Instead of going to Mesa Verde National Park, we diverted to Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, NM.  A great site.

Then, there are a high wind warnings, so you rearrange your schedule.  Or, in some towns, all the museums are closed on the day you’re heading through.

Bonus Tips:

Bring travel mugs.  Because those carboard cups of coffee can be squishy.

Ginger tea bags.  Add hot water, steep, and drink.  No travel tummy.

Eat where locals eat.  Best tamales were at a gas station in Vega, TX.

Tucumcari, NM has the best donuts ever (right on Rt 66)!  They even keep well going to AZ for when you want to share with your in-laws.

Leave space or an extra bag (collapsible) for souvenirs.

Do laundry during your trip.

Resupply water and snacks at local grocery stores.  Never know what you may find.

Keep phone/tablet chargers in a make-up case.  Use twist ties to hold cords together.

Despite best intentions, writing (work) doesn’t happen.