Roadtrip Travel Tips
We were jazzed and a tad nervous about organizing our first big road trip. We made our longest packing list to date, purchased an annual national park pass, and made accommodations in advance. NO RAGRETS!
Here are our favorite cross-country travel tips:
- Make a packing list, including a cooler to store fresh foods, like fruit (no scurvy for us!)
- Pack multiple refillable water bottles per person to stay hydrated
- Get an America the Beautiful annual pass at the first national park you visit (we visited 5 in 2.5 weeks)
- Download maps of your entire trip in your Google app, so you can continue following the road, even when the internet is out (this takes a lot of time and patience for a long trip)
- Download as much music and podcasts to your devices prior to the trip as you can, so you have something to listen to when the radio is subpar and so you don't have to download anything along the way using slow wifi.
- Find your driving limit per day and go over it sparingly (we stuck to 6-8 hours most days)
- Decide where you want to end up each day and plan accommodations accordingly (it only took one scare in Italy to learn this - eep!)
- Spend consecutive nights in the same place a few times, to get a break from the road and immerse yourself in the culture
- Budget everything in one bucket while on the trip to make things easier
- And mostly importantly, it's A-OK to just chill at the hotel every once in a while, because driving is exhausting and, darn it, you deserve a break!
