Five Rules for Road Trips

When my wife and I took a road trip up the west coast a decade ago, we didn’t follow these guidelines one bit. We both took a week of vacation and crammed as many stops in as we could. I planned out every hotel stay months in advance, although that planning was driven by the desire to use all the hotel points I’d accumulated from travel for work. Within moments after arriving at a destination, I’d mentally check it off and was ready to get back in the car. Despite what I might say and want to believe, I’ve always been focused on the destination and not the journey – probably a character flaw that’ll lead to my untimely demise in a later chapter.

Did I enjoy the trip? Absolutely. Did everything go smoothly? For 98% of it, yes. But that’s not when the best stories happened. Would I do it again? Yes, though I’d change it up – not only to enjoy the trip more, but simply to do something not quite the same.

Don’t Rush It

You can’t see the whole United States within a weekend. You can’t even get a good, deep appreciation for a single city within a weekend, so why try to fit a huge cross-country road trip into the nine day block you have after taking your hard earned week of vacation from work. You’ll stress yourself out planning every minute of the trip, and you’ll drive your family crazy.

It takes time to not only travel between locations, but to soak in the scenery and taking in a town takes time. If you’re short on time, plan a smaller trip with few destinations. Or save up a few weeks of vacation to take that epic trip. It’s no fun winding along an endless road with endless switchbacks in the middle of the forest at night when you thought you would have been at your hotel before dark which is exactly what we did on Rt 1 in California between Hardy and Leggett.

Have a Loose Plan

This may come down to your personal demeanor a bit, but if you’re the type of person who wants to have every stop planned out, loosen up a bit. It’s good to have a destination in mind and an idea of what you’ll pass along the way, but not everything worth seeing is highlighted on the map, and highlighted locations are likely paid advertisements for tourist traps. Some tourist traps you just have to see once – Mt Rushmore, the largest ball of yarn, or South of the Border. But even more interesting are the places that don’t need to advertise. The best plumber in town doesn’t advertise because he doesn’t need any more customers. The same goes for the best food joints and adventures – they don’t have time to fix up their place nor do they need to advertise. The shack with a piece of plywood spelling out BBQ in handwritten leftover paint on the side of the road will either be the best BBQ you’ve ever had, or it’ll give you an amazing story of stomach churning discomfort unfit for the dinner table. Either way, it’s win today with great food, or win another day telling the tale.

More Isn’t Better

For every choice we make to do something, we’re also making the choice to not do something else. There are simply too many amazing and great things to do and experience in this world to fit into a single lifetime. So pick a few, and make them happen.

Same with packing. If you pack everything including the kitchen sink, you’ll spend your entire trip sorting through your baggage. If you fit everything in a lightweight backpack, you’ll spend far less time worrying about where everything is and far more time enjoying where you are. What is better – schlepping a rain poncho around the world because you might need it, or attempting to purchase one in a foreign country that speaks a different language while it’s raining cats and dogs? Would you rather pack a pile of shelf stable granola bars, or follow your stomach to some local street food from a truck that is a 90/10 chance at being either the most amazing meal or a bad case of food poisoning?

Embrace the Hardship

The best stories never involve everything going perfectly as planned. Now I’m not saying to sabotage your plans, but don’t turn your tail and run home at the first sign of trouble. When we planned to drive around Mt. Rainier in mid-June we planned to take a road noted for being closed in winter. It was June, but apparently the snow didn’t get the memo, so we hopped out of the car and had a snowball fight before finding a new route.

Just Do It

Yes, it’s a slogan by a global athletic company, but it resonates for a reason. Recounting the time you read about another guy’s adventure on some website isn’t a good story. Recounting your own adventure on some website for another guy to read is far better. Where will the road take you?