Okay, I feel like before I even get into this post, I need to admit something: On our recent trip back east, my husband drove the entire way. Because he was cool enough to drive Lucy and I, I planned everything else. It seemed only fair.
I’ve done lots of road trips in my life {though, never with a pet}, and over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing what to plan out and what is just better left figuring out on the fly.
Here’s how I roll:
- I always map out our route ahead of time. It’s just easier to have an exact plan, mileage, etc. That way, you can anticipate stops.
- While I did make hotel reservations the first night, I waited on the remaining nights so that we could have the flexibility to drive longer or shorter distances. Because we had Lucy, I researched pet friendly hotels from my phone when we knew we were about an hour or two from stopping for the night.
- McDonald’s bathrooms are always clean. Seriously, if you are going to stop to use the bathroom, this is the place to do it. It doesn’t seem to matter where we are in the country, they seem to be pretty serious about keeping up the facilities.
- Hotels with complimentary breakfasts are an AWESOME time saver. It doesn’t hurt that you can throw an extra bagel in a napkin and have a mid-morning snack, either.
- Set a departure time for the next day before you go to bed and stick to it. Unless the point is to stretch out the journey and you know, carpe diem, keeping on schedule really hinges on departure times. I personally like to travel early in the morning. The traffic is less and the weather is usually milder.
- Download POYNT or some other travel app. It’s free and it will tell you where hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc. are from just about anywhere. It helps you plan out stops on the fly.
- Make a mini-vacation out of getting there. If you are travelling across the country, seriously, there are sooooo many cool things to see. If possible, plan on stopping at at least a few. It will give you small destination goals and gives you something to break up the monotony.
- One word: audiobooks. I LOVE listening to books as we travel. I sprinkle in music, but books seem to hold my attention better, and there is basically no other time in your life {unless you regularly visit elementary schools} that you get to sit and have a story read to you.
- Carry cash. As you enter places that have tolls, you’ll want to have cash to expedite the process.
- Buy snacks ahead of time and pack a cooler. Gas station snacks get pricey, pack them ahead of time, you’ll have less stops and more money in your pocket when you reach your final destination.
- Pack things to do. This is really if you are travelling with kids. Pack plenty of activities–color books, games, etc.
- This is probably a no-brainer, but have your car serviced before you leave. Fresh oil, full tank of gas, clean windows, working windshield wipers, check the spare {jack included} etc. will make less potential mishaps.
- Have a blast! Seriously, sometimes the getting there is the funnest part when you look back on it years later.
How about you, what do you do plan out your road trips?
~Mavis
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GBMAXX says
Hi Mavis – My wife and I traveled across the US from Cali to Pittsburgh where we now live. We made the trip in three days with our then seven year old cat named Jake. We researched the Web about traveling with a cat and everything we read sounded like a nightmare. So I book a hotel every 1000 mile across the US. We packed a cooler with sandwich makings, vegetables and fruit to make the trip as frugal as possible. As it turned out Jake was the coolest adventure kitty of all time, he just hung out on the counsel between the seat and slept most of the way. I book our stays at the Super 8 hotels along the way. I can’t say enough about how nice the folks that run the Super 8 hotel are run. The rooms are clean, the staff is courtesy and the entire chain is pet friendly. Not to mention the complimentary continental breakfast.
Mavis says
Super 8, huh? Who knew…thanks for the tip!
Tejas Prairie Hen says
When we made our 14,000 mile treks to see our daughter in college, we could count on all the state welcome centers for clean restrooms, water, and state maps that show so many interesting things on the interstate highways. Agree about McD. having clean restrooms everywhere. But my best pointer is to research each lodging along the way, reading all the reviews. We found a well-kept secret that looked pretty tired on the outside that had just been completely remodeled on the inside and had incredible staff and unheard of service for our group of 9. Another trip that I didn’t research enough was a brand new good chain in a great location that looked beautiful. Ended up with almost zero sleep due to the room doors being 2 inches up from the floors and people checking in all night until 4 a.m. Beautifully decorated walls were paper-thin. Getting up at 6 a.m. to face another 12 hr. drive was mighty rough. 🙁
Joanna says
Some of the tolls around me only take EZPass/SmartTag or credit cards!
Rosaleen says
We have toll roads around, us so we each have an EZPass. These MUST be used with the car for which it is registered. We found this out the hard way when I bought a new car right before a trip and just swapped the transponder to the new car. Try to get an EZPass when there is some push going to get everyone using them, so you can get yours free. Tolls can be cheaper for people using these passes, but when feasible, route around toll roads. I often travel alone, so have the back seat laid flat with an air mattress on it for a traveling bed. Either camp or sleep in the car to save money. Also, use a service like GasBuddy.com to find cheaper gas along your route.
Karen says
We purchased our EZPass from the state of MA. NO ANNUAL FEE!! Just load and go. It reloads when needed.
Kathy Gardner says
I love to travel with my Beagle, Little Bit, and she is a wonderful traveling companion. I don’t get to take her like I used to though because I go to visit my family in Tennessee (I live in Alabama) and they all have pets and they don’t like another dog coming into their home.
I read one time that some hotels prefer dogs to humans because a dog never stole the towels, trashed the room or played the tv so loud that it kept the other residents up all night. LOL
Toni says
Rather than hotels, AirBnB (airbnb.com) is great. You can get a couch for $10, or an entire house at a reasonable rate, and everything in between. It also gives you the chance to meet the locals if you’d like, and save $$$. And yes, many are pet friendly!
Alison says
I like to design a scavenger hunt for parents vs. kids- things like an orange car, PA license plate, stop sign, tow truck, bicycle, school, cow, etc. it takes at least an hour and keeps us observing things. I think it would be fun for two adults to play cooperatively.
Serina C says
I’m partial to the Starbucks bathrooms myself ; )
Mavis says
Oh, good suggestion!
Kathy says
I am totally with you on the McD’s bathroom breaks! We always stop there for a potty break if we can. They are usually just as easy to find as gas stations (which are disgusting!).
Karen says
We’ve done several road trips i.e. living in Ohio, flying into Salt Lake City, UT and spending two full weeks seeing all the Nat’l Parks, State Parks and Monuments. We fly into an airport hub, pick up a rental car and head for the nearest Walmart to get a Styrofoam cooler, bottles of water that we can refill, containers of cut veggies and a can or two of Pringles so we have chips that won’t crush from all the other stuff in the car. We typically stay at Hampton Inns or somewhere where there is a continental breakfast. If there is bread we take some of that, some packets of peanut butter and jams and make our own PBJs for lunch. We also get our fruit for lunches from the morning breakfast display. To vary the PBJ monotony, we sometimes stop at a gas station /deli and get a lunch meat sandwich roll in a tortilla. Usually they are pretty inexpensive. We also buy our ice from the gas stations so as not to drain the hotel/motel ice makers. ( If you stay at Homewood Suites they have dinners available for guests Monday through Thursday!) However… we do try to eat local, not chain restaurants, to get the flavor of where we are visiting.