A little
planning can go a long way toward making your road trip
the adventure of your dreams. These eight road-tested
tips will help you head happily for the horizon.
Identify your trip's purpose. Why are you taking
this trip? If you can answer that, you'll know how much
planning will be required. For example, if your answer is,
"I want to hit the road and see where it takes me in
four days," you don't need much more than a tank of
gas to get going. On the other hand, an answer like, "I
want to take a week to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco,
seeing as many attractions as I can along the way"
will require a fair amount of advance planning to pull off.
Know your style. Are you the type who has to have
hotel reservations to feel comfortable, or are you happy
stopping at the nearest roadside motel when the sun goes
down? Do you like to have a detailed route plotted out in
advance, or do you like letting serendipity influence your
route once you hit the road? Pay attention not only to your
preferences but also those of your traveling companions.
What might seem like freedom to you may be terrifying to
another. To a person who likes spontaneity, a tightly scheduled
road trip may feel stultifying.
Get ideas and information from lots
of sources. Yes, it would be terrific if you could go
to one Web site, enter your start and finish points, click
a button, and get back a perfectly planned road trip package
without paying a dime. Or would it? Aside from the fact
that point-and-click
road trip planners are still in their infancy, there
is much to be said for good old-fashioned research. Simply
put, the more time and interest you yourself put into planning
your trip, the more you yourself will get out of it when
you actually hit the road. Where to start? Try posting a
query on our RoadTrip
Forum. You'll probably be amazed at the great tips and
suggestions you'll get in response. Use RoadTrip America
as a starting point to find maps,
routes, and attractions.
Check out our book recommendations
for print resources.
