This thanksgiving my boyfriend and I did something crazy. We decided with the week break we had from school and work for the holidays, that we would drive from Iowa to Connecticut. This drive is no easy feat. Straight through the drive is about 18 and a half hours, but with the stops that are mandatory (Bathroom and sometimes food) it usually rounds up to be a full 24-hour drive. Now this was not our first time making the drive. In our two years of dating, we have been crazy enough to do the drive once before. I am no expert on traveling, but from my experiences this past week, I have tips and tricks to help you survive the drive with as little pain, and as little spending as possible.
Step 1:
Plan out your route
This is done is many ways, we prefer using google maps because of all of the amazing and handy features it offers, such as travel times, construction warnings, and even traffic jam warnings. Now when planning a trip like ours, from the midwest to the East Coast, there is one huge pest to account for. Tolls. These bad boys are expensive! but with the correct planning, they can easily be avoided. If we had opted to drive through Chicago and New York, we are looking at $70 in tolls alone! This is not even accounting for gas, food or lodging (if you choose to stay at a hotel along the way.) Now a quick side note with google, while the maps app is a life saver for finding gas stations, food and other locations along the way, if you are not careful, it will try and reroute you through major cities and tolls, so using this application does take some supervision.
Step 2:
Pack a lunch
If you are like us, we don't have a lot of extra spending cash to be stopping on the roads at all times when we become hungry. An easy and frugal way to remedy this is to pack a lunch! This can be done by hitting up your local grocery store and pre-packing sandwiches, chips, drinks, snacks and any other must have food items for your trip in a cooler. Doing this also dramatically cuts down on stops and helps your travel time as well. By packing food, we were able to drive for 5 to 6 hours straight at time without stops. In fact, the only time we actually stopped was for the bathroom or to refill our tank.
Step 3:
Gas Saver App
Now speaking of gas, there is a way to save here as well! The App we used was Gas Buddy (this is on Android, not sure of Apple.) This app allows you to scan the area you are in and other locations up to 30 miles away and presents you with the best deals. By using this we were able to constantly find the cheapest gas along the way. Our total on gas one way using this method was $78. Now this isn't to say that you couldn't do this on your own without the app, but it seriously is a God send!
Step 4:
Driving straight through
Now not all people can do this, God knows that it was difficult for us to do it on the way there, let alone on the trip back, but if you can find the ability to drive straight through this is the biggest savings you can find! A hotel on the road can range from $30 to over $150 dollars depending on the area and local demand for rooms. Now we have done this trip both ways, by driving straight through and bunking for the night in a hotel. The trick to driving straight through though is this, driving and sleeping in shifts. These shifts work best in 4 to 5-hour bursts. One person drives, and the other rests as much as possible, the drive drives until they simply cannot anymore, and then you switch, and repeat until you have arrived at your destination. This method also saves the most time. While this can be done with two people, we personally recommend bringing a third because exhaustion is a real thing on the road.
Step 5:
Enjoy the little things
This trip is amazing! The experiences and pure beauty our country holds is beyond anything that you can conceive until you do a trip like this. Driving through this country, we found the most beautiful and amazing sites. I never realized how gorgeous our country truly was until I drove. Now here's our advice, talk to the locals when you stop! You never know what you may learn, while the election made us all feel divided, this trip restored some of our faith in our brothers and sisters across this nation. Take lots of pictures on the drive, look out the windows and not at your phones, and most importantly, have the conversations that only a long car rides can foster.
Now I encourage you to go out and explore this land. Take in its beauty and the wonderful nature of the American people. You never know what you may find on your drive!
