As someone who grew up driving all over the country with my family, I’ve had a lot of experience with road trips. Recently I’ve started planning and going on road trips with my friends, and I’ve tried to put together a list of things to keep in mind while doing so.
1. Get a group together.
As obvious as it sounds, getting a good group together is one of the most important parts of having an awesome roadtrip. You want to make sure everyone will be able to get along for five days in a very confined space, and will really enjoy each other’s company (and musical taste). It’s also probably a good idea to have someone act as the ‘leader’ of the trip, usually the person who did the most to plan the trip and won’t be afraid to make a decision, but won’t let the power go to their head. Choose the leader wisely, because staging a coup will likely create tension in the car.
2. Figure out where you want to go.
Want to decide which beach/theme park/hiking trail within a certain area is the best? Go for it. Listen to everyone’s ideas on what to do and take a vote. Try to do so as a democracy, and try to avoid making anyone feel like they weren’t heard, so no one is bitter starting the trip out. Get everyone on board with the plan, and start getting excited! As a kid when my parents figured out where to go, we would get AAA books for the states we were going to, which were full of great deals and different attractions and cool restaurants along the way.
3. Make a plan.
Choose the dates you want to go away for and stick to it. Figuring out a good time for everyone can be difficult, but the sooner you decide on a time the easier it will be to discuss it with their bosses and families and get time off from work and other engagements. Also, having set times means you can book hotels in advance and make up some type of itinerary to give your parents to quell their fears.
4. Don’t be afraid to veer from the plan.
One of the most fun things I’ve done while on a roadtrip was to swim in the Blue Hole in New Mexico. We happened to stumble upon it because someone had to go to the bathroom and once we got off the highway we all decided we wanted a little break from being in the car. Since it was July in New Mexico, it was about a thousand degrees out and we needed to cool off. After a glance at the AAA book, we discovered a little place called the Blue Hole, a natural pool that went down 80 feet that you could dive into. If we had been totally set on following our plan, we never would have found it and made those memories.
5. Try not to fight.
This sounds easy, but once you spent three days within six feet of each other, you tend to notice things you never noticed before, which can be a bad thing. If this happens just try to let it go, because it’s awkward for everyone when two people start fighting, and no one wants to have to spend the next few days next to someone they just yelled at. If it still bothers you at the end of the roadtrip when you’ve had time to think about it, then you can bring it up. If not, it probably wasn’t a big deal in the first place.
6. Take lots of pictures!
My only regret about the last roadtrip I took was not taking enough photos of everything. While you want to just enjoy the moment, pictures are a great way to remember what you did (and all the fun you had) years later.
7. Have fun!
Roadtrips are probably my favorite kind of vacation, because you never really know what’s going to happen, even if you do have a set plan. And it’s little things that you remember, like running away from the beach patrol at night because you had to catch that Poliwhirl even though the beach was technically closed, or everyone singing Ewan McGregor’s version of “Your Song” at the top of their lungs in the car one night. The memories will last a lifetime, and no matter what happens you’ll almost always look back and be happy.
