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Road Trip Tips: Best Advice From an 8-Day Trip
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Updated: July 2024
And now for the final installment of this 4 part series… the return trip home and the Best Road Trip Tips we learned from our adventure.
If you haven’t read the prior articles, that’s okay- this article will still make sense. But if you have the time, check them out!
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Table of Contents
Our final numbers were a little something like- 4000 miles traveled, 12 states visited, and 75 hours of drive time. Here’s what we learned…
Road Trip Tips #1- Have a Plan
Road trip tip #1- Always have a plan. It doesn’t have to be exact or planned down to the minute. But have an idea of how the days will look.
As a reminder, this was the original itinerary…
We had stuck to the itinerary pretty well, with our biggest deviation in time on day 4 (but back on track on day 5).
We planned on leaving ourselves 3 days to return home at a leisurely pace, with time to do activities along the way. As we fell asleep in a lovely little cottage in Bar Harbor Maine on night 5, we were right on track.
Road Trip Tips #2- Leave Plenty of Time to Drive
Road trip tip #2 is to plan plenty of time to travel. Being rushed is the worst! One of our miscalculations was drive times because we did not anticipate numerous construction zones along the way.
On our return trip, we had 3 days to cover under 30 hours worth of driving (days 6, 7, and 8). This left us with 10 hours of driving per day at least. We didn’t want a full day of driving on day 8 (arrival home), so we hoped to get more drive time on days 6 and 7.
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Road Trip Tips #3- Make Random FUN Stops
For the next road trip tip- Finding fun, random stops along the way that you didn’t anticipate is the best part about a road trip! Day 6 was so so much driving, but we managed to squeeze in a quick stop to shop for a gift, visit a castle, and see a cute little rest stop in Pennsylvania.
Having time to stop and do random activities along the way is a must! Margaritas in Connecticut, for example, are definitely worth stopping for on the way home!
Road Trip Tips #4- Make Frequent Stops to Stretch + Move
Frequent rest stops are important (at least once every 2 hours for us) to stretch our legs and for doggy potty breaks. Getting out of the vehicle for some movement can help increase blood flow and energy, leaving you feeling rejuvenated and ready for more driving.
By the 7th day of our road trip vacation, we were both worn down. We drove across Pennsylvania and made stops at a shopping center and then an outdoor equipment center in PA, an outdoor riverside park in West Virginia, and stopped at an Ohio Welcome Center. By 9:30 pm our pilot was ready to stop driving.
Road Trip Tips #5- Take Turns Driving
At the end of day 7, I was worried we weren’t close enough to home and had too many hours left to drive on our final day (day 8), so I took over the driving so he could sleep.
This worked out well since I had taken a couple of small naps throughout the day (it’s nearly impossible for me to stay while riding shotgun!)
I’m new to driving the camper van and still have some anxiety about it. But going through Indiana late at night with only truckers on the road didn’t give me any issues.
Close to midnight we finally called it a night, landing at a rest stop in Indiana, just 8 hours from home.
Road Trip Tips #6- Enjoy the Journey
We woke up on day 8 with only 8 hours left to drive. Leaving out early (by 6 a.m.), we knew we had plenty of time. Which came in handy as we drove by the Gateway Arch and couldn’t resist a quick stop. After 45 minutes of exploring, we were back on the road.
We were eager to get home, so our stops were quick ones (convenience stores) to stretch and snack/hydrate. Our home arrival time at 4 p.m. was not as early as I had originally hoped when planning the itinerary but was still enough time to unwind and relax before going back to work the next morning.
Although our vacation destination was in Maine, we spent more time outside of Maine (3 days in Maine, and 5 days getting to/from Maine).
The entire road trip journey was our “vacation.” We don’t dread the drives to and from places because we know we will enjoy our journey to our destination equally as much.
For a road trip to be truly enjoyable and successful, make sure to enjoy the journey.
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What great ideas! It’s been awhile since I took a good road trip! Thank you for the reminder of how much fun they can be.
Best tip: Have a plan! I often seem to leave holes in my itinerary and then find it so hard to figure out what to do when Im sitting in a car with no internet or plan!
It’s a difficult balance to learn at first- Have enough planned to fill the time effectively, but not over planned and feeling rushed.
Great tips hopefully our next road trip will be much better. Thanks for sharing
Oh my gosh what perfect timing! We are flying into Boston at the end of the month and doing an 8 day roadtrip! Thank you so much for this!
Excellent list of road trip tips. Frequent stops for leg stretches are a must whenever we go on a road trip. Plus sometimes you can catch amazing views or random neat attractions by doing this.
This was such a well written post! I love the tip to stop and stretch – so often on road trips, you don’t take time to enjoy the ride! Thanks for sharing this!
What a great trip! This would be a dream vacation for me, eating up miles and miles across the country in a comfy RV and seeing all the fun sights!
It is a dream of ours too (with many more adventures and trips to come!)
Ohhh, you are so right! I don’t make fun random stops. I’m usually on a mission to get to my destination. Thanks for the info!
Thank you for these very useful tips.
Great road trip tips! I like planning the best. I’m totally a planner and enjoy having a clear idea of what’s next in my travels.
saaaaaame. I’m a recovering over-planner trying to find the balance between spontaneous and fully planned.
As someone who hates driving, I would definitely need a plan and a good audiobook or companion. Thanks for the article
Lovely share thanks so much,road trips can be tough especially long road trips, but it helps if there is more than one person driving so you can always change places,having said that, the end is always worth it.
Awesome trip – lots of fun. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! Loved the part about making random stops for fun. I’ve done several road trips and always tried finding things not too far off the path. Makes the endless driving more fun.
Great tips. Thanks for this.