The Joy of Wandering- The NO PLAN Road Trip (How To Guide)

Ok, maybe the title is just a tad misleading. Maybe instead of NO PLAN Road Trip it should be- The Very Little Plan Road Trip. Although, that’s not quite as catchy.

I am the queen of planning. I have planning road trips down to a science. It’s my strength. And my fault. There are benefits to having a great plan. But there are downfalls also.

A plan ensures that no time is wasted. No time is spent trying to find where to go or what to do. Everyone knows when and what you are doing. Everybody is on the same page. It’s efficient.

While planning can provide a sense of security, the thrill of the unknown and the opportunity for unexpected experiences can make a no plan road trip truly unforgettable.

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Why go on a NO PLAN Road Trip?

Embarking on a NO PLAN road trip without a strict itinerary can offer a unique experience. Some of the benefits of having a no plan road trip:

FLEXIBILITY: The freedom to change your plans on a whim allows you to discover hidden gems and unexpected adventures.

LESS STRESS: Without a rigid schedule, you can relax and enjoy the journey without worrying about meeting specific deadlines.

AUTHENTICITY: Traveling without a plan can lead to more genuine interactions with locals and a deeper understanding of the places you visit. You don’t just pull in to check the box when visiting a place. You can take time to explore and learn.

UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES: You may stumble upon fascinating attractions, local events, or charming towns that you wouldn’t have found with a pre-planned itinerary.

CREATIVITY: The open-ended nature of a planless trip can inspire creativity and spark new ideas.

Here are some questions I get about our road trips…

Where Do I Sleep?

There are options!

Of course, there are the old-fashioned ways of hotels or Airbnbs. But those take planning to some degree. Calls, reservations, check-ins.

We opt for camping. More specifically- boondocking or dispersed camping.

We drive a camper van, which allows us to stop wherever we want (or at least close to it). For our trip, we did a combination of paid boondocking (established sights) for a couple of nights, free boondocking (at rest stops) for a few nights, free dispersed camping for a few nights, and paid campground camping for one night.

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Methods of Camping on a no plan road trip

• Car- Setting up a tent or sleeping bags in a car or SUV.
• Van- A more minimalist approach, converting a van into a mobile living space.
• RV- Using a recreational vehicle for accommodation, offering amenities like beds, kitchens, and bathrooms.
• Tent -The classic camping method
• Hammock- A lightweight method

Ways to Camp on a no plan road trip

• Free Boondocking- is a term used in the RV and camping community to describe camping in remote areas without hookups. This means no access to electricity, water, or sewer facilities.
• Paid Boondocking- areas to self-pay for boondocking on established sites
• Paid Campsites- the typical, established campsites with full hookup options.
• Dispersed Camping- a similar concept to boondocking, but it applies more to camping in undeveloped areas on public lands, but still with no hookups and often more rugged.

Rest stops have been an excellent resource for us on no plan road trips. At some rest stops, we park in a parking spot and sleep in the back of the van for the night. This would work for car camping as well. But it’s not so great for tent camping. However, some rest stops have free camping areas without hookups available that would work for any type of camping.

Dispersed camping can also work for car camping, tent or hammock camping, or van camping. This probably won’t work well for an RV due to the remote and difficult-to-reach areas.

How do I Find Rest Stops?

Google, of course! Pull up your map, know the direction you are going, and search “rest stops.” Rest stops can be stacked closely together or far apart, so this may take a tiny bit of planning so that you aren’t ready to sleep with the next rest stop being 2 hours away.

How Do I Find Dispersed Camping?

I use either Google or RoadTrippers to search “dispersed camping” to see what is close and available. These are typically easy to find near National Forests. These aren’t always the easiest to drive too, and can be unlevel.

I don’t have much experience with some of the apps that claim to find dispersed camping. But there are some out there (ex: The Dyrt)

Campgrounds

Depending on where you are, the type and supply of campgrounds can vary. On our road trip, they were plentiful. Half of them were the typical full hook-up and manned at the front desk by a worker. These typically cost much more (starting at $50) than the sites with no hookups. The other half were paid boondocking ($20 self-pay no hookups) that had somewhat level camping areas with picnic tables.

Where Do I Shower on NO PLAN Road Trips?

This is always the one I struggle with.

Our camper van does have a very small shower. Very small. It would work in a pinch. I have learned to use it (very quickly to preserve water) for hair washes every other day.

But in general, we try to find a campground for showers. Sometimes we will camp at the campgrounds. But mostly, we prefer the adventure of dispersed camping. We have learned that some campgrounds will allow you to stop in and pay a small fee to use their showers only.

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Where Do I Use the Bathroom on NO PLAN Road Trips?

Along the way! or quick on-the-road bathroom use, we use the toilet at the back of the van. For the more in-depth toilet use, we use convenience stores, grocery stores, etc. If dispersed camping, we use nature!

There are portable toilets available if you are uncomfortable using the wild.

And if you do use the wild, but sure to follow regulations (and pack a small shovel like THIS ONE!)

• Pick a location that’s at least 200 feet away from any water source, such as a lake, pond, or stream. If you’re in an area with big predators, you should move about 100 yards away from your camp. 
• Dig a hole that’s about 4–6 inches wide and 6–8 inches deep. If the ground is hard or rocky, you can try lifting a rock and using that spot. 
• After using the bathroom, fill the hole with the dirt you dug up and take your toilet paper with you. You can dispose of toilet paper in a proper waste container or use a disposable travel toilet

How I Find NO PLAN Road Trip Activities?

My method has been to scan the road ahead on Google Maps, doing the same with Roadtrippers, or searching Atlas Obscura. Roadtrippers can be used for free at a lesser level, but I splurged and paid for the yearly subscription, which has paid off beyond belief in planning road trips ahead of time or using on the go!

Some fun spur-of-the-moment things we came upon on our last no plan road trip- we walked the streets of Manitou Springs during an art festival, drove up Pike’s Peak, explored Old Town Albuquerque, visited Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX, found a cool little city called Weatherford, Oklahoma with a Route 66 park, saw a 19 story cross in Groom, Texas, stopped at “Hole in the Rock” in Moab, Utah, visited 3 National Parks, drove some of the most beautiful roads at the edge of Utah, camped riverside, saw Castle Rock in Utah, hiked to Bridal Veil in Telluride, walked the streets of Ouray, Co, plus many other cool things.

We would not have even known of most of these stops before setting out on a road trip. The No Plan Road Trip allowed us to stumble across them and take the time to explore.

NO PLAN Road Trip Meals

On some of our prior trips, we have planned meals and bought groceries to avoid spending money on eating out. For this trip, we took along our Herbalife supplies for quick meals on the go (my fav is Vanilla Protein Drink Mix + the Cookies and Cream Healthy Meal Mix).

But we decided beforehand that we would allow a budget for eating at cool spots each night along the way. We love small, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and anything with a view.

These included any spots with a great view, such as streetside in Telluride eating burgers while staring at the mountains, streetside in Ouray (also staring at the mountains), streetside drinking margaritas and eating Mexican food in Albuquerque (also staring at mountains…I see a theme here…), in Moab eating pizza with a view of the rock formations, and on and on. Food with a view!

Our NO PLAN ROAD TRIP Details

So that’s how it’s done! But how does it actually look as you go along?

Here’s how our trip looked, day by day-

Our only plans are to leave on Friday, return 10 days later, and see Arches National Park. That’s it. All the in-between was unknown. Old me would have an anxiety attack at that thought!

I finished up the last day of my job (for good at this particular job) around noon and we immediately took off!

I had our starting point, midpoint (Arches), and endpoints mapped out to see our general round-trip route on Roadtrippers. I also really wanted to see Garden of the Gods, so I added that to the map.

Day 1 led us through Kansas, so there was a lot of driving, little scenery, and little to do. The goal was to drive as far as we could get on the day. We ended our day at a small rest stop in Kansas, that had camping spots available for boondocking (no hookups).

The next morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise, rested and ready to hit the road again.

On the way to the Garden of the Gods, as we began entering the mountains, I realized I had a camera malfunction. (no bueno for a budding photographer!)

This forced us to stop for a couple of hours to get tech support (and lunch!) This led us to our first experience that we would not have otherwise had time for- exploring an animal sanctuary!

Check out our fun at Fins and Feathers –> HERE!

Once my camera was in order, we headed for The Garden of the Gods. I had researched the grounds on our way, so we had a general idea of what we wanted to do. But since we were arriving late (on a hot, holiday Saturday) we opted to cut out the most popular hike and instead hike to the Siamese Twins.

We hadn’t planned on staying in the area, but a friend suggested exploring Manitou Springs. And so we did! We walked the streets, had a couple of drinks, and enjoyed a couple of hours at the local art festival.

While walking the streets, we decided we should stay in the area for the night and drive up to Pike’s Peak the next day. And so that’s what we did.

Next up was finding a place to sleep for the night. Dispersed camping was our plan for most of this trip. To see our dispersed camping gear- check out my Amazon store!

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Using Google Maps, I searched “Dispersed Camping” and found an area nearby. We drove in the dark but ended up on a beautiful mountaintop with an amazing sunrise view of Pike’s Peak. There was a handful of people scattered around the area with us, ranging from vans to ground tents to rooftop tents.

The next day was spent driving up Pike’s Peak. If you ever get the chance to do this, take it!

This took most of the day and led to some nearby dispersed camping again. But we wanted somewhere different. We used Google to search, and found dispersed camping areas in the National Forest near Twin Lakes. Again, we arrived at dark but woke to a beautiful (cold!) morning with a lake view.

Day 4 was a lot more driving, but it got us into Utah, with no remarkable stops other than a strange little gas station called “Jackass Joe’s.” We drove around the edge of Utah and into Moab to take in the scenery.

As we drove at sunset, we came across many paid boondocking areas ($20 for a level campsite with a picnic table, but no hookups). The (free) dispersed camping areas seemed to be a little further away. We wanted to stay close to Moab so we decided to set up camp here and explore Grandstaff by foot until dark.

Day 5 was up in the air for any adventure. We wanted to stay close to the area since Day 6 was our only planned activity with tickets pre-purchased for Arches National Park. Realizing Canyonlands National Park was nearby, we decided to spend a day there and do some hiking.

After a quick search, I found the most visited (and luckily, the closest portion of this gigantic National Park) is Island in the Sky District. We easily decided on hiking to Mesa Arch and Aztec Butte for the day.

We always travel with hiking gear in case amazing hiking experiences arise. The gear paid off on this trip with 4 awesome hikes in total (2 at Canyonlands, 1 at Arches, and 1 in Telluride).

The hikes at Canyonlands NP were thoroughly exhausting and required a midday nap in the van to regroup. We are NOT accustomed to desert hiking! We decided to relax the rest of the evening to be geared up for Arches the next day.

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But we wanted a different camping location. Our first attempt at a dispersed camping location (found on a maps search) didn’t pan out due to being blocked off by boulders. And so we drove a little further out than anticipated. But this paid off with an amazing opportunity at a new paid boondocking location area near Castle Rock.

After a good night’s sleep, it was finally THE day for our only planned activity of the NO PLAN road trip- Arches National Park! And more specifically, hiking to Delicate Arch.

Arches National Park was everything I wanted it to be!

And then it was on the road again for us. Nothing had been decided on at this time, but we knew we were headed in the direction of home and wanted to see as many things as possible along the way.

We decided to head to Telluride first. Along the way, we drove past “Hole in the Rock” and decided to stop for a quick tour. An interesting stop you should make if you are in the area!

And then we drove upon Wilson Arch, which required another stop for pictures and to stretch our legs a bit.

Finally, we made it to Telluride and decided to eat lunch with a view.

While eating we started to decide the night and the next day’s adventure. We both wanted van hookups and a long hot shower for the night, so we called and booked a camping spot at Matterhorn 30 minutes in advance (which turned out to be such a fabulous place!!). The camp host was absolutely amazing and helpful!

We had decided on another hike while in the area. Bridal Veil was an easy choice since I had heard of it before. And finally getting to hike in the mountains and trees (versus the deserts of Utah) was amazing!

Pulling up the Google Maps, we scanned the area and decided to visit Ouray. While eating in Ouray, we saw Box Canyon Falls on the map, and decided to pay it a visit.

With night approaching, we searched on Google again for dispersed camping and found Madden Peak on the map. Before we made it to the peak, we found a dispersed camping location much closer to the main road and decided to take advantage of it. We had learned we don’t sleep as well at high altitudes, so we opted to avoid the peak. This spot turned out perfect!

That night, we decided to make a quick detour to see Mesa Verde National Park. It wasn’t on the direct path home, but we had the time for a quick detour on this no plan road trip. So we booked a tour to see some cave dwellings the following day.

Most of Day 8 was spent exploring Mesa Verde. After exploring the park we picked Durango to head to for dinner and then searched dispersed camping again. We found Mesa de Cuba, which was the perfect little secluded spot, with a view.

The next day, day 9, was our final day driving on this no plan road trip. We wanted to cover a lot of ground, but still make stops for short exploration. Using Google Maps, I looked at the road ahead to find stops like Old Town Albuquerque, Cadillac Ranch, the Groom Texas Cross, and Weatherford Oklahoma to see the Route 66 park.

Final NO PLAN Road Trip Thoughts

We have gone on road trips that were strictly planned, half-planned, and a no plan road trip. My favorite is the NO PLAN road trip!

I’m reminded of the beauty and freedom that comes with letting go of control. A no plan road trip is more than just a vacation; it’s a chance to rediscover the joy of spontaneity, the value of connection, and the endless possibilities that life offers.

So, the next time you’re feeling stuck or in need of a break, consider packing your bags and hitting the open road for a NO PLAN road trip. You might just find the adventure of a lifetime!

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Take a moment to visit…

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