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With stops in the Carolinas, a sunrise breakfast in Savannah, Georgia, and fun jaunts in Key Largo, Islamorada, and anywhere with alligators, I loved that we didn’t know the essential Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How answers of a planned trip. I think we found even more adventure than we thought possible. Adventures included shining a flashlight in the ocean before dawn and seeing an octopus! There was swimming with dolphins and rays, and renting bicycles. There was staying at the fancy hotel in Key West, charming the Customer Service Desk enough that she gave us free breakfast upgrade passes, and ordering juice on the beach. Another activity that you would surely love, is a Key West Sunset Cruise.
2 – Snacks are key. This is another no-brainer but when you don’t know how long you’ll be in the car – hours, days, or weeks – you have to bring foods that last. Think fruit, dried fruit, trail mix, beef or turkey jerky, nutrition bars, etc. Think water, of course. I mentioned water, right? Water and snacks. And personally I love to pick up the local foods at the places on my journey. Think whoopie pies in New England, or Key Lime Pie in Florida!
3 – Don’t wait until you’re too tired to find a hotel or place to stay. I have done this, way too many times. Luckily for me, it was before I had kids so I only had a cranky boyfriend, friend, or cranky self to contend with!
4 – Use your websites and apps to find unsold accommodations and attractions tickets. Last minute travel sites and apps let your name your own price on last-minute hotels and attractions. You might not know where you’re staying until you’ve already paid, but maybe that’s part of the fun? You can save a lot of money on these sites – specifically designed for last minute trips! Apparently, the spirit of adventure can be rewarding in financial ways.
5 – Plan your route, even spontaneously. Even with no destination in mind, you’ll want to have SOME idea of where you’re headed and how long you’ll have on the road. Websites like Road Trip America and Rand McNally offer free road trip routes to help you plan your drive. You don’t have to be too specific – just click on the regions you want to visit and you’ll get several options. This will help you with time management, sight-seeing, and is crucial if you don’t have an open-ended trip in mind, but need to be home! You can also create and plot out backup routes and trips. That way the spirit of spontaneity lives on! I do this for all trips – long-planned or not.
8 – Know your budget. You will have to divide it between lodging, gas, food, souvenirs, attractions, etc.
9 – Pack light and prep your car. This is the time to downsize on what you pack. Pack your own cleanup supplies, and check your car tires, fluids, battery, brakes, and gas!
10 – Take a TON of photos!
And, Enjoy your adventures!
You are oh-so -right. we learned the hard way with the hotel one night. It was 1am. We were in Roanoke, and something BIG was going on, so every hotel in the city was booked. We were forced to drive the last 2 hours in spite of how brain-dead sleepy we both were. Excellent tips.
I love road trips! Especially spontaneous ones! I used to take them a lot more, before I had kids. I once drove 23 hours straight from Minnesota to New Orleans for a music festival! Man, was that good time!
OK, this to me is the perfect road trip to leave the cold winter behind for sunny Miami! Seriously you wouldn’t have to twist my arm to do this one bit!! 🙂
I just read another story about a woman who has having to relocate across the country for the 10th time in 11 years. She was depressed and not looking forward to it, but her daughter was excited to see so many things along the way. They ended up seeing Niagara Fall, and Mt. Rushmore, and family and more! Planning for physical needs is important because if you are hungry or thirsty or exhausted, you will have a tough time enjoy it.
Water and snacks are definitely key to a happy road trip!
Road trips are the best! Especially when not planned! We always have tons of water with us at home and anytime we leave. We thrive on it – call it LIFE JUICE in our house!
You know road trips are near and dear to my heart. As a veteran road warrior, I think you offered valuable tips😎👍!
These are great tips! Making full use of apps to find the best deals at the last minute is a great way to make a last minute trip easier and more fun.
Keeping a good supply of bottled water on hand in case you just want to pick up and go is a great idea. So is fully utilizing travel apps for great deals.
With my husband’s schedule, sometimes spontaneous road trips are the only ones that we can fit in. It is very helpful to have snacks and water on hand to be ready at a moment’s notice! #client
Sometimes the best trips are the ones with no plan. I love to get in the car and see where we end up.
I am such a planner. I would always need a set plan that was VERY detailed! I would plan to bring lots of water for sure!
I haven’t done one of those fly-by-night, go-where-the-road-takes-us adventures in a LONG long time. I remember once arriving in Bruges while I was studying abroad and following a bell tower in the middle of the night! Sure enough, it led us to civilization and hostels galore. Those are the adventures I think about. Less maps and planning. More figuring-it-out-as-we-go 🙂 Love your tips (and yes! I can never leave without a buttload of water either! So important!!). XOXO
I love road trips and I always have waters handy because I am a big water fan and we always go through them. Thanks for your tips!
I remember looking in the trunk of my Aunts car when I was younger, she always had a case of water and I was little confused about it, that is until I got thirsty. Then it all made sense. I like the idea of purchasing water on-line. Living by myself I get so tried of lugging big cases of water up 4 flights of stairs. My long distance boyfriend is coming in town in June and I’m planing a road trip down to coast, thanks for all the great tips.
Road Trips are the best ,we just traveled 18 hours and water was my number one must have.
My family loves road trips. These are very helpful tips. I always make sure we have plenty of water in car every time we leave.
Before I could drive I would go to the nearest train station and just pick a place to travel to I used to love it, sadly my health doesn’t allow such things these days but I wish I could still do it.
I have been on a few spontaneous trips myself and they turned out to be some of the most cherished memories I have, Enjoy!
That VW bug van model is so cool! I love detailed diecast cars and trucks. Passed on the ones I kept from my childhood to my son and he collects them now.
I think water is a must for road trips. I really need to take a road trip soon with my family. We haven’t been on one in a while.
These are great tips! We love to take spontaneous road trips, but we always forget things!
We are definitely road trippers and my son guzzles water by the case which means we are also “visit every toilet in every city we drive by or any ditch”.
I am a planner so I can’t do a big spur of the moment full on road trip. I would love to be able to do that! I really would.
Hi Tamara, this reminds me of after our wedding when we got in the car to drive back through South Africa to the Kromme river where we were staying at the time. Mobile phones were not a thing back then and we broke down in the middle of a desert, which was both scary and exciting too. We managed to get the car fixed in a place called Hope Town! We camped, we explored, we roughed it… Luckily we had plenty of water and snacks with us!
xx
Great!! The best road trips I’ve ever had were with minimal planning. Just heading north from LA on US 1 for example. These have usually been time limited but with no real destinations.
Packing a cooler of drinks including water is a must. Stopping along your route is so much more expensive. We also pack a few snacks too.
We have had quite a few spontaneous road trips as a young family. Plenty of games and books to keep them occupied is key to keeping kids happy while being in the car. I always have a camera and my smartphone to capture all of our memories on our trips.
This is pretty much my favorite water. I think we are going to have to do one of these spontaneous raod trips this summer. Things are going to be so busy that we are just going to need to get in the car and escape when we can!
I am not sure I could be this spontaneous!!! Being prepared with water and snacks is always important!
We do this once in a while, those spurt of the moment kind of trips and the kids love it. I always bring slice fruits and drinks too.
I so badly need to just take a spontaneous trip! Theses are some great tips! Thanks for sharing!
These are all tips that I use whenever we do our road-trips. I always take water with us but not this brand. I’ll have to check this one out though so I can have even more.
I have not been on a road trip in a while but will be this summer! These tips will come in handy.
If long-distance driving is something you enjoy, and the idea of going your own sweet way is appealing, here’s the rest of what you need to know for a great trip.
Road trips are my very favorite kind of vacation, and spontaneous ones are even better. I just love the freedom of a road trip. My hubby wants to rent a convertible and road trip down the coast to California – can’t wait!
We love going on road trips and taking a ton of photos is so my thing. 🙂 Great tips you shared here.
Road trips are so much fun! I can’t wait to be able to take one this year with my family. These are great tips. Bookmarking for later. Thank you.
I have always been bit of a spontaneous person, so spontaneous road trips are totally up my alley! However, it has been ages since I’ve been on a spontaneous road trip. 🙂
Oh how I love spontaneous road trips! In my family we are known for it. I love your tips, we found that having the right apps have facilitated those little getaways a lot. thank you!
We love to go on road trips in the summer. Of course we make sure we have tons of water with us. Summer is so great, no homework or work for me. We definitely look forward to some unknown adventures this summer.
These are some great tips. I love a good road trip and of course you can never have too much water and snacks along the way 🙂
We LOVE going on spontaneous road trips. Most of the time it’s just a day trip but sometimes we splurge and do a fun weekend.
Does it still count as spontaneous if we’re planning to go now? We don’t have a plan for where we are going, just that we are.
Road trips are the best. I want to surprise our girls with a road trip this summer. I’m trying to decide between Savannah and Maine this summer. I want to teach not to be afraid of wandering because, truly, the journey is the best part of the destination.
One of the best trips I ever went on was a post-graduation road trip to the South with my college friends. At one point we had four cars! Each leg of the trip we would switch around what cars we were in, and most nights we had no idea where we would be staying until we found a hotel off the highway. It was just what we needed before officially entering the adult world!
Snacks are key for us! We love spicy Taki’s on the road. We enjoy driving to CA every summer to escape the heat of the desert.
i’d love to do this, but don’t think i could do it just yet! maybe when franco is a tad bit older.
Yah…I don’t think you’re supposed to “plan” a spontaneous road trip. I mean…I would…but that’s just me, isn’t it?