Road trips can be great adventures but sometimes they can take a “turn” for the worst. My husband and I learned these tips and tricks first-hand, and these will keep you feeling clean, alive, and relatively ‘not broke’ by the end of your road trip.
- We learned the fastest roads are often toll roads. Lesson: Always carry extra change on a road trip.
- For the return trip, we shut the back doors to our car and shoved things through the windows to take back home. Lesson: Travel light, leaving room for the mysterious stuff-accumulation phenomenon.
- I’m pregnant. Enough said about the importance of decent restrooms and gas stations along the way!
- My husband and I stayed at a small motel and received a free continental breakfast consisting of mini donuts in the corner of the front office that smelled strongly of curry. Lesson: Know your standards, and be willing to pay extra for better breakfasts.
- To save money on meals, we packed our own. We got sick of a week of PB&J, but we saved a lot! Lesson: Bring your own meals (with more than PB&J).
- I like the Backstreet Boys. My husband likes George Strait. Lesson: To avoid conflict over radio stations, prepare a USB with agreed-upon music so nobody has to suffer.
- Google Maps tried to take us across through Canada on our way to Niagra Falls. Lesson: Keep travel documents with you always.
- One thing we DID do right on this road trip was keeping our car clean. Vacuuming and washing your car before the trip, and keeping trash out during, will make you feel alive even after you haven’t shaved or done your hair for several days. Lesson: Clean your car before and during your road trip (and remember to bring your razor).
