Since I've been a "roadie" for over twenty years,
I decided to share with you some of the tips I've learned and practiced since I
began in 1991. If you don't ever plan
to drive from point A to point B with a distance of over 300 miles between
them, then I guess you can skip the next couple of columns. Otherwise, here are some ways to make your
trip a lot more enjoyable and inclusive.
Tips for Road Trippers
1. Start
planning early: It is never too soon to start planning for a road
trip.
Choose a preferred route,
but don’t be too specific about it. List all the major attractions you
want to see along the way (cities, parks, natural wonders, people) and try
to put all of them in a sequence to get the most efficient and least
expensive itinerary.
2. Use
a map and an online mapping service:
Use state maps for your trip and use a highlight pen to mark your
route once you have a good idea of how you want to travel the roads.
Whoever is your navigator will have a
good guide to follow. Use online mapping to plan the route, but then copy
it onto a physical paper map for reference.
You’ll probably use a GPS too, so you can use both
references to crosscheck the route.
Mapquest or
GoogleMap are both good free online
aids.
3. Check
for accommodations along the route: If you are going to stay in
hotels, choose a chain of hotels with a good rewards program. Sign up
online to join the program if you aren’t already a member, and try to
choose their properties.
You should try to join at least two
rewards programs for two different chains to expand your choices.
Membership alone doesn’t provide price
discounts, but the discounted rooms for AAA, AARP, seniors, etc., do
qualify for rewards points. Most hotel chains have seasonal promotions
that award extra points for multiple stays to get reward nights (free) for
every two paid nights.
Some also
offer gas cards for multi-stays.
Hint:
Once you get a good number of reward points, you can use the points
instead of dollars and save the cost of hotel rooms for some of the nights
you’re on the trip. Some hotel chains will allow you to convert from
dollars to rewards points en route if you give a few days notice, but
don’t attempt to convert at the hotel desk when you check in.
All such conversions must be handled at
the reservation center via phone.
If
you are a camper, your goal is to locate campsites on your route, and
depending on the season, many good ones fill up early, which is another
reason to start planning in advance (see step 1 above).
4. Look
for possible attractions along your route:
First, use your favorite search engine entering the search
term “road trip attractions.” You will get a huge number of sites, but
some will narrow the search down to a particular country, state, province
or region.
If the Continental United States is your playground, two good sites
you can visit directly are
Road
Trip America and
Roadside
America. Choose a radius, say 20 miles, from your main route of travel
to stay generally along the route while still meandering a little to take
in the sights.
The second way is to use Google Maps in the "Earth" mode,
with the "photos" label checked.
In the upper right-hand corner of the map is a square that
says "Satellite."
Place
your cursor over it and it will open a new "Earth" square
alongside. Below that will be a menu showing a "photos" option.
Click on that and then on the "Earth" picture and the map will
change to a contour map with lots of little squares on it.
Each is a picture that someone has
placed on the map indicating some sight they saw and photographed.
If you zoom in with either the sliding
scale on the left of the map or your scroll mouse, you will see even more
photos. Some of my best attractions have come from seeking out those sites
on my trips.
5. Set
daily mileage goals and make reservations: Travel only 200-300 miles
each day unless you are traveling to get into position for your active
sightseeing.
Then you could travel
500-miles-per day on interstate highways to reach your "starting
point."
Once you feel comfortable with your planned route, even though you
might make some changes to it, go ahead and reserve your hotel/motel rooms
or campsites.
Campsites and lodges
at National Parks always fill up early, so it is reasonable to reserve
during the winter for summer trips.
If you reserve
hotel rooms, there is a possibility that the rates you get will be reduced
before you travel, so keep in touch with the reservation center to take
advantage of seasonal specials.
Hint:
Some hotels will give a better rate if you call direct rather than booking
online or by calling the reservation center. Just make sure to have them
enter your rewards number so you get points for the stay.
This is only the start of your planning. There will be more tips in a following
column.
