Why plan a road trip?

Remember when you could book a last minute trip to Costa Rica just cuz? Ahhh the good old days when we could fly at the whim of our desires ( and flexibility on our credit cards), and we didn’t have to worry if the plane was over crowded or if the chef washed his hands as we got ready for our first meal on land.

I still feel suss about overseas flights and even though I’m vaccinated and have that noble Excelsior pass, I don’t feel comfortable being smooshed on a plane with little to no elbow room when I have been told to stay six-feet away from all unfamiliar humans ( and even the ones I love) for the past year-plus.

However, road trips don’t take much more planning than queueing up a great playlist and stocking up on snacks. You can design your journey on the fly or have a detailed layout of what you want to do in America and where you want to go. The beauty of road trips is that at any point you can turn around and drive home, or you can live in your car and channel your grungiest Frances McDormant in Nomansland. When driving across America, you are exposed to a plethora of landscapes, culture, and barbeque sauces. Although many of us are dying ( literally) to go to Bali, Tulum, or Portugal, our own backyard may be our only safe option this summer. We know that the CDC reinforces us to limit non-essential travel but we understand it is essential for you to get out before you set a match to your apartment aka modern bunker. If you're apprehensive to get out there or forgot how to travel, don’t worry; I risked my life so you didn’t have to.

Here are the best tips and tricks you can use to optimize your road trip excursion and avoid getting COVID.

How to plan the greatest road trip of all time

Road trip planning isn’t terribly difficult if you have a car. The first step is to pick where you want to go and budget your time and finances around it. Want to drive up and down the California one? Maybe try to hit every pulled pork restaurant in the South? Only drive along the circumference of the county? Choice is yours! There are plenty of ways to chop that onion and plenty of parts will make you cry. This part also allows you to fall down vlogger rabbit holes and spend countless hours pinning away on Pinterest and justifying it as RESEARCH. You can then decide whether it is worth stopping in a few places along the way or book it. There is no wrong way to do a road trip. The best road trip idea is the one that is calling you.

For Sam and I, we wanted to go southwest. We decided to cut across the Midwest as fast as possible and had long driving days to get us to Santa Fe. From Brooklyn, we drove to Indianapolis ( 13 hours with stops), then to Tulsa (9 hours with stops), then chilled in Santa Fe for a few days before driving another day to our Airbnb in Arizona.

On our way out, we swung down to Flagstaff to see the Grand Canyon, then drove up to Telluride ( 6 hours) and stayed there for a few days. From Telluride we drove to Boulder ( 6 hours) and then Omaha ( 8ish hours), and sped to Chicago ( 7.5 hours) before we did one last long push back home to Brooklyn ( 12 hours).

The Best Apps to Download for Your Road Trip

Google Maps: Pin everything you want to go to and download offline maps for the times that your cell service might drop in the Utah desert.

Recreation.gov: This app will help you plan your national parks trips ahead of time and get tickets or passes in advance.

Alltrails: This is an amazing hiking app that will help you find the perfect excursion. It is kept up to date and people can post about their most recent experience so you get a good heads up of what you are about to tackle.

What I Wish I Knew About Planning

Road Trips Before We Left

Outside of COVID precautions, I would suggest breaking up the trip into smaller bites. Six hour drives was a comfortable max. That allowed us to explore the place we were staying in without wanting to scream. We definitely popped some blood vessels on the 12 hour drive from Chicago to New once we entered New Jersey.

It doesn’t matter how many podcasts you listen to, or how perfect your road trip playlist is that is timed to the arrival of certain scenery, break up the trip into small chunks. Driving into your hotel/airbnb at 1 in the morning after a 13 hour drive will leave some brain cells somewhere in the midwest. Ideally, try to have a break in between each driving day to take care of your body and soul. If you do find the need to drive more than 8 hours ( a full work day), try to do it only once.

**What to Do on**
**a Road Trip**

all of the things? Sometimes yes.

The great American road trip is popular because our landscape holds so much diversity and beauty in one rectangular plot of land. See as much of it as you can.

It is hard to imagine that the neverending depths of the Grand Canyon is on the same latitude as the Great Smoky Mountains. And you can see it all in a few days' drive while witnessing so much more along the way.

The great American road trip allows you to see the graduate evolution in our ever changing landscape. You can purchase an annual national parks pass to have unlimited access to all of our national parks.

American cities are cool but quickly become copy/paste experiences. I’m not sure how different coffee shops are in San Francisco vs. St Louis. BUT I would suggest checking out as many national museums as you can.

Must-do activities for Your Road Journey: What I Did and Wish I Did

Bryce Canyon in Utah

Zion Canyon in Utah

Grand Canyon In Arizona

Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah

Best Friends Sanctuary

Grand Escalade in Utah

Toadstool hike in Utah

Buckskin Gulf in Utah

Kanab, Utah

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Telluride, Colorado

Boulder, Colorado

Flagstaff, Arizona

Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona

Chicago, Illinois

How to Stock Your Car for Your Road Journey

What you need to bring on your road trip varies. Depending on where you are going, pack your trunk with the suitcases and items you don’t need readily accessible. Our plan was to live in Arizona for a month, so our car was also packed with audio equipment and a weight set( we all have our must haves!). Allocate the backseat to daypacks with swappable clothing and toiletries for the nights you are just sleeping in one spot and hitting the road again.

Bring a cooler if you want to lug your Brooklyn made yogurt, almond milk, and kombucha to and fro. Have a snack bag accessible behind the driver’s seat so the co-pilot has easy access to reaching carrots, wraps, and trail mix. IF you want to stay healthy, just pour a pre-chopped vegetable platter into a zip lock and call it a day. Wraps and smoothies were a godsend to stay healthy and easily eat and drive at the same time. These were definitely the best road trip snacks. Snack, snack, snack away.

Have car toilet paper and paper towels. You never know when you are going to spill coffee on yourself as your partner going 85 mph swerves out of the way to avoid hitting a suicidal squirrel daring a four lane highway in Missouri or when you can’t wait the 56 miles till the next rest stop ( and in that same vein I say ladies, where a skirt too). Lastly, bring one book and actually finish it.

America holds numerous types of terrain and if you’re an overachiever explorer, you might hit all of them. Which means you should also pack for all of them. Road trips are the perfect excuse to just wear leggings and northface zip up (because that’s a new outfit to try for you ) but on long car drives you want something comfortable ( hey it’s your car, bras are optional). I brought tee-shirts, some long sleeve shirts, one dress, thicker tights, city sneakers for walking around, and I had flip flops to wear in the car and then slug on my hiking boots when it was time to hit the trail.

Bring a raincoat, a light jacket, scarf, rain boots or sturdy hiking boots that are waterproof. Bring a bikini in case you go to a beach in one of the coasts or a hot spring around the Rockies. Other resourceful, prepared plan items would be an umbrella, sunscreen, aloe ( for when you forget sunscreen), coconut oil ( for dry skin/ hair conditioner/ cooking oil), bandaids, infection cream, anti-itch cream ( everything is bigger out west, including the bug bites), portable chargers if you car doesn’t have a converter, and a blanket to cuddle under after a long hiking day or when the temperature drops.

Covid specifically, stock up on hand sanitizer ( one for your day bag and one for the car), cloth and disposable masks, and disinfectant wipes. These are the essential items for the best and most comfortable road trip.

Get That Car Tuned Up

( well in advance)

Nothing like driving in Bay Ridge the day before and having to negotiate with a russian mechanic that you need the car fixed asap so you can bring your girlfriend on her whimsical socially distanced trip across America. Make sure your car is stocked up with a first aid kit, five gallons of drinking water, jumper cables, spare tire or tire-repair kit, flashlight, new batteries, blanket, emergency flares, waterproof matches, a few towels or rags, and non-perishable snacks. Have a ice remover for your windshield because it DOES snow in the southwest and it is STILL surprising.

How to Still Love Your
Travel Buddy

**Negotiate Sound Ahead of Time**

Ideally, you are traveling off with someone who you enjoy the comfort and cadence of their voice, feel like you can talk for hours, and enjoy some of the same music, audio books, or podcasts with. Figure out how you will sound ahead of time. If one of you wants to read, negotiate some lyricless tunes. Make a list of the audiobooks and podcasts you want to burn through together ( Don’t worry, I have made a list here and here for you already. I gotchu boo).

But sometimes you have to take a CBD gummy and let your partner rock out to their favorite synth funk jazz band and take one for the team.

Take care of your body…

Some days you’re driving 6+ hours and may want to stop at certain roadside attractions or glorious gas stations. Road trips are built for flexibility, which is why you should stretch every time you get out of the car ( I have gotten quite accustomed to hiding behind the trunk of the car to do lunges, jump squats, and calf raises every time we stop for gas). To rationalize looking ridiculous, you’re avoiding blood clots and legs from falling asleep ( which they will and it’s painful).

Your body will adjust to the new terrain, and it might not be a smooth ride. Bring chapstick, aloe, and lotion to keep your velvety skin intact.

Drink so much water, especially as you venture off into dryer or higher landscapes ( if that means pulling over to pee more, so be it). If anything it will prevent your partner from becoming dehydrated, passing out in the middle of the night, knocking his head against the shower lip, and needs to go to the ER room STAT. All hypothetically speaking.

…and your soul

Avoid your phone. Yes I said it. Look outside. You’ve been looking at your phone for months. Now is a time to set and forget the playlist and just stare out at the wide open spaces.

Remember your why. You will get so distracted and saddened by all of the cool stuff you wish you could do that you didn’t have time for and didn’t anticipate. Either have some buffer days or use this as a way to remember why you have to come back.

Bring a journal and write everything down. You’ll pass funny signs in Missouri like “ MOLLY’S FIREWORKS: BUY 1 GET 5 FREE” . You’ll drive through a thunderstorm with a rainbow pouring out of it in Nebraska. Or you'll see the peaks of the Vermillion cliffs arch into your view up ahead. You think you’ll remember everything, but you won’t. Write everything down.

Why You Should Go on a Road Trip this Hot Vaxx Summer