Who doesn’t love a highway journey? Whether or not it’s a fast day drip to the town or a month lengthy tour, we now have all gotten in our automotive and left residence sooner or later. However ought to we plan it or wing it?
We’ve accomplished each. We’ve
accomplished day journeys which are deliberate months prematurely, and we’ve accomplished 10 day lengthy
voyages which have introduced us by means of 10 completely different states on a wing and a
prayer! However… What’s the correct method to do it? Is there a proper method to do it?
Reality: There isn’t a
proper approach.
There are many issues to think about, however no actual RIGHT
method to highway journey. That’s the most effective
half! It’s YOUR journey. Not your neighbors’, or co-workers, and even
your grand-dads’.
Are you a planner?
Do you prefer to schedule your time out? Or possibly you reside life on the edge
of your seat and discover spontaneity to be the one approach. I prefer to assume I’m someplace within the center
of these. I prefer to have my calendar
available to schedule an evening out with buddies, or to know when we now have
a marriage developing, however I additionally want that calendar to point out me that I’ve 10
complete days broad open and trip days to burn – so let’s get on the highway!
There are positively professional’s and con’s to either side. I’ve discovered that for our household, it relies on
what we wish to get out of the highway journey. Is it the vacation spot, or is it the precise
time on the highway?
Day Journeys
Should you get up one morning and determine that you really want pizza
for dinner, the most effective pizza yow will discover – seize your children, buddies, partner, or
go it alone – get within the automotive and drive to NYC.
Be somewhat spontaneous! You
don’t want any extra info than instructions, and now a day’s you possibly can pop
that up in your cellphone as you’re buckling your seatbelt. A visit like this requires no planning. It’s a vacation spot primarily based day journey. Drive to NYC, cease and eat pizza. Possibly you stroll across the metropolis for a
bit. Possibly you park on the mistaken island,
and should stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the pizza place the man on
the dock urged. It doesn’t matter,
you’re taking the day, and made foolish goofy household reminiscences that 6 years later, our
son nonetheless talks about, and we nonetheless snicker about. Completely spontaneous and completely random.
Should you sleep late sooner or later and get up deciding to hop in
the automotive and drive to Niagara Falls, you might be in the identical scenario as going for
pizza. The water fall is all the time
open. It doesn’t shut down at
night time. All you want are these pesky
instructions! Or so we thought… A bit of extra planning ought to have taken
place earlier than hopping within the automotive and taking off.
For instance, do you know that the lights that illuminate that water
fall that by no means closes DO shut down at night time?
We didn’t… and sadly, we realized the onerous approach. We drove 8 hours stopping for fuel and low
solely to reach on the Falls 5 minutes earlier than these mild shut off. We have been left standing within the grass of the
American aspect with nothing to have a look at besides the town lights of Canada. Again within the automotive for an 8 hour drive
residence. A particular highway journey fail, and
just one instance of the various we’ve made.
Fortunately, on this case, our time within the automotive was completely epic, and
the lights shutting off simply grew to become the icing on the cake for the tales we
obtained to inform. As for our pretty
vacation spot primarily based highway journey, not planning created disappointment.
Week Lengthy (or longer) Journeys
Now when you’ve got trip days to burn, and also you wish to
spend all of them with your loved ones or buddies touring the countryside, which will
require at the least somewhat planning.
Winter break of 2014 we took our very 1st lengthy highway
journey. We took 12 days and touched 20
states and spent over 500 miles a day on our butts. I want everybody would wander the way in which we did
on that journey! However as a lot as we
wandered, we had a plan. We had by no means
accomplished this earlier than! There have been components of
the nation we had by no means been too earlier than!
It was Christmas time, would locations even be open!?!
We every sat down, and picked some locations we needed to
go to. Vegas. The 4 Corners. Crater of Diamonds State Park. The Grand Canyon. The Cadillac Ranch. Then, Doug and I made a decision that even when
all the things else in your entire nation was closed for Christmas day, at the least
Las Vegas could be open… And we deliberate
round that. Make it to Vegas by
Christmas. We determined that we might make
only a few stops on our approach out, and refill the return journey with extra of our
locations. Executed planning? Not a lot.
For this journey, we did somewhat pre-mapping. We decided which stops could be accomplished in
which order to maximise how a lot we noticed with minimizing our wasted time driving
in circles on the highway. If resort stays
are necessary to you, I might additionally recommend trying into these as properly. We didn’t.
We simply deliberate on tent tenting if the climate permitted, or staying in
a Motel6 alongside the way in which. Positively a
profitable journey and the pre-planning proved to be a good suggestion.
What if I simply wish to get within the automotive and get misplaced for two
weeks? You are able to do that too! Doug and I’ve determined that after our son
graduates from Excessive Faculty that’s simply what we’re doing. We don’t desire a plan! We wish to go wherever the wind takes us, and
simply take it from there. You’ll should
look ahead to updates on how that have went.
Total, our suggestion is to have a plan that you just’ve written in pencil. Don’t be upset when issues don’t go as deliberate. And don’t fear that you just drove proper previous 6 stops that you just most likely would have liked had you accomplished the analysis and planning and identified they have been there. Possibly sooner or later you possibly can re-road journey your earlier journey and get to see all of these issues that you just flew previous final time. Highway journeys are an journey! Begin Yours!