Road Trip Planning!

There are a ton of steps in planning a road trip in my family.

1. Dream big. Get a plan going. Rough out the timeline. Google docs is your friend. Use the spreadsheet feature to make a calendar, and then share it with pertinent people so that everyone can update it as needed and have a visual for the cross-country planning conference calls.

2. Convince Dad it's a good idea. This may take a couple of weeks, so give yourself plenty of time!

3. Retackle the timeline. Plan out days based on mileage and end goals. Hit up google maps until you dream about routes in your sleep.

4. Configure as many friend and family visits as possible along the route. When else are you going to be in State College, PA? Better see those friends now!

5. Scour HotelCoupons.com for deals. You can't make reservations, so print out a couple for each likely stopping point on your trip to be prepared. (Always have a backup plan!)

6. Check Groupon for deals in cities you'll be visiting. Especially cheap restaurant deals.

7. Find the donut shop you are going to visit and review while on the trip. Make sure you write down the hours and phone number, just in case.

8. Get the car ready. Clear out the stuff you don't need (like the snow shovel during a Memorial Day Weekend trek). Put in the stuff you might (see road trip necessities for the complete list)

9. Start making ice for the cooler a couple days before. Giant blocks of ice (one or two) will stay frozen longer and can be supplemented with ice from a hotel. Don't rely just one ice from a hotel though, often their ice has more surface area and therefore melts in the cooler faster (when did this become a math lesson? You guys know I used to teach high school math right? Well, now you do).

10. Get the clothes ready. Do you need to bring laundry soap for the laundry mat stop halfway through? Layers are the only way I dress while traveling, so lots of leggings and cardigans for me.

11. Get the maps and paperwork ready. Make sure someone who isn't traveling with you has a copy of your itinerary and pertinent info about the route and your car.

12. Get the food ready. Turkey sandwiches carefully re-stacked in the empty bread bag? Yes, please.

13. Get on the road! Have fun! And remember, some schedules were meant to be ignored :-)