5 Steps to Planning a Road Trip

Congrats! Deciding to go on a road trip is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself. I learn so much when I travel, plus I always enjoy the freedom and flexibility of being on the road.

Whether you are road-tripping solo, with your family, or with friends, you are sure to encounter new experiences and have fun.

But before the fun comes the planning.

If you’ve never gone on a long road trip before, the planning stage can be overwhelming. Where do you start?

While it differs for every person, here are 5 basic steps to planning a road trip.

1. Make a list of destinations

The first step seems easy, right? If you are planning a road trip, you probably already have a good idea of where you want to go. You might already have a list, or even a single destination you are set on visiting.

Here’s the thing: you want to maximize your road trip. Don’t settle for a road trip plan without exploring all of your options!

When I pick a new place to visit, I like to see and do as much as I can. That means I don’t just drive to one destination and come back. I make a list of all the places I can stop along the way, maximizing the road trip.

You can keep your search simple and easy with Google Maps:

1. Make a list of destinations you want to visit.

2. Pull up Google Maps and get directions to one of your destinations.

3. Once you have directions, you’ll notice there is a small search button at the top of the map that says ‘More.’ Click the button.

4. Type in keywords like ‘attractions,’ ‘parks,’ ‘museums,’ or whatever you are interested in seeing.

5. Google will then highlight attractions along your route. Scroll through the options, and if any of them interest you, add them to your list!

You can also Google the areas you are interested in visiting, and research the main attractions and activities.

Once you have a final list of destinations, you can start arranging them in an order that makes sense. For an example, you can go to one of my 2022 road trip itineraries.

2. Choose a time of year

Can you visit Arizona in the summertime? Sure! Would I recommend it? Not unless you just really like the desert.

Definitely take the time of year into account when planning your road trip. If you want to go hiking in the Cascades, you better wait until summer or the passes will be closed and the trails will be buried in snow. On the other hand, if you’re up for exploring Utah, maybe plan to go in the spring before it gets too hot.

You may want to take holidays and events into account as well. For example, my family has made several long road trips across the USA and back. And you know what? Every single time, we ended up in South Dakota the week of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which boasts an attendance of several hundred thousand bikers.

Talk about places being crowded…it was insane. Finding somewhere to stay was nearly impossible. Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, Devil’s Tower…all the nearby National Parks and Monuments were crowded with thousands of motorcycles.

We still had plenty of fun, but we also learned to be more aware of large events. Before you begin planning a road trip, you may want to take the extra time to check if any big events are happening along the way. That way, you can decide whether you want to avoid them, or whether you want to join in!

3. Plan your itinerary

Here comes the tedious part of planning a road trip: creating your itinerary.

You now have an ordered list of destinations and a time of year picked, so it’s time to decide on all the little factors that impact your itinerary. Here are a few things you’ll need to know:

• your starting trip date

• the distance between each destination

• how many nights you want to stay at each place

Planning your itinerary is like putting together a puzzle. Once you have all the information you need, you will need to fit the pieces together to finish planning your road trip.

Your finished itinerary should basically be a road trip schedule roughly showing when to leave and arrive at each place. Make sure to leave some margin in your schedule to allow for road delays or spontaneous side trips. While I like the structure of an itinerary, I also like to leave some time for making fun detours and exploring new areas. You never know what you might find.

4. Make reservations

Depending on where you are going, the campgrounds and hotels in the area may fill up fast. Generally, when I begin planning a road trip, I I try to start reserving campsites as soon as possible.

Start with popular tourist destinations or remote areas where there are few campgrounds. Places like these are likely to be completely booked for months in advance. For example, one of my favorite National Parks is Capitol Reef NP. However, there is only one campground in the park, and it’s pretty small. As a result, it’s hard to get a campsite there for several nights in a row unless I make reservations several months prior.

On the flip side, for areas with lots of campgrounds, you can generally wait until closer to your road trip to make reservations. This allows for a little more flexibility in your road trip planning.

5. Make a packing list

Don’t wait too long for this one. It’s tempting to wait last minute to start drafting up a packing list. But you don’t really know what you need until you start making your list, and that’s why it is important to get started once you have your trip planned. Do you need a new tent? Water bottles? Maybe a few extra tarps? More propane?

Figure out what you need early on, so you have plenty of time to go shopping and prepare for your road trip.

Once your pack list is ready and you have all the supplies you need, there’s really not much to do except wait until your road trip dates. Eventually the time for your trip will come around, and you can pack up your car and hit the road.

Safe travels!