Ten Steps for Planning a Summer Road Trip

If you are a recent high school graduate or a college student on summer break, you may wish to embark on a road trip this summer. If this is the first time that you've ever gone on a road trip, you might be surprised by the amount of planning that you need to do in order to have a good time. In this article, I am going to offer some advice on how to plan a safe, enjoyable summer road trip with friends.

Road Trip Planning Step #1 - Accept That You Have to Plan
Some people think that the key to a fun summer road trip is spontaneity, perhaps inspired by the novel "On the Road." However, you can't expect to pack up and leave on a summer road trip in an afternoon. You and your friends may have to take time off from work, plan around family vacations, notify your parents, save money, and make plans for staying overnight in hotels or campgrounds before you leave. This doesn't even include planning what to pack and making a route so that you go to enjoyable places. Accept that you have to plan for a summer road trip. Failure to plan for a road trip may leave you lost, stranded, and without funds.

Road Trip Planning Step #2 - Pick a Date
The next step begins the actual process of planning for the road trip. Figure out how long you want your road trip to be. Is your road trip going to last a weekend or an entire week? This affects all of your following plans for the road trip, such as how many clothes you will bring on the road trip, how much food you need to buy for the road trip, how much money you need to save for the road trip, and where you can go on the road trip. Leave enough time for you to save up money and take time off of work if necessary. Letting your employer about your plans can be the key to getting time off.

Road Trip Planning Step #3 - Consult With Your Parents
The next step to planning a summer road trip is to let your parents know of your plans. Perhaps I am wrong in putting this after planning the date, because ideally you'll let your parents know and pick a date around the same time. This is important in case your parents have any plans that conflict with your intended road trip. Likewise, they may have thoughts and ideas of things to do that you may not have considered. Still, knowing the length of the road trip and approximately when you are planning on doing it can put you at an advantage if talking to reluctant or hesitant parents.

Road Trip Planning Step #4 - Make a Budget
The next thing to do, now that you have an idea of when you are going on your road trip, is to figure out how much money you can afford to spend. A road trip incurs various costs. You'll need money for gas, food, hotels or campsites, souvenirs, and any costs that you may not have been expecting. Keep in mind that prices for things like gas may vary dramatically depending on where you go. It's best to overestimate the cost of the road trip so that you aren't taken by surprise while you're on the road. Try to determine how much all of these things will cost and start to save for the road trip right away.

Road Trip Planning Step #5 - Figure Out Where You Are Going
I put determining the destination relatively late on this list due to the fact that constraints such as money and available dates can largely influence the course of a road trip. For example, if you only have $200 available and three days to go on the road trip, you won't be able to make a cross-country road trip. However, you may be able to go camping or on a beach trip during the available time and with the available funds. This is another reason to start planning your road trip early.

Road Trip Planning Step #6 - Begin to Make Lists
This is a good time to make a spreadsheet of what you need. Lists help to prevent you from forgetting things and help you plan for your road trip. Having a typed checklist of the things you need can save you time while shopping and can help you avoid losing your only copy of necessary items. Likewise, if you ever embark on a similar road trip, you already have a list prepared. Make a list of the food and clothing that you need, as well as any other items such as instruments, electronics and chargers, and other amusements. You may also wish to put down the prices of items for a more accurate estimate of the cost of food and other items.

Road Trip Planning Step #7 - Make Overnight Arrangements
Are you planning on staying in a hotel? Camping? Staying with a friend? Make plans and reservations if necessary so that you don't end up without a place to stay overnight while you're on your road trip. Again, doing this early can ensure that you get a nice hotel or camp site, as opposed to sleeping in a car.

Road Trip Planning Step #8 - Obtain Your Supplies
After seeing what stores offer the best deals for your road trip supplies, it's time to make the actual purchases of supplies. Make sure that you have room to keep food, and don't bring any frozen food like meats or ice cream if you won't have a freezer on the trip. Try to find the best deals on the food that you buy, as your road trip could quickly become expensive if you aren't conservative with your resources. If you or your friends have employee discounts to grocery stores, take advantage of them. Food that can be prepared in a variety of ways is good, as are food staples such as peanut butter and jelly.

Road Trip Planning Step #9 - Pack
The next step of your road trip is to pack your car or van. Hopefully you have a good amount of room in the vehicle, but you might want to set a limit of luggage for each individual going on the road trip, such as two backpacks or one duffle bag each. Remember that you will be able to wear things like jeans two days in a row, and that if you wear flip flops you won't have to pack as many socks. This will reduce the bulk of the luggage that you bring. Then, try to pack the vehicle in an efficient manner, putting the things that are least likely to be needed on the bottom and the most likely to be needed on top. If you are going camping, for example, you might want to put the tent on top of the lanterns. Upon arriving, you'll probably put the tent up, and hopefully this will be done before dark. Think about what you'll be doing first when you arrive at your road trip destination, and this'll clue you in on how you should pack the vehicle.

Road Trip Planning Step #10 - Embark
Now it is time to go on your road trip. Remember to drive safely, to stop at rest stops to walk around and to go to the bathroom, to never drive under the influence, and to be safe in all the activities that you do. You don't want what should be a fun time to become a horror story.

Hopefully if you choose to go on a road trip this summer it will be safe and enjoyable. These steps should help you plan your road trip so that you don't have anything to worry about, so long as you make the plans early enough. If you have any further summer road trip suggestions or road trip experiences that you would like to share, feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!