Since moving in to our 60 sq.ft. home on wheels, our lives have been a constant road trip, quite literally! However, since we’re not quite ready to get on the road full time, I live for our weekly day trips and our once-a-month bigger road trips. While spontaneity can be fun and memorable, I feel that a well-planned road trip helps us maximize the experience! On this blog post, I will detail how I plan our road trips!

Here are some note-worthy tips before planning!

Using the app, Keep Notes, I pre-plan our road trips for the entire year. This is a rough draft and constantly change but gives me a base to start with. Keep Notes allows you to create folders of checklist and has been my constant companion not just for road trip planning but for productivity in general.
If traveling with other people, it helps to know what kind of travel experiences they want so you can curate the itinerary to include everyone’s interest. My husband and I are complete opposites but we balance each other out. I love a full-packed, constantly-on-the-go itinerary while his includes plenty of down time to relax. So when planning, I mostly schedule a busy morning of activities and plenty of time to wine in the afternoon.
I have a “stash” list of places to visit for road trips on my Keep Notes app! Instagram, Pinterest and friends gives me ideas of road trip destinations and I list them all so I can get back to them later on.

8 Easy Steps in Planning a Road Trip

When? Where? How long?
Knowing your destination is the first step in planning an excellent road trip! Looking at my “stash” list, I plan 1 trip a month for the entire year. This list changes quite a bit but it gives me a base to start with and I have a general idea of which destinations I can visit in the next months. This really helped me plan our trips based on the season and the kinds of activities we can do. Our trips are scheduled around my days off since my husband can take off work anytime. Depending on the destination, I figure out how many days off I need to take and request days off in advance.
Get inspired.
Now that my date is set, I get right to finding some inspiration for the trip! I am incessantly on Instagram, Pinterest, TripAdvisor and Google just looking through lists of things to do, places to dine, Instagram-worthy stops and blogs posts of sample itineraries.
Create a “bubble list”.
Again using my Keep Notes app, I create a bubble list containing anything and everything that inspired me from the previous search. This list isn’t organized and will likely include anything from names of hiking spots to bakeries to visit to activities. I use this list later on to plan our itinerary.
What is your budget?
Budget obviously defines the things you can do on a road trip! How much money can you put away per paycheck and how much money in total can you save up for this trip? Once I figured out my budget, I look through my bubble list and start prioritizing activities in-line with my budget. Since vanlife, I’ve also taken on researching free activities to do and you’ll be surprised at the amount of free but valuable activities there are available. Also, I itemize my budget for gas, food, excursions, etc.
Research, research, research!
Now that you know how much time and money you have on this road trip, it’s time to do some serious research! My top go-to apps are Instagram, TripAdvisor, Pinterest as well as Google. I also use boondocking sites like Free Campsites and Campendium. Since I’ve already prioritized the list off places to visit and things to do earlier, I research the details such as hours of operation, fees, booking reservations and hiking routes. Sometimes, I create a board on Pinterest to come back to later.
Create you itinerary!
The best way to maximize your road trip experience is to plan your stops! On my itinerary are day-to-day plan of places to visit as well as the distance in miles and hours each attractions are from each other. I also add all stops to my Google Maps prior to heading out. Depending on where you are, some areas doesn’t have data and a pre-loaded map could save you a lot of headache! Just know that sometimes, itineraries can change and some of the best (or worse) times are spontaneous!
Make your packing list!
So you have your itinerary detailed, it’s time to create a packing list! Are you planning on hiking, swimming, sightseeing, etc… I am a believer of packing light but now that I’m traveling with our home, we have everything we own hauled with us. My packing list now usually consists of accessories like buying a kayak or new hiking shoes or mosquito repellent. Oh and most importantly, snacks!
Road trip essentials.
Aside from my packing list, I also create road trips essentials list! This would include a music playlist and podcast to listen to, snack basket, sunflower seeds to stay awake on the drive, neck pillow, road trip games, money and other things road trip related! As exciting as it is to get to your destination, road trip really is about the journey! My husband and I have our most meaningful conversations during road trips!

I hope this helps you in planning for your future road trips! We’ve been constantly on the road, check out some of the best trips we’ve taken here! Happy trip and cheers!