How to prepare for a spontaneous road trip

Author: Lyara Tieran, April 2018

How to prepare for a spontaneous road trip.

How many times have you woken up on a day off with no particular plans for the day, and looked outside at the car in your drive or the road outside your building and said “Why am I still here and not diving down the road?”

For me, that happens more often than most. I like to drive places that may seem random and purposeless to a lot of people. That state park on the coast in the next state over? Sure! We can make that in a day! How about the side trip to the top of a dormant volcano just because we saw the sign? Right on, baby! Don’t forget the drive to a town that not many have ever heard of, like Queets, Washington, because “The name sounds interesting”? We will be back by bed time, don’t wait up.

But how do you prepare for a trip like that? Some people would say that you don’t prepare because “it’s spontaneous”, but they wouldn’t exactly be correct. There is still some preparation to do.

First thing is making sure you still have a vehicle to road trip with. This may sound ridiculous to some of you, but those with kids of driving age should know what I mean. There is nothing worse than walking out to get in your car only to find that its gone on a grand drive……. without you in it. Once you’ve made sure your transportation is still parked where you left it, you can move on to the next step.

The next step is deciding on food. Depending on where you are heading, there may or may not be food around your destination. Do you think you’re going to take lunch and dinner? Will you stop at a store and grab the makings of a picnic? Do you want to eat at the diner on route 66 in Kingman and go from there? You’ve either got to have the food to take with you and the means to store it, or have the money to acquire it when its time to eat. Which brings me to the next preparation step.

Make sure you’ve got enough money. While everyone has that desire to throw caution to the wind and go where the road may take you, as a *cough* grown up, we have to be (oh the horror) responsible. So, check your bank account, wallet, coffee can, and mattress to be sure you have the fundage to make the trip and return home. Unless you’re running away, then just be sure to have the one way fundage. *wink*

Finally, be sure you toss not only your normal necessities like phone, purse, and charger into your car, but to toss in a few extras like a camera, blanket, and maybe even a tent and clothes. You never know when you may decide that going home can be delayed, because the sunset was just too beautiful and now the stars are shiny and bright. Much too bright to look at them through the car window.

After you’ve made these preparations, feel free to grab your road trip partner of choice and hit the road. The only thing holding you back is your imagination.

And maybe the price of gas.