Tips on How to Survive a Long Roadtrip
Thinking about taking a drive across the US and are worried about how to survive a long roadtrip? Or maybe you want to rent a car in the Netherlands and drive down to Italy? Either way, you are in for a very long roadtrip which can be really boring OR you can turn it into the best part of your trip!
Charlie and I have driven from North Carolina to Seattle, Washington multiple times (me twice and him three times). We have done it in a small car, in a larger van, in a moving truck and with a dog! The drive from Charlotte, NC to Seattle, WA is approximately 40-42 hours long (could be longer depending on traffic, etc.) When we first embarked on this long journey, we decided we were going to make the most of it!
If you are looking to make the best out of your long roadtrip, we are sharing our tips on how to survive a long roadtrip below. This includes what to pack in the car, how often to make stops, the best way to book hotel rooms for cheap, and the smartest way to map our your journey! If you have completed a long roadtrip before and want to add your tips, please comment below!
8 Tips on How To Survive Your Long Road Trip
1. Pack in advance (food and essential items)
I know this might sound very straight forward, but you would be surprised how many people pack the night before or morning before they leave! It helps to make a checklist of everything you will need for your multi-day car ride. Once you have everything on your check list, also pack the car the day/evening before you hit the road. Nothing is worse than waking up for your big roadtrip and having to pack the entire car before you leave!
Our general checklist:
- Seat cushions (our behinds thanked us!)
- Blanket
- Phone Charger for center console
- Cooler for snacks & drinks
- Fuzzy socks (something comfortable for our feet)
- Gum
- Hand sanitizer
- Music playlist (or audiobooks, whatever you prefer)
- General car supplies (flashlight, spare tire, etc.)
- Small bag to bring into hotels with toiletries, and any essential items
Our car snacks (packed in a cooler):
- Water
- Nuts
- Apples
- Popcorn
- Granola Bars
- Trail Mix
- Chocolate (duh!)
2. Map out your drive on a literal map
This was the most fun thing to do leading up to our trip! We purchased a physical car map, laid it out on a table and drew the route that we wanted to take. This was also handy because you never know when you might not have cell service. We are so reliant on Google Maps or Apple Maps to guide us, but when there’s no cell service, you don’t want to get lost! Since we also wanted this cross country trip to be a scenic ride, we chose a route where we could make pit stops to take in a view, or pass through a city neither of us had been to. It took us a couple of days to figure out exactly which route we wanted to take.
Things to think about as you map out your trip:
- Make sure to think about weather conditions and the time of year you are driving. We drove in December one year so made sure to drive more south versus north to avoid heavy snow.
- Did you want to see the Grand Canyon? Or maybe Nashville? Try to plan your journey so you can pass through specific areas of the country that you want to see!
- Lastly, think about traffic. Do you want to drive through a heavily crowded city? If so, make sure you are adding time onto your trip to account for any traffic you might hit from sight seeing.
As you are mapping out your journey, set a reasonable amount of miles that you want to drive each day. We set milestones such as: Day 1: Charlotte to Nashville; Day 2: Nashville to Kansas City, etc. If we ended up making it to our destination much earlier than anticipated, we would take a look at the map and see where the next closest city is and re-route ourselves, if possible. Also make sure to think about how many times you need to stop each day. Charlie and I have roadtripped many times so we were aware of our bladders and how often we needed to stop. If you are traveling with someone who needs to stop every 2 hours, make sure to account for that!
Lastly, if you have a maximum amount of days you have to get to your destination by, plan accordingly! We knew we wanted to do the drive in maximum 5 days, so we always kept that in the back of our mind.
3. Make sure the car is comfortable
Depending on the type of car you are driving, it might not be that comfortable for a multi-day roadtrip. The first time we made the cross country road trip we were in a smaller car and my legs kept getting restless because I didn’t have much leg room! Make sure that as you are packing, you are doing so appropriately and taking into consideration leg room, can you drop your seat back if you want, etc.
If you are able to rent a larger car for 40+ hour long roadtrips, we suggest it! The more room, the more comfortable you will be during a long car ride, which will make the experience more enjoyable.
On top of making sure the interior of the car is comfortable, also ensure you get your car checked before hitting the road! If you want to survive a long roadtrip, you have to make sure your car is in good condition. Make sure your breaks work nicely, get your oil changed, and have anything else checked up that you feel is needed.
4. Use Hotel Tonight for your overnight stops
This was our best idea for the trip! We didn’t want to book hotels in advance just in case we realized during the trip we wanted to drive further one night or we were running behind. Using Hotel Tonight meant that once we were a couple hours from a city we wanted to stop in, we would just check for all the last-minute hotel deals!
You would be surprised how many amazing hotel rooms there are for cheap for last minute bookings. Hotels would prefer to have someone pay something for a hotel room then to let it go to waste! There are also filters in the app that you can use if you have a pet so that you can find a pet friendly hotel, disability accessible, etc.
5. Budget ahead for meals
We had a cooler in the car that had some good day-time snacks, but going on a 5-day trip means we had to eat out for a handful of meals. While we were mapping out our trip and figuring out the cities we were going to stop in each night, we planned to eat out for dinner those nights. Each morning, we had the free hotel breakfast before we hit the road and lunch we played by ear. If we needed to make up time, we would stop at fast food or just pick up something at the gas station while we were filling up. If we were making good time and wanted to stretch our legs and take a break, we would find a restaurant and have a sit down meal.
We knew we weren’t going to be eating anywhere fancy on this trip so only budgeted approx. $30-40 a day for food/meals. This was enough to cover for each day so we ended up spending around $160-200 on food/meals during the cross-country roadtrip!
6. Have your one essential bag packed in an accessible spot
This is a small but mighty tip for how to survive a long roadtrip! Assuming you are going to stop at hotels or motels each night, you are not going to want to have to dig for your overnight bag after 10+ hours of driving. Make sure as you pack the car, you are adding your overnight bag last so it’s easily reachable.
If there is anything else you feel you will need to be taking out of the car multiple times a day, make sure to put that in an accessible spot as well. The last thing you want to do is pull everything out of the car to find that one chord you need overnight!
7. Make sure you have Roadside Assistance
This is a literal survival tip! If you are going to be driving across an entire country or for a long period of time, you will want roadside assistance. They will come in handy if you pop a tire and don’t have a spare, if you end up driving into a pot hole and need help getting out, etc. There are many different roadside assistance companies – some cars come with it included (like Tesla). Do some research to see what roadside assistance is the best for you (AAA is a common one in the USA) and reach out to understand pricing!
8. Document the trip!
The most important tip we have! While it can be scary and stressful thinking about a long roadtrip (especially if you are moving across the country), remember that it’s a fun experience! You can make it what you want – zoom through everything or plan it out in advance and make pit stops for memories. If you are planning a 40+ hour drive, we definitely recommend planning out fun stops along the way so you can aim to make the trip a mini-vacation!
Bing a polaroid camera with you to make a little scrapbook, or take photos with your phone or camera to send to friends and family. Either way, when you look back at those photos, you will be happy that you planned the roadtrip in advance and made it the trip of a lifetime!
Have you taken a cross-country roadtrip before? If you have any other tips on how to survive a long roadtrip, comment below! If you are taking a short weekend trip, make sure to check out our 5 packing tips for weekend trips!
