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Free Road Trip Planner

Take A Road Trip With This Free Planner

As I've mentioned in several other articles, planning a great road trip should not be an exercise in itself; rather, it should be a light hearted attempt to outline a general overview of what you want the trip to be. You should feel free to experience a wide variety of unplanned adventures along the way.

After working as a cross country tour guide, here is my stress free road trip planner:

Early to rise. Screw the early to bed part (unless of course you're hiking Half Dome the next morning). However, by getting up early you can hit the road and arrive at your next destination early enough to still enjoy the day. There is nothing worse than arriving at a hotel (or worse, a campsite) just before dark, unless you have had one helluva time getting there. I've found the best way to keep the peace is to get everyone on the road early, and let people drive/sleep in shifts.

Ask a local. You'd be amazed at some of the cool things people drive by without even noticing. For example, if you happen to drive through Blue Earth Minnesota, you could stop and stare at the Jolly Green Giant statue. Drive less than an hour to Austin and you can see the Spam Museum - for free! I don't know how many times I've thrown out my road trip planner thanks to local advice.

Keep an eye out. Besides local inquiry, highway signs can tell you an incredible amount of info. Next time you feel like stretching your legs, hold on for ten miles or so and keep an eye out for any historic landmarks. Countless times I have wanted to stop at a parking lot, but held on and found something much better. For example, I've stopped at caves in Ireland, Native American culture centers in North Dakota, and bat sanctuaries in Australia. It never hurts to investigate.

This free road trip planner would be incomplete without a checklist of what to bring on a road trip. Here we go:

• Clothes
  
• Money
  
• Something to sleep in.

That's pretty much it. The less you bring, the more freedom you have to enjoy yourself.

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