7 Steps to Plan Your Next Road Trip

In the past, planning a road trip meant figuring out the location, making the reservations, and planning the meals. Most of these trips lasted a weekend or maybe a week. These trips had one destination and it was drivable from our home.

This year I have planned a trip that will be over a week and will include three states. That was a little more complicated and required a lot of research. In the end, I think the steps I took will result in a much more interesting, less stressful, and more enjoyable trip. I’m about to share those steps with you so that you, too, will be able to plan and enjoy a great vacation, by avoiding as many stumbling blocks as possible along the way.

1. Start with a visible destination

I decided that my bucket list would mainly be visiting every state in the United States, that I have not yet seen. This means I have to spend some time in each state and feel like I knew a bit about the state in the end. Many years ago my husband and I drove across the country to bring our daughter’s car to her. We went from California to Florida. There were six states in-between. I don’t count driving through them as visiting the state. Visiting a state to me means, I have spent several nights there and I have seen some sites that the state is known for.

The first step was to determine which states I had visited and which remained. To make this easy and a visible step, I purchased a scratch-off map from Amazon. They have a wide range of maps available. I wanted it big enough (17 x 24,) featuring only the United States, and simple. Here are a few choices that I found, in a range of prices.

2. Go big on the possibilities

I had set up a “board” of pins (posts) on Pinterest entitled Travel. Then I added a section for each state in the United States. I also made sections for Route 66, National Parks, and sections of the United States that included several states, like North West, Southeast, etc. Since we were renting a car to travel, I wanted three states that touched each other.

Since I am a member of AAA (American Automobile Association) I was able to get paper maps for the states I was interested in visiting. You may think maps are obsolete, but they were very handy for plotting my route. It took me a few trips to get the maps because once I decided on my three states I would change my mind. Some of my changes had to do with Covid-19 outbreaks. Hopefully, it won’t be long until everything opens again and our lives and vacations aren’t controlled by Covid-19.

Next, I went through the ideas that I had from Pinterest. I wrote down each state on a separate page and followed it by attractions I was interested in. This didn’t mean I was going to visit each idea I listed. It gave me some food for thought.

3. Make your plans doable

There are so many places a person can visit in each state. If you really wanted to, you could probably spend a few weeks in each state. Do you have time to do that? If not, narrow your list down to must-sees, based on the time you have available.

Next, pull out your maps to see where everything is in relation to each other. It turned out that some sights I wanted to see were in a reasonably compact area. But then there were ones that would take a six-hour drive, and would it really matter if I didn’t see it? Usually, I would pass on those.

Even though my trip is now planned, I had to make changes along the way. At first, I wanted to spend a lot of time in Chicago because my mom was born there. But then I realized that I didn’t want to be in such a large city, fighting traffic. Think about what is more important to you before you get all your plans made. Even the days of the week were subject to change, based on events in the areas I planned to visit. Be flexible, in the event you need to make changes, even after you have your plans complete. Covid-19 riots may cause use to do a last-minute change, avoiding Chicago.

4. Map it out

If you are flying you will have choices of airports to start at and end at. If you use two different airports on your trip and are renting a car, there may be added cost for not returning the car to the location you picked it up at That is what I felt I had to do. However, once I noted the locations on the map that I wanted to see, and narrowed them down to what my time allowed, it appeared I could start and end at the same location.

Mapping out your destinations should be done first in pencil. That way, if you realize you need to change the order or remove a stop, it’s easy to change. When you are sure that your route is just the way you want it, mark it with highlighters. I used a different color for each day. I noted the number of miles to be traveled in my final trip notes. Break your miles down to a comfortable pace. Do not spend too much time in the car, or you might regret it.

Take breaks to visit sites along the way to your final destination for the day. Whenever possible I tried to find a must-see restaurant along the way for one of our meals. That can be a little tricky.

Also, when you map out your trip be sure to note how far apart destinations are from each other, in your notes. If you found a suggested place for lunch on Pinterest, be sure you are there at that time of day. I had a few places that are known for their ice cream or cupcakes that I wanted to avoid at breakfast time but would love as an afternoon snack.

5. Plan your dates

It might seem like planning your dates should have been the first step. It shouldn’t be. Set your dates on when it works for you, but also when the attractions work for your schedule. I found a flea market that I really wanted to go to in Indiana. It was open only on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I noted that and eventually planned our schedule to fit the flea market in.

Dates will also make a difference in airfare costs and the possible availability of lodging. Avoid traveling on a holiday or the day before or after to save airfare costs. We could save on our flight by using airline points. Since we were staying in our time share part of the trip, we needed to have the availability of a room at the location we were visiting. Staying there also saved us money. We are starting our trip at St. Louis airport on a Saturday and leaving there again on Tuesday, a week and one-half later.

6. Where will you stay and eat?

If you are driving, you are limited to hotels, resorts, time-shares, Air BnB, friends or family, and such. If you are in a motor home or trailer you open up another group of places to stay. I went on the internet to look for places to stay that fit with the schedule, trying to stop early enough to walk around the area we would be staying in, plus eat a meal and get a good night’s rest before leaving the next day. I ended up joining a hotel chain rewards plan. This will help us save a bit of money. And it helps to narrow down the number of choices that larger cities have. Also, look for hotels that offer a free breakfast. It will not only save money but time, too.

Where you eat will depend on where you are at the time. For flexibility, I only figured out a few places to eat. One night I have written down the Cozy Dog Drive-in. It has been in Springfield, Illinois since 1949 and is the home of the original corn dog. They do sell hamburgers. In Chicago, we will have deep dish Pizza, likely at Giordano’s. Some snack options include Rocket Ice Cream in Nappanee Indiana, Fritz’s Root Beer Float (bottled on sight) in Missouri, and Doc’s Soda Fountain in Girard Illinois.

7. Fill in the little details

Make your final travel itinerary. Start with the starting place, which can be an airport or the first city you will leave from when you head out in your car or RV. List each day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) and the date. I also did a recap of the freeway(s) we would go on, knowing that between my paper map and my map on my phone, we would get to where we were going.

Fill in as many details as you can. If there is a famous place to eat on your route, write the name of the place, address, and phone number. If you book a hotel for the night write the name, address, and phone number. Write what is special about the sights you are seeing, including history or their specialty food.

Be flexible. Don’t make it so that each day is a whirlwind of places to go and places to see. I wanted to spend some time in Chicago since my mom was born there and I was interested in it from an ancestorial position. But I decided Chicago had a few sites I would like to see, but I didn’t want to spend days there.

Enjoy your trip

You are taking this trip to have a good time. Relax as much as you can. Enjoy the food you eat, the sights and the scenery along the road. If you feel overwhelmed, stop and review the itinerary. Consider eliminating a stop and thus make your trip more enjoyable. And don’t forget to take a lot of pictures to show your friends and family. We often pull over before entering a state so that I can take a picture of the “Welcome to …” sign, preferably with scenery or a person standing nearby. It’s a great picture for use in your photo album.

I hope to scratch off three more states on my map on this upcoming trip. I’m already thinking about where our next trip will be. Do you have plans for a trip in the near future? Where are you headed? Please leave a note in the comments at the end of this post.