The Best Recipe For a Successful Road Trip: Mix It Up!

Everybody has a different idea about what makes a road trip really special. Whether it's the scenery, the family bonding, or the mere fact that you are just getting away -you are bound to enjoy yourself (with the exception of course of a completely unexpected disaster). But what makes the standard road trip go from great to super memorable? Sometimes we resist getting out of our comfort zone, but often times when we … [Read more...]

Mapping Your Road Trip

Map

What you need to know to figure out how far you can go. Once you’ve decided on a particular region and you’ve figured out how many days you can spend, the next part is planning your route and mapping your trip. I have found that, by and large, the best approach is to create a loop in which you start and stop in a large city where you can fly in and out of, and rent and return your vehicle (if necessary). A … [Read more...]

Take It To The Limit Without Rushing Through—A lesson learned!

My kids and I have now planned and taken 16 road trips and while I think I've fine tuned the process it seems I still have more to learn. On our last trip to NY, NJ and PA, in my zeal to cover a lot of ground in a limited amount of time we rushed through and missed a lot of stuff I wished we'd taken the time to see. Of course there were other factors involved like bad weather, losing my wallet and a rush to get back … [Read more...]

City Pass: Sounds Like A Deal–But Read The Fine Print!

Spring is here and with that summer road trip plans are quickly taking shape. I am feverishly planning, and like any good road trip traveler I am looking for a deal. But as with all things in life, when shopping around there are two rules that apply-A) if something is too good to be true it usually is and B) always read the fine print...two rules that this veteran road warrior forgot in her eagerness to score … [Read more...]

Planning A Trip? Here’s How To Make The Most Out Of Social Media

Remember the game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? If you needed help with an answer you could use one of their lifelines called "phone a friend". These days if you help you can still phone a friend but if you really want to reach far and wide the best way to do it is through social media. With one click you've potentially phoned thousands of friends who surely will offer answers or awesome suggestions to whatever … [Read more...]

Planning Ahead: Getting The Best Deal On Your Flights

Though we'll be leaving toward the end of June on Road Trip #16 (yeah, I can hardly believe it!) I just booked our first set of flights last week-almost 6 months ahead-which will take us from LAX to NYC. After researching and some careful strategizing I was able to score an awesome deal. Wanna know how I did it? Besides booking early, here are my favorite tips to help you be smart shopper and score a deal for you and … [Read more...]

Touring A Big City? Here’s How To Plan To Maximize Your Adventure And Minimize Stress

Planning a road trip through a big city like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City where you'll need more than one day to check it out? How do you figure out how to manage your time to see as many things as you can?  I found myself in that predicament recently in planning our 16th road trip to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In this post I'll show you step by step how I planned and plotted my way to an … [Read more...]

Creating a Basic Itinerary: The First Step in Crafting The Ultimate Road Trip!

If you've been following us on Facebook and Twitter then you know we are planning an awesome trip to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania next summer to tick another three states off our list. At the end of next summer we'll have visited 46. Our trips are not only an annual tradition, but over the last 10 years have become legend. So while it wasn't surprising, it was still a thrill to hear that Lilia, my college … [Read more...]

The Travel Stress-Less Checklist!

The Travel Stress-Less Checklist!

Embarking on a road trip can be a fun and exciting time but it can also be a time to stress out over a multitude of things related to your adventure. Have I got everything I need? Have I got all my reservation info organized? Have I taken care of things to make sure my home is safe while I’m gone? These are all questions I ask myself in the days leading up to my departure and I am sure you do too. Because I’ve … [Read more...]

To Plan Or Not To Plan? That’s The Question!

New Orleans

So I was speaking to my friend Becky the other day encouraging her to take a look at my website as she was considering a trip to New Orleans. After perusing the things we’d seen and done and taking a look at our itinerary, “Wow!” she exclaimed ,“You’re a real planner. To be honest, I prefer to just land in a city and be totally spontaneous, exploring whatever hits me, is that doable?” I explained to Becky … [Read more...]