If you love the thrill of seeing new places and meeting new people, planning a solo road trip might be the perfect outlet for you. But if you’ve never taken a solo trip before, it can be tough to know where to begin. Fortunately, we’ve compiled a few key tips to help you start prepping for your ultimate solo adventure.
Set Your Schedule
Setting your schedule is probably one of the most exciting parts of planning a solo road trip. Not only is this the first major step in planning, but it’s also the one where you get to have the most fun. If you’re not sure where to begin, here are a few important things to keep in mind as you set your route and schedule for your solo trip:
- Plan big stops first and leave room for short stop-offs.
- Look at lodging for each stop on your route.
- Keep the number of hours on the road top of mind.
- Use multiple mapping tools to plan the best route.
- Plan according to your interests.
This is the stage of planning where you get to set your driving hours and create a rough itinerary of things you’ll do while you’re out on the road. Just remember that planning your lodging accommodations is also an important part of this particular step in the process. Drivers in the U.S. spend almost 17 hours annually looking for a parking spot. Don’t let lodging or overnight parking slip your mind when you’re planning your road trip schedule. Keep yourself open to minor variations in your schedule, too. Setting time aside for smaller stops could just lead to your favorite part of the trip.
Do Your Research Ahead of Time
As you’re looking into the places on your route, be sure to do a little bit of preliminary research. If there’s a famous hiking trail close to one of the places you’re staying, make sure you’re up to date on the local plant life. Poison ivy symptoms typically show up within 48 hours of exposure to the plant, which means you’ll need to be prepared if you’re exposed. Say you’re going to spend a few days in the desert. Do you have the knowledge or tools necessary to tell if a plant/animal is poisonous or dangerous to you? It might seem like overkill, but these are the steps that can make or break your trip. Not all of your research has to be intense, either. Doing a bit of digging on the best local grub is just as important as studying the local flora and fauna, after all.
Make Sure Your Ride Is Ready
You won’t be going on much of a road trip if your vehicle isn’t road-worthy. So before you set sail on the asphalt seas, make sure your road trip vehicle of choice is ready for the task at hand. For longer road trips, you might be driving one of two types of RVs: towable or motorized. Of course, a car could also get the job done if you’re not keen on staying in a campground. No matter what type of vehicle you’re planning to take on your grand adventure, an inspection and tune-up are both going to be essential. Here are a few key pieces of vehicle maintenance you need to have performed before you go.
- Oil change
- Windshield wiper replacement
- Fluid checks
- Air filter change
- Brake pad replacement
- Tire replacement/rotation
With these maintenance tasks under your belt, you should be good to go for your solo road trip. Just make sure you bring a few extra car repair necessities in case there’s an emergency on the road.
Planning your first solo road trip can be incredibly exciting. Whether you’re going across the country or just a state over, make sure you’re ready for whatever the road throws at you.
