Road Trip Pro Tips
And the great migration continues, after the most beautiful hiatus in the White Mountains. Quite a few folks are starting to drift northward to Alaska, and as one of the early ones, I’ve been asked to share a road report. Well, this isn’t it, but here are some of my trade secrets as a woman whose posterior has been in a ‘95 Tacoma’s driver’s seat for too many hours.
PRO TIPS FOR
(solo lady, canine accompanied, cross-continent)
ROAD TRIPS
1. Make an easily-accessible grab-bag. For everything.
Kidding, but also very serious. I have a medical grab bag, a hotel/crash-at-a-friend’s house grab bag, a dog amenities grab bag, and so on. It may not be as space-efficient, but I’m not digging through six different boxes looking for my deodorant, or Champion’s #2 bags.
2. Plastic drawers are your best friend, period.
I stole this idea (thanks, Mac!) and it’s revolutionized the road experience. It’s easier to slide a drawer out than it is to lift a lid. Why? Well, if you’re me, you will inevitably pile mounds of additional items on the lids of all your bins. Drawers are also a great way to keep track of those odds and ends you lose to the depths — pens, cords, ketchup packets, coffee creamer packets you stole from the gas station, you name it.
Be proud, Mom, because these things are no longer strewn across my backseat. That's reserved for snacks and spare socks.
3. Layer, layer, layer.
I started one morning in a blizzard outside St Louis, was in a tank top, probably getting sunburned in Kansas by noon, and wearing Birkenstocks with a down jacket in Colorado. Be prepared to strip. Or zip on 3 extra jackets.
4. Have cash on hand.
For tollbooths, especially, squirrel away an extra $20. (Or $50, if you're driving through New York.)
Or for emergency M&M cravings at the gas station.
5. Bear spray is your best friend.
Solo ladies, no one wants to mess with the chick at a gas station casually twirling a bear spray canister on her finger while she pumps. And that scary noise outside your truck at 5 AM? You want a can next to your sleeping bag. I’m just saying.
(Alternatively, adopt a dog. 100 pounds of Lab/Great Dane gets those sketchy truckers out of your perimeter, real fast.)
6. Keep a towel handy.
Because coffee spills. A lot. Especially with a 100 pound Lab/Great Dane.
7. Get creative with your coffee choices.*
Here’s the cheap way to make a Grande Vanilla Macchiato in a 7-11:
10 oz of Vanilla Cappuccino from the mini vending machine
10 oz of the lightest toasted coffee they have brewed (I prefer Mild House Blend, myself)
1 oz mini French Vanilla creamer packet
Dirtbag Mochas (another delicacy) are even easier:
10 oz of hot chocolate
10 oz of coffee
You’ve now saved $4 x however many cups of coffee it takes you to get places. You're welcome.
*Measurements can be adjusted for 32 oz mugs, or a gallon jug, if need be.
8. Pack a tarp. And duct tape.
Just in case. I’ve saved a side view mirror and a full night’s sleep with these two items.
9. Tell your bank where you’re going.
Even if it’s just a few states over. But nothing is worse than all your cards getting declined in the middle of Canada at the only gas station for 150 kilometers.
10. Bring a travel mug.
If you bring in your own mug to fill up on coffee, gas stations will only charge you for a basic refill. And you’re not wasting paper. See what a good human you are? Plus, they keep coffee hotter longer, and no one wants to chug cold coffee two hours away from the next gas station.
11. Print your map.
There will be places, even in this day and age, with no cell phone service and limited GPS signal. Print out your itinerary and map. Just in case.