It’s that time of the year… Have you planned it all out?

What are we talking about? Just your next epic summer road trip!

As we’re half way through June and are looking at three months of summer ahead of us, it’s time to start looking at the summer road trip. And as with almost everything in life, making the right preparations can make all of the difference between success and failure. That’s why we’ve created our 10 Steps to a Successful Summer Road Trip.

Ready to start planning for your next big adventure? Let’s hit it.

1. Choose Your Travel Partner

Remember, when it comes to your summer road trip, it’s not just about the destination – the journey plays just as important of a role and who you’re traveling with can make a big impact on this. Will you be laughing the entire way down the road or will there be hours of awkward silence? Who will you most likely have the best time with? Who is the most flexible and adaptable to the things that will happen over the course of a road trip? These are all the types of questions you want to ask yourself when deciding your next road trip partner.

Of course, other factors should be considered when choosing the right travel partner including budget & goals for the trip. Answer these questions and you’ve knocked out the most crucial step in having a road trip that you will talk about for years to come.

2. Select Your Destination

While who you share your road trip experience with makes up half the fun, don’t discredit the value in finding the perfect destination. This is the place you’ll be thinking about for hours while making your way down the highway – you don’t want to pick some place you’ll be unhappy to arrive at, do you?

So how do you pick a great summer road trip destination? Easy. Close your eyes & think of summer. Wherever you think of is probably be your destination.

Here are some helpful resources for researching your road trip destination:

  • Who knows more about cities & towns than the locals. That’s why researching using the Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory is great tool when you’re first researching your destination. This site links to official tourism board websites across all 50 states and offers a wealth of information about everything you’d need to know about a place, including attractions, accommodations, events, weather & more.
  • Want to plan your destination around a certain event? Check out WhatsOnWhen.com to find out more about events & festivals around the US.
  • Are obscure landmarks part of what makes a road trip great? Search HamptonLandmarks.com for information on over 1,000 landmarks spread across the US. On the site, you can search by city, state, or category. Very cool!
  • Are parks more your thing? Check out the National Park Services website. There, you can find information on every national park in the US, each with its own website containing information on activities, climate, & park services.

3. Plan Your Route

So you’ve figured out where you’re going but there are hundreds of different ways to get there. Will you take quickest way there or do you like to meander, swinging by every roadside attraction? Be sure to also plan on pit stops (especially if you’re driving with kids).

4. Select Your Ride

Driving your two-door coupe deep into a national park wouldn’t make sense would it? And you probably want to take a Chevy Suburban on a long highway if you’re only traveling with one other person. That’s exactly why choosing the right vehicle for your road trip is essential.

What other factors are involved with picking the right car? Consider how many people are traveling, distance to your destination, weather, terrain, equipment/luggage needs, and gas use. By going through these one-by-one, you should be able to properly determine what kind of automobile you should be using for your trip.

With this in mind, regardless of what car you choose, make sure that you’ve gone through a  pre-drive safety check. Ensuring that your car is good for a long (and in the summer, hot) drive could make the difference between a great memory and one you’ll cringe upon.

5. Find Eats & Accommodations

Once you’ve selected what car you’ll be riding in to your summer road trip destination, next up is to plan for food & accommodations. In order to do that, first take a look the obvious: are there roadside restaurants or hotels along your route that you’d like to go to/stay at? If so, make the appropriate arrangements, like reserving a hotel room at least a few weeks before your trip. Next do a search along your route and if you’re pre-planning, the easiest way of doing that is using an internet search engine. You can always check out maps.telenav.com for this as well (*shameless plug*).

6. Gear: Cuz You’ll Need It

So off the road trip checklist, we’ve knocked out who you’re traveling with, your destination, which route you’re taking, what car you’ll be driving in, and where you’ll be staying & eating. *phew!* So next up, we have to focus on gear & supplies. What kind of questions need to be asked when determining what you’ll need?

  • Once you arrive at your destination, what kind of activities do you plan on doing? If something breaks or if batteries die, will you be prepared?
  • What will the weather/climate be? Be sure to check the 10-day weather forecast before you depart and bring sunscreen!
  • Environment? Will you be in the mountains or on the beach?
  • Know local wildlife – one word: mosquitoes
  • Where will you be staying? If you’re in a hotel, maybe you just need to remember your toothbrush, but if you’re going to be camping, you’ll need a lot more.
  • And of course, wherever you can, we recommend using reusable & eco-friendly items.
  • Resource: Car Trip Essentials
  • Resource: Pack for a Road Trip Checklist

7. Documenting: Photos, Video, & More!

While you may be an avid cell phone photographer, for your big summer road trip, you may want to consider to an upgrade to a camera that is better able to capture every one of those summer travel moments.

Here are some novice level cameras & pocket video cams you may want to take a look at:

8. Traveling with Kids

Are you traveling with kids? In that case, some extra preparation is needed.

  • Car rules – When traveling with children, be sure to set clear expectations with them before you jump in the car. One idea you can use tto help keep kids from getting out of hand while on the road is this: Give each child a roll of dimes before departing on your trip. Each time he or she breaks a rule that you’ve set during the car ride, take a dime away. It’s an easy way of connecting expectations to clear consequences.
  • Activities – Having a handful of activities that kids can play while on the road can pay off in a big way for both parents & children alike.
  • Snacks – There’s nothing worse than being hungry on the road. Why? Because more than likely that means you’ll pullover at a fast food restaurant. Be sure to bring some healthy snack options for your kids.

9. Road Trip Music:

Tunes are an essential part of any summer road trip. Be sure to be prepared with a MP3 player loaded with hours of music ready to go. Along with this, buy a car charger for your MP3 player as at some point the battery will drain – a quick search on an internet search engine can save you tons a dough on one of these.

Need some ideas of what to put on your road trip playlist? Be sure to check out these sites.

10. Finally, expect…

… the unexpected. That’s the beauty of a road trip though, right? Everything about the experience is new and regardless of how much planning you do, things will happen that are unplanned. That’s exactly what makes these trips fun. How do you get ready for the mental aspect of the road trip? Just repeat after me: I promise to be flexible & have fun with any situation that might arise on the road trip!” It’s that simple.

Do you have any summer road trip travel tips? What are we missing? Let us know!

Photo credit: Stig Nygaard