Unless you are vacationing alone, creating a road trip itinerary to suit everyone in your travel party is no mean feat. This is especially true for families with children, but it is just as tricky for couples or friends with varying likes and dislikes!
If you’ve been tasked with planning a road trip journey, here are 5 tips for planning the ideal trip itinerary, making it an excellent experience for everyone.
Scheduled Events
The first way to get a handle on planning a visit to your desired destinations and how to decide which days to be in certain locations is to check for any day specific or date specific events or activities in the region you are visiting. Likewise, this may also mean avoiding a place if there is an event you are not interested in, which will result in the location being crowded with people.
This may mean looking for season-related festivals, weekend markets, theatre productions or art displays during travel. Once you have considered any of these necessary dates and locations, you can base the remainder of your holiday around these must-do chosen activities.
Book tickets for those events if necessary, so you don’t plan your entire trip around it and then find out you can’t participate. That would be a vacation catastrophe. As a side note, consider travel insurance (even if you are travelling domestically) to cover cancellation costs in unforeseen circumstances – like an untimely injury or illness.
Transport
How you plan to tour the region is obviously a huge consideration and can easily make or break the holiday. Organising a campervan hire is one of the most comfortable and convenient ways to enjoy a road trip. This eliminates the exasperating chore of packing and unpacking each day as you continue your explorations uninterrupted.
However, there are so many other advantages to having your accommodation, transport and creature comforts as an all-in-one. For example - freedom to start and end the day on your own schedule, without check-in and check-out times… a kitchen to stock snacks, prepare meals and make a cuppa… and a permanent bedroom with views of the great outdoors.
Variety
Try to avoid tunnel vision when you plan by including more than just a single type of activity - it makes each day an adventure and sees everyone encounter something new. There are many categories to choose from when it comes to travel experiences, such as nature, history & culture, thrill-seeking, food & beverage, wildlife, art and shopping. With so many options, why not change it up and do something you wouldn’t do at home? Maybe you’ll love it; if not, you have gained a new experience and might even appreciate the things you already love.
If you know someone travelling with you has a niche interest, see if you can find something tailored to them that will make their holiday extra special. Visit a wildlife sanctuary for the animal lover, a dinosaur exhibit for those history buffs or take part in a local cuisine cooking class for the foodie fanatics. Make sure everyone enjoys a day that includes something they are passionate about; it turns your holiday into an unforgettable lifetime experience.
Down Time
Schedule some days, or at the bare minimum half-days, without any plans at all. Sometimes when you’re arranging a vacation, it’s easy to feel like you’re wasting an opportunity to fit something else in… but remember that if you feel up to it in the unscheduled moments, you can add more while you’re travelling. The benefit of not having anything locked in for these periods is that it allows flexibility and relaxation. Maybe you stay an extra day in a favourite location or see a leaflet for somewhere you want to stop en route, or possibly you’ve been on the go for three days straight, and you wish to do nothing for a day or two.
Spontaneity
Don’t be scared to change your plans, and don’t let unforeseen circumstances ruin your good time. You can’t prepare for everything, and sometimes things are out of your control; keep your positive, happy holiday attitude and go with the flow. Likewise, maybe you find something better to do than what you already had scheduled. Go for it, you may not get the chance to come back again, and you don’t want to regret missing out due to inflexibility.
If you decide to rent a campervan, you may be able to get away with barely a plan at all – but it’s always worth researching beforehand to know a little of what you want to see and do. Without any idea of where you want to visit and what you want to do, you may miss out when you could enjoy some fantastic experiences.
Happy planning and travelling, because there is no holiday like a road trip!
