4 Road Trip Mistakes We Keep Making

We’ve been road tripping for well over six years now, and boy do we ever have some fun road trip stories to share. Our road trip stories range from donkey rides in the Grand Canyon, to road tripping Newfoundland in a U-haul, and so much more.

We’re constantly giving advice to first-time road trippers on how to successfully plan an epic road trip adventure, but sometimes we don’t take our own advice while road tripping.

In today’s blog, we share with you some of our road trip mistakes that we keep making in hopes you’ll learn a thing or two from us.

Don’t cram too much in

We say this all the time to people, but constantly cram too much into our own road trips. We end up coming home exhausted, but with amazing memories. We once road tripped through 19 states in 4 days simply because that’s all the time we had for our road trip, but really wanted to get out and see some wonderful attractions, so we made it happen.

Budget, budget, budget

Having a budget while road tripping is important, as it’s easy enough to get carried away with spending, and when you’re away from home for several weeks at a time, the costs can really add up. We always set a budget for our road trips, but when you’re living in the moment of a road trip adventure it’s hard not to “live a little” and go way outside your travel budget. Our though process during this time is “when are we ever going to be in New York City again?”

Pack your own food

This is one of the biggest money savers while road tripping. Think of the difference in cost when you stop at a gas station to buy a single bottle of cold water vs buying a flat of water at Wal-mart and some ice. We’re generally great about packing our own food and water for the first week or so, but once you go on a foodie tour of San Diego or New Orleans, it’s hard to switch back to Cheerios and peanut butter & jam sandwiches.

Allow for down days

This is an important tip that we sadly never follow. It’s hard to take down days when you’re a road tripper in another province or state and want to always be exploring. Last summer we spent a bit of time in Arizona laying poolside with some family, and all we could think about was the adventures we’re missing out on not being out exploring.

Down days are so important as they help you mentally recharge, but they also allow you to stop and “smell the roses” in another city.

What kind of road trip mistakes do you make?