Lessons Learned from a 16 Day Road Trip
Photo by Diane M. Dresback
(Part of the On the Move blog series)
SIDE NOTE: I’ve been fortunate to have done a fair share of traveling. Over the past years, I’ve shared via blog or video about various trips. After this recent road trip adventure, I decided to gather these into an On the Move blog series about my traveling experiences. They are of varying lengths, topics and style, but hopefully enjoyable and perhaps even helpful. If you’d like to read and see more about my travels, you can find all the direct links here: On the Move blog series
In June of 2023, Rick and I embarked on a 16 day road trip! The jaunt took us from Phoenix all the way to Georgia, up to Colorado, and back to Arizona. We were in 16 states, visited 17 people, and drove 5,636 miles. It was a fabulous trip!
I put together a video that shares 14 lessons that we learned, a few of the sites we saw, and a little about the experiences we had. Here’s the link to the video: Lessons Learned from a 16 Day Road Trip
I will share the 14 lessons briefly below, but watching the video is quite a bit more entertaining!
Lesson #1 - Get a good dependable rental car. We opted for this to save the wear and tear on our own vehicle. Despite a few mishaps, this was definitely the best choice for gas expense and mileage.
Lesson #2 - Use a clothes rack in your car. Being we spent each night in a different hotel, it was way easier to have a clothes rack hanging in the back seat. Before we went up to our room for the night, we picked out clothes for the next day from the rack. Then we carried those plus a small suitcase with our other items. Our clothes stayed wrinkle-free and it kept the bulk and weight out of the suitcases.
Lesson #3 - Weather can be unpredictable. Bring an umbrella and a jacket. I guess because we were leaving the hot weather in Arizona, we never thought to pack more than a sweatshirt. It got pretty chilly in some places.
Lesson #4 - Try not to drive more than 6 hours a day and not at night. We found that the shorter driving days were a lot less exhausting. One day we had over a 10 hour drive—that’s too long to sustain on an extended driving vacation.
Lesson #5 - Seeing family and friends is the absolute best and most important part of the whole trip. It’s well worth the time, even for a couple of hours, to visit people in their home or hometown. Reconnecting, reminiscing, and sharing what’s new is very rewarding to all involved.
Lesson #6 - Animals big or small are always worth watching. I always get such a kick from watching the creatures that share our planet.
Lesson #7 - Eat at local restaurants. You can always go to a chain restaurant at home. When you’re in a different city, go local. Do a little research online or better yet, ask someone who lives there about the best (not always the most expensive) place to dine.
Lesson #8 - Keep the wife happy by only eating at Waffle House twice. If it was up to my husband, he’d probably eaten there every morning for breakfast! Thankfully, he honored my wishes and it only happened twice.
Lesson #9 - Never send a non-coffee drinker into a travel center to get your coffee. Funny story on this one. Watch the video!
Lesson #10 - Keep your eyes open for amusing things. If you pay attention, you see all kinds of interesting and often humorous things around you. Have your camera on the ready.
Lesson #11 - Be spontaneous in your destinations, activities and itinerary. We opted to alter our plans a lot along the way. There were stops scheduled ahead of time because of visits with people, but the routes taken to get there changed on a whim. We would find and book our hotels for each night in the morning once we decided which city we would end up in.
Lesson #12 - Appreciate the varied and eclectic scenery. Not much to add here. We witnessed some amazing sights across this great nation.
Lesson #13 - Keep a log! You’ll forget what day it is or where you were the day before yesterday. Oh my goodness was this ever true for me!
Lesson #14 - You need to love your traveling companion…and I do…still. Not everyone can travel together, especially on a long trip like this where you spend hours in the car, eat, and sleep together. Fortunately, my husband and I make perfect travel companions which make our trips even more enjoyable.
In summary, a long road trip isn’t for everyone, but we had so much fun that we can’t wait to do the next one!
If you know others who would enjoy these thoughts, share this Blog with this easy link: Lessons Learned from a 16 Day Road Trip
Find easy links to other blog posts about my travels in the On the Move blog series: On the Move
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Find details about my books at dianedresback.com and my filmmaking at mindclover.com.
