Road Trips Tips

Some people like to fly to their destination. Some people like to take the train to their destination. Some people like drive to their destination. There are certainly times and places that we have and will fly to because of time constraints or distances. For the most part, though, especially lately we have become a road trip family! So today, we’re going to take a break our normal Disney discussions to talk about road trips and some tips and tricks that we have come up with over the years.

The great American road trip – great stops, music, snacks, friends or family! We’ve all seen it in movies, we’ve all heard about other people that have taken them, but are they really like they are in the movies? No, but they’re still a lot of fun!

We’ve taken quite a few short, weekend road trips from where we live in San Angelo to Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas for things like Disney on Ice, Paw Patrol Live, Pittsburgh Penguins games, to visit the zoo in Fort Worth. This week we took a mid-week trip to Arlington. Texas (Dallas) to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates take on, and beat, the Texas Rangers. Those types of trips average 3-4 hours in the car and aren’t too bad. We stop about half way to our destination to stretch, go to the bathroom, and if we’re heading to Dallas play on the playground at the Eastland Country Rest Area. We’ve also taken two trips to Galveston, Texas (about seven hours) to sail on the Disney Wonder.

When we lived in California we also took trips to Lompoc to visit family, and of course to the LA area for hockey games and Disneyland!

We’ve also taken a few longer, multi-leg, multi-day road trips. In May 2016 we moved from Wheatland, California to San Angelo, Texas.  We made stops in Anaheim, California (yes, we did two days at Disneyland), Phoenix, Arizona, and Deming, New Mexico. In January 2018 we drove from San Angelo Texas to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with stops in Lawton, Oklahoma, and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on the way up and Louisville, Kentucky and North Little Rock, Arkansas on the way back. In February of this year we drove to Disney World with stops in Beaumont, Texas and Pensacola Florida. Following our Disney Land and Sea adventure we stopped in Tallahassee, Florida, Lafayette, Louisiana, and Killen, Texas.

Coming up in less than a month we have a trip planned to Pittsburgh, with stops planned in Little Rock, Arkansas and Louisville, Kentucky on the way up and St. Louis, Missouri, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on the way back. We also have one planned for the end of January 2020 to Port Canaveral, Florida for a cruise and then to New Orleans, Louisiana, before returning home to San Angelo.

How do we decide whether to drive or fly?

The two biggest factors for us are time and money. Do we have the time available to add the drive to and from our destination on top of the time we want to spend at our destination? For example a seven night cruise requires at least eight days of time off, but to be safe we like to arrive in the area at least the night before we embark. To get to Florida, because we have to little kids, takes 2.5 – 3 days of driving, and that’s just one way. Added time away from work, as long as we have the leave available, is never a bad thing. If don’t need to be somewhere quickly we’ll normally decide to try.

The next biggest factor is money. Which option will be cheaper? Will it cost more to fly? Most likely. So, unless we need to be somewhere quickly or we don’t have the leave available, we’ll drive. For the most part the hotel stays and gas necessary to get from point A to point B cost less than it would for the four of us to fly.

So, how do we plan our trips?

The first step is obviously picking our destination. We know that for our next trip our first final destination is Pittsburgh, and our second is back home in San Angelo.

Next we divide the drive up into manageable days. For this trip we will have a one-year old and an almost five-year old. Christian can handle long days in the car – he’s a champ – last year we did an 11 hour day and he slept, played with little toys, and watched movies in the backseat. Bella isn’t a fan of being restrained in her car seat, for days longer than 7-8 hours aren’t doable at this point. So, we look at the map and figure out where we’re going to stop for the day.

One we decided where we’re going to be stopping we start looking into hotels. And free, or not too expensive fun things to do once we get to each location.

Once we get closer to the trip we make a packing list to make sure that we have what we need.

The night before we leave we pack, I just can’t bring myself to pack until the day before we leave, and we put all of the non-items in the car for an easy departure in the morning.

Now we have some tips to share with you.

Tips:

·         Leave early in the morning – less people on the road, and the kids can go back to sleep.

·         Have snacks and toys easily accessible.

·         Have a back-up plan.

·         If you’re traveling in the winter have supplies just in case you get stranded in the snow. (Food, blankets, water, flashlights.)

·         Take food for 1-2 meals per day to save money and time. But, don’t forget to take in the food scene if you’re in a city known for something fun!

·         Print off proof of insurance just in case you can’t access your insurance app.

·         Print off directions just in case there’s no cell signal.

·         Don’t leave your navigation on the whole time! If you don’t need to do anything for 200 miles turn it off for a while!

·         Have things for the little ones to do – games, videos, and toys.

·         Have some great music to listen to!

·         Plan fun, free or minimal cost activities once you arrive in each stop city.

Are you ready to start planning your next vacation?I’m an independent travel agent with World of Magic Travel and I’d be happy to help you plan your next magical vacation, on land or sea, to just about anywhere in the world! Contact me at miriyawhitaker@worldofmagictravel.com to get started! For more Disney and travel information follow me on Facebook.