Tips for Summer Road Trip
If you have been on a road trip, you must have known the rules: driving long hours, sleeping in your car, and of course, having fights and giggles along the way.
My boyfriend and I had our first road trip together in BC this summer. We traveled in his SUV and visited 7 cities in just 10 days.
The trip was a blast. We started our first night in Golden, and for the next 3 days, we lived on a houseboat in Sicamous. Then we traveled through the crowded Vancouver and the peaceful Victoria. On our way to Kelowna, we made a stop at Penticton. We played go-car in a venture park, and had an oversize seafood platter that no one ever had. After a short stay in Kelowna, we joined our friends for 2 days venture with paddle boating, hot springs and hiking. We ended the trip with lots of pictures, great memories and of course, lessons learned.
I especially enjoying the learning part from my trip, as it help me to grow and be better next time. If you’ve never been on a road trip, now is your opportunity to learn with me. If you have done it before then you may take this chance to improve.
Any successful trip starts with planning, which is the first thing first.
1. Planning. Research as much as possible prior to the trip. You want to know where the gas stations are, where to go sightseeing, and what items to bring according to the personal needs and the local weather. You will never be fully prepared but at least should set an expectation for your trip, especially when it comes to money.
That is to say, you need to budget for the trip. Budgeting is my next point.
2. Budgeting. You want to have an idea about the cost on food, gas, accommodations, and activities for your entire trip so you can be mentally prepared. No one can be precise to dollars and cents, however there are some basic calculations that can help you see a bigger picture.
Take food cost for an example. Say I want to eat a light breakfast, a medium lunch, and have dinner in a nice restaurant. You can put $5 for breakfast, $10 dollar for lunch, and $20 for dinner. Then you have $35 (5+10+20 = 35) for food per day.
But keep in mind that these numbers are only estimations, which means that you have opportunities to save some money if you budget wisely. I have a smart way to help you save even more. That is, to sleep in your car for some nights, which is my third point.
3. Sleeping in your vehicle. Do you know that you can sleep in your car instead of finding hotels along the way? If you have a SUV, you can put down the back seat and make it a bed. That’s exactly what we did for 3 nights in our trip. In order to make more space, we just shuffled our stuffs to the front seats. But, sleeping in a car for the entire trip can be tiring. Make sure to book a hotel for at least one night at some point.
Here is the thing about parking overnight: If you are to park besides a building, always ask for permission. Otherwise, po-po will come around and tow your car away. In addition, make sure you know about the local regulations regarding overnight parking, as it is forbidden in some cities such as Victoria. The night we reached Victoria, we tried to book a hotel room but nothing was available. We got lucky, as there were some rooms available at University of Victoria, so we spent on campus.
We save money on hotel is to spend it on activities we enjoy for the trip.
But what if you barely know the city? Don’t’ worry, when that happens, Google map is your go-to.
4. Google map is your buddy. Google map does not only show you the directions but also recommend some cool places for you. Through Google map, we found a venture park in Penticton and played go-car. My first time behind the wheel of a go-car was adventurous for me and bumpy for my boyfriend. From the same page, we spotted a Mediterranean restaurant and enjoyed the best seafood platter we’ve ever had. Navigating without Google Map is difficult.
Last but not least, you want to learn what to bring and what not to bring for the trip.
5. Must-bring Items. If you travel during the summer, make sure you bring water bottle, sunglasses, sunscreen, and summer clothing and sandals. If you are planning to sleep in your car, make sure you have yoga matt and sleeping bag to make your sleep comfortable. As for food, be sure not to bring too much perishable items such as fruits and vegetables. If you have to have it on the road, make sure to store them in a cooler box. Instead of fruits and vegetables, gulona bars and dry fruits are much better choices.
6. Time management. I took the responsibility of a navigator for our trip. The top skill of a navigator is time management. When traveling from point A to point B, a navigator needs to know the distance and estimated time required so that you can make sure you have enough time for things you wish to do.
A simple way to estimate the time and the travel distance is to use the Google Map. Once you enter your designation, it will have the distance for you, as well as the time you expect to reach.
How does time management come into play? Take campus visit for example. During our short stay in Kelowna, we checked out student accommodation for my younger sister. According to the Google Map, it takes about 15 minutes to reach UBC Okanagan campus, which is 20 km away from the hotel we were staying. If it takes 15 minutes for one-way trip, it would take half an hour for the round trip. We expected 30 minutes visiting time on campus. The construction on the road adds 15 minutes to the total travel time, so the total time for the campus visit activity is 1 hour 15 minutes.
7. Focus on the fun. The forest fire made our BC trip quite smoky. Along the way, we saw the dead trees and disappear forests, which made my boyfriend sad. To keep him positive, I told him that BC just had a foggier year.
We don’t have to fit in all the time, as we all have different interest. In Sicamous, we lived on a houseboat with 20 community dancers. As I am a non-dancer and non-partier, I mostly spent time alone and enjoyed the scenery. That’s ok. Focus on the fun you had, not the fitting in part.
Sometimes your physical pain can ruin your fun. My period of the month was 4 days earlier, and I didn’t expect this at all. For those who’ve been having period pain, you know the feeling. During 3-hour paddle boating under a hot sun, I did not only have a cram but also got a heat stroke. I could barely remember what happened afterwards, expect for getting off from a shuttle bus with my boyfriend at one point then slept for 3 hours.
I thought my last stop at Radium was completely ruined until knowing my boyfriend was able to have fun despite of his constant physical pains. “When I was driving on the highway, my ears were blocked and sometimes the road seemed titling. I have a good control of my emotions on the physical pains. When it comes up, I just ignore it so I can enjoy my time.
8. Let shits go. Conflict will always find you when you are with others. People might not behave the way you expect them to, and your intentions might be misinterpreted, or you might have disagreements with your partner on the trip. Don’t let emotions control your ability to have fun. Conflicts are small things that do not matter. Learn to let them go as they should not stay in the way of your happiness.
9. Learned more about myself. Be on a trip with your partner and others is a great way to learn from other people, and most importantly, it helps you to learn more about yourself. After this trip, I realized what I haven’t been doing well, and things that I can improve upon and do a better job next time. I learned how to search for local popular places to visit, how to properly navigate, do a better job at time management and pain management.
This road trip is not only just a vacation but also a great learning experience for me. I’ve learned how to prepare and budget before the trip, how to save cost and navigate on the road, how to stay on time for your activities, how to enjoy your time despite of the physical discomfort or negative emotions. Most importantly, I learned about myself.
Try them out for your next road trip and have fun!
