Shoestring Road Tripping 101

I just got back from a 20 state, 20 National Park family road trip in 24 days. All the odds were against us this summer: a record breaking heatwave, overcrowded parks, sky high gas prices, and a continuing global pandemic, but it was an unbelievable happy experience and we did it all without breaking the bank.  Here are a few tips and take aways from my latest excursion.

Enjoy the natural world! This trip took us from the hottest place on earth to the arctic glaciers. We saw the highest and lowest spots in North America, the tallest trees, and the deepest lake. We saw hundreds  animals in their natural habitat: grizzlies, whales, sea lions, seals, moose, caribou, antelope, cayote, and roadrunner, most of which were in national parks.  I love National Parks because I get excited about nature and history. Plus, hiking lends itself for good bonding with the family. I love that everyone, no matter socioeconomic status, can enjoy the parks equally. There are no fast passes for rich people to not have to follow the simple kindergarten level rule of waiting their turn. I enjoyed hiking Zion as much when I was an impoverished college student as I did when I was married to a college professor. These are America's parks for all Americans.

BUT it sounds like the most popular parks are getting too crowded this summer, some people are waiting for an hour, in dangerous temperatures, for a picture with an iconic arch, or famous overlook. This ruins the experience for everyone. Instead of a national "park" consider going to a national monument, historical site. Or go to a state park. Some are just as nice or nicer than well known national parks and there are hundreds of them! Even city parks have wonderful natural features and local flavor. Find out where the locals go to take their senior pictures or have a bridal photo shoot, and you'll find something special.

A city park in North Little Rock

Crater Lake is the only place this trip that felt crowded

Off season travel is another way to beat the crowds and congestion. Seriously, it is just not fun when a place is over run with people. In 2013, my family did a 21 park, 21 state, 21 day road trip in which we camped at the biggies like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, but it was in May, before many families were out of school, and there was no post-Covid rush. IF you must go to the popular parks during peak season, maybe consider going super early in the morning and/or taking the hikes that are off the beaten path. A little research into special, lesser known spots, can make for a happier experience for you...and all the less creative people who don't want to share their parking spot.

Be frugal! I figure if I spend half as much, I can double the length of the trip, or take twice as many trips. There's so much I want to see in this world!  My kids are now old enough that they care about being healthy and choose to drink water at every meal. What we saved on restaurant soft drinks probably covered a night at a hotel, so cut costs where you won't miss them. Don't get to he point where you feel deprived, but put your money where you'll enjoy it most.

For this trip, we spent 7 nights in the homes of family and friends (free), 8 nights camping (very inexpensive), and 8 nights in hotels (not too pricey). Seeing friends and family are part of the reason we travel. All five of my siblings live in different states and it was a real treat to get to see the homes of three of my sisters for the first time. (We usually meet up somewhere for reunions.) Camping can cost as little $15-$20 at places where nearby cabins and hotels run $300+ a night. When we splurged for hotels, it would usually be far enough outside a popular destination to be reasonably priced.

For the sake of our wallets and waistlines, we try to only eat out once a day. This works better when the hotels serve breakfast. Actually, we only reserved stays at hotels that include breakfast in the package, but this was still a Covid-y year so they all backed out, which meant a lot of days we ate two meals out, but never three. It's best to keep lots of car & picnic food on hand: trail mix, oranges, bananas, nuts, veggie sticks, granola bars, peanut butter sandwich makings-whatever your family is willing to eat. I found that more than once, we'd be on the road, looking for a good lunch spot, and had to drive for hours before finding a small town with a restaurant. Hangry family members can ruin the day, so keep everyone fed and be preventative when it comes to hunger

Know your pace. My family is made of hardcore road trippers but not the kind who will drive 30 hours straight to get across the country, only stopping for gas. When I was young my parents used to pack us in the car at 5:00am so that they could make 5 hours headway by the time we'd wake up and 7 hours by the time we'd stop for lunch. They'd limit the road hours to 10 in a day so that we could be at our destination early to mid-afternoon and have time to enjoy the place. Splitting the days between driving time and sightseeing helps make progress without feeling like you're missing half the country. My husband and I might go 12 or 13 hours from departure to arrival in a day, but we'll stop and get out to see the sights along the way. Toss in ice cream breaks and hikes and you end up getting to your destination by dinner time without feeling wiped out.

Plan layovers. It helps to have two nights at one place, every few days, for the luxury of not having to pack up every single morning, and so that people can have a place to regroup/ hang low between activities or while others go out. We did three long driving days, then break day, two long days, then break day. The break days can be just as rigorous if you want them to be: we did a lot of sight seeing between our two nights in San Fransisco, but we did manage to fit a cat nap in the afternoon because we had a place to rest. I like to use cities as our "lay-over" days. If you can stay someplace down town, then you can walk to the sights and save the headache of parking.

Be flexible and spontaneous! A couple of times we saw brown signs for sites and my husband would immediately pull off the exit, while I would look up the distance to the sight from the exit. We hadn't planned on going to El Malpias nor Petrified Forrest, but they were right there!  When my brother found a birch syrup factory tour sign in Alaska, we couldn't pass it up. It's best to have a little extra time built into your schedule for surprise gems like these. But it goes both ways and sometimes you have to let some activities go undone. I like to keep a list of places and possible activities and just throw out ideas to see what people are in the mood for. You can't do everything, so don't be too rigid. Check in with people's feelings and see what sounds good a the time.

Expect things to go wrong.  On weekend college get aways, my friends and I would say, "It's not a real road trip unless the car breaks down." We usually said this as we were waiting for a tow truck, but knowing ahead of time that there will probably be bad weather, heavy traffic, sickness, closed museums, or reservation mix-ups will help you deal with less than perfect conditions when they arrive. Keep a sense of humor and know that it is just par for the course. 

Think small. You don't need to plan and save for years to make memories. There are people traveling from all over the country to see something in your city or your state. Why not enjoy the sights that are near you? My family can drive three hours to the ocean or three hours to the mountains and be back home the same day. Or we can plan one overnight to make it feel like a real get away. Either way, it doesn't take clearing a month from the calendar to enjoy travel.

Practice recognizing beauty every day. If you don't appreciate the beauty of the sunset in your own neighborhood, what makes you think you'll appreciate it in some other part of the world? I cleared out the photos from my phone the day before our trip and that evening I took a picture of our neighborhood lake, which reminded me that there is beauty everywhere, including, or maybe even especially, at home. When it comes to finding love and happiness, I always start looking within the walls of my own house, within my own skin. Then I can take that joyful heart on excursions. 

The time and effort spent traveling pay off three ways: it is fun to plan, it is fun to discover things first hand during the trip, and it is fun to look back and remember.  If you do it right, travel will change you in some way for the better.