What are some tips and tricks for road trips/long drives in the USA?

6 comments

1. Having friends/family to talk to is always nice, music/podcasts and the like are always welcome, taking breaks when you can is also always welcome.

2. Some of the reststops/gas stations (specially in the South) have independently run mom and pop type restaurants that serve awesome homemade food.

   Check them out when you need to fill up.

3. Make sure you’re riding with someone/people you like, get some good snacks before hand, make a playlist of podcasts/music, GET GAS WHEN YOU CAN (gas stations can be sparse), watch your speed if you’re passing through rural towns (cops have nothing to do and they’ll pull you over for going 1 over), and lastly just enjoy the journey, if you see something that’s mildly interesting go check it out, Americans are a diverse breed and I guarantee you’ll have a good story or two from some of the “hole in the wall” attractions you visit.

4. Our wilderness is vast and uninhabited in a lot of the country. So, if you plan to drive long distances, have an emergency kit in your car.

   In the winter, this should be water, non-perishable food, an ice scraper, a snow brush, a snow shovel, a flashlight, matches, hand warmers, a power bank, and blankets.

   In the summer, this should mainly be snacks and a lot of water. Also doesn’t hurt to include a paper map.

   If you’re driving through the Southwest especially, you’ll come across signs saying, “Warning. No services next 130 miles” letting you know that there will be no place to get gas or water for the next 200km. Take those seriously.

   Also, it’s likely that you’ll lose cell phone service on stretches like that. So, having a downloaded map and/or paper map will be key if you lose your way.

5. I just mentioned this in another thread yesterday:

   Pace yourself! Plan to cover an average of 50 miles (80km) an hour at most, regardless of what it says on your navigation app. Those estimates are notoriously unreliable for long distances, and they assume you’ll follow the route perfectly, at exactly the speed limit, with no stopping/slowing down/backtracking.

   Rember you’ll still need to do some driving once you reach your destination– possibly a LOT more driving, depending on where you’re going and what you’re doing. You probably don’t want to do more than ~6 hours/~300 miles of driving per day (you can maybe stretch that to ~8 hours if you have another driver with you), and you *definitely* won’t want to do that for more than two consecutive days.

6. Audiobooks