We experienced life on the road for two months. Over the course of that time, we learned some things and want to share some of our road trip tips with you. The goal with the summer road trip was simple: to travel together with a dog, explore the wilderness, hike, camp, enjoy some local eats and brews, and most importantly, do all of this on a budget. We shared our road trip expenses in a previous post to show a breakdown of how a two-month long road trip can be done. Could we have spent less? Sure, but we had planned to splurge here and there on our trip. If you are planning a long distance road trip, we hope that you find these tips below valuable and applicable to your own experience. Here are some valuable lessons we learned about road tripping and doing it on a budget.
1) Plan your meals and shop the deals
Gas stations and fast food isn’t fitting to our lifestyle nor nutritious by any means. We knew that maintaining a healthy lifestyle on the road was a priority of ours. It’s important to plan meals when traveling on a budget so you can eat fairly healthy but not need to stop at grocery stores so often to restock. We also packed a lot of non-perishable food items that we had stocked up over the past year. When we shopped at local grocery stores during the trip, the key was to grab the items when they are on sale or look through the clearance section. Often, you can find items that are about to expire at a significant markdown. We were able to find meat and produce that was affordable and helped refuel us with proper nutrition. Be mindful of quantity when you are on the road! We only bought enough meat for one night so we didn’t have to keep the cooler stocked with ice constantly. Buying ice so often can become an unnecessary expense. We considered a more efficient cooler but the budget didn’t allow for that right now.
While we were on the road, breakfast was either energy bars, oatmeal, or powdered eggs (better than you think) and pancakes. Lunch was mostly bars, jerky, cheese, peanut butter or turkey wraps, and dried fruit. Dinner was the most exciting meal of the day because we were usually at a campsite, could relax and take more time to cook since we weren’t driving. You can read our blog about how we shopped and prepped all of the above-mentioned food here over the course of a year’s planning. To enjoy a “fancy” meal once in a while, we stocked up on gift cards we received throughout the year (ones we received as gifts, reward points, etc.) and saved them for our road trip. When we knew we were going to be in an area where we wanted to try local brews and foods, we planned for that day and didn’t eat as many snacks knowing that we would eat a good local meal, plus we knew we had to cut costs in other areas to budget for these treats.
2) Find free places to sleep
This is not a new revelation for us. One of our keys to keeping expenses relatively low was to spend virtually nothing on lodging. We slept either in our car or found a free campsite nearly every night. Not only did we have some awesome scenery around us at times, but this also freed up some cash to budget elsewhere during the road trip. One thing that we learned though is that free places to stay can be harder to come by than expected. It definitely depends on the area and we found it to be especially true when traveling through the more industrial areas of the Midwest. Here’s a tip, have an idea of free sleep spot options early on in the day. Look up some places as you sip your morning coffee. When we did this, it led to a more relaxing evening. Trying to find places late at night led to some frustration on a few occasions for us.
3) Pack smart and minimally
Pack your car in a way that frequently used items are the most accessible and lesser used items are packed more out of reach. The act of shuffling the items around in our car to turn it into our sleeping quarters was new to us. For the first few nights, it was very much trial and error when it came to reorganizing the car. We had 2 large big Rubbermaid bins with us, along with a cooler. They were large, non-compactable, and just got in the way half the time. We ended up leaving these at home for the second half of our trip. It was just easier to stuff things in reusable tote bags or our hiking packs.
When we were packing for the road trip, we brought a handful of “what ifs” or “just in case” items. As mentioned above, frugality was in mind when planning too. We brought these items because we figured we have them at home, so we might as well bring them on the road instead of realizing we need it and then spending money to purchase it later. Examples of items we brought and didn’t really use: blue tooth speaker, dog kennel, large cooler, multiple sets of clothing and shoes. The fact that they weren’t used often or some not at all meant they took up space and needed to be shuffled around. This impacted the overall experience a bit but we didn’t let it get us down. It just meant we needed to take more time to get at things and required we come up with a better organization strategy. We ultimately found that less really is more. Having less allows you to enjoy your time and other surroundings more.
4) Be flexible
If you are going on a long road trip, we highly discourage booking your accommodations far ahead of time. This may be more of a personal preference but hear us out. By booking your accommodations far ahead of time, you may miss out on opportunities in front of you. Things come up: flat tires, traffic, a brewery you want to try, you hit some wildlife with your car (extreme case but it happens), meeting new people in new places, etc. Many things can delay you from getting to your destination, whether planned or unplanned. By not having the pressure of “needing to get somewhere”, you can allow yourself to simply live in the moment and take in the culture and experience around you which, in itself, adds to the road trip experience. We didn’t plan exact time and locations for this road trip which allowed us to be flexible and take up opportunities that were bestowed upon us. We were able to explore by not planning and build connections with people along the way. Listen to our podcast to hear about some of the connections we made because of our flexible schedule. Freecampsites.net was a huge resource in helping us be flexible. It’s an awesome resource that greatly helps with tip number 2 above. Keep in mind some campsites may be taken and flexibility will need to kick in here! We especially found that to be true during our travels out west in Wyoming and Montana.
5) Plan for unexpected expenses
When planning a road trip budget, it’s important to know your financial limits and not have a safety net. We had a set amount of “fun” money but also an “emergency fund” for the things that could happen. We were grateful that the only unexpected that happened to us was needing new brake lights. Planning for the unexpected means being disciplined with your money. That extra cash you have sitting in your account might look tempting, especially when you pass by a cool attraction or tasty looking restaurant. This is exactly where budgeting the “fun” money comes in, so don’t touch that emergency fund. We were also prepared to divert that fun money, if needed, to pay for necessary expenses if a major unexpected situation called for it.
Car maintenance costs are a must to plan for during a long road trip. We were lucky that we didn’t have anything beyond the inexpensive brake light issue that was unexpected when it came to the car. A preventative measure we take to avoid spending money when it comes to car maintenance is always keeping a jump start battery pack and a roadside emergency kit in our car so we can fix a car problem ourselves if a situation were to arise. These items also give us peace of mind, especially when traveling through an area with no phone reception.
Like anything in life, living on the road is a learning process. We hope these road trip tips are useful during your road trip planning. The more you experience first hand, the more natural life on the road becomes. If you are considering a long term road trip, check out our blog about how we planned for our summer road trip and leave a comment with questions or curiosities! We’re happy to help answer and guide you in the process. This trip was no quick decision for us but with careful planning and persistence, we were able to make it happen. You can too!
So what are you waiting for? Get out and go! Your adventure is calling!
Peace, love, and hike thru life!
Over the course of the road trip….!
Where were the pictures taken ?