7 Helpful Tips for Your Next Road Trip
Are you ready to plan a road trip but don’t know where to begin? Taking a road trip vacation is something that most people will do at least on a few occasions, but in today’s world, seems a bit more complicated. It wasn’t that long ago that you could just pile the kids into the car, pack some food, grab a few maps, and go.
Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of DK Eyewitness Travel Guide USA. This post contains affiliate links; if you purchase something familyTravelsUSA may receive a small commission. As always, opinions are my own.
Each time we make a decision about where to go on our next vacation, I spend a great deal of time reading everything I can get my hands on about the destination. Even in this digital age, who doesn’t love having a good travel book to flip through and dog-ear the pages? I often visit my local library to browse through a variety of travel books before making a purchase.
While we all have visions of well-behaved kids singing family friendly songs in the back of the car while Mom & Dad cheerfully drive for hours, there are always the moments when you take the wrong turn, get stuck in a storm, or just want to jump out of the car for 5 minutes of alone time! A few years have passed since I first wrote 5 Tips for Planning Your Next Road Trip Adventure, and technology has certainly impacted the way we travel. So read these 7 helpful tips for your next road trip before you head out.
*This post was updated January, 2026
Do Your Research With Travel Books and Blogs
Each time we make a decision about where to go on our next vacation, I spend a great deal of time reading everything I can get my hands on about the destination. Even in this digital age, who doesn’t love having a good travel book to flip through and dog-ear the pages? I often visit my local library to browse through a variety of travel books before making a purchase.
The DK Eyewitness Travel Guide USA is perfect to have on hand, especially if you want to explore the USA but are not sure where to go. I love that the book is laid out by regions, which is helpful when planning a road trip. It’s filled with clear and easy to read maps, from A Tour of Central Park to a map with highlights of Skyline Drive. One of the first sections of the book, Discovering the USA, even offers suggestions for two and five day trips in cities and regions all across the country. (A newer version has been published since this was originally written.)
I also still rely on blogs, using Pinterest to find tips and information about a new destination. Even with the prevalence of AI, I still rely on personal blogs and the experience of a real person when planning a trip.
Plan to Vary Your Accommodations
As you begin mapping out your trip, finding accommodations is often the most time-consuming part. Most people tend to favor their favorite hotel chain when booking in an effort to maximize loyalty points. But also consider lower-priced alternatives, such as cabins, farms and the like, which tend to work well with larger families. When my kids were younger, sometimes I think they were more excited about where we were staying than our actual destination for the day, and everything was judged by the quality of the swimming pool!
Family-owned campgrounds often can provide fun alternative accommodations at a fair price, including fully-stocked cabins and swimming pools. As a bonus, kids can get some outdoor time in nature and there are often evening activities for both kids and adults (we once did a local wine tasting at a KOA in South Carolina).
KOA offers unique accommodations around the USA, such as a restored train caboose or an Airstream. Also consider vacation rentals, although these often come with a 2 or 3 night minimum and may not work if you are not staying in one place for too long. Be sure to book any National Park accommodations well in advance, as these popular spots are often reserved up to a year in advance.
Stock Up On Audio Books, Podcasts, or Movies
Whether you download audio books or podcasts on a device, or check out an audio book from your local library, there is nothing like a good story shared among the family to pass the miles and keep everyone entertained. Titles that we have enjoyed over the years with our kids include the Percy Jackson series (The Lightning Thief, etc.) and A Series of Unfortunate Events.
The Libby App by Overdrive allows you to connect to your local library. Just sign in using your library card to borrow audio books. Plan ahead and download while you have a wi-fi connection.
There is An App for That
From finding cheap gas to having a personal tour guide, there are so many helpful apps to make your journey run smoothly. We discovered the GyPSy Guide (now GuideAlong) while traveling on the Road to Hana in Maui, and it was the best money ever spent (now the tour can be purchased alone or bundled with other Maui drives). Not only did we have our own personal tour guide, no data connection was required once the app was downloaded. With over two dozen in the US plus tours in Canada, it’s worth a look. Speaking of tours, Viator is great for finding fun activities and tours.
Apps like Expedia and Booking are helpful to find last minute hotels or to keep all your bookings in one place. When visiting a city or a venue with large crowds, we have found apps like Park Mobile or Spot Hero to be helpful to pay for parking. My husband loves the Gas Buddy app, helpful when you are always looking for the cheapest gas on the road, and Yelp, for finding highly rated places to eat that are nearby. Just remember that technology is not always 100% reliable when you are in the middle of nowhere, so traveling with an old fashioned road map is always a good idea.
Pack for Several Days at a Time
On our first big road trip, we had no organization with our luggage. Often, all 5 of us shared suitcases and it became an ordeal packing and unpacking at every stop. Since then, we’ve learned to pack for several days at a time, organized in one or two bags. Even if you aren’t comfortable leaving suitcases in the car overnight, you won’t have to dig through all the bags at each destination.
I also recommend packing cubes or extra large storage bags from your local dollar store for even better organization. For longer trips, keep one central bag for dirty laundry to make it easy to wash clothes along the way (packing a travel size box of laundry powder and bringing a supply of quarters also helped).
Plan for the Unexpected
I’m throwing this in here, even though my family would tell you that for several of our big road trips, there wasn’t much extra time built into our schedule. I learned this the hard way when in Utah, where my itinerary skipped over picturesque Canyonlands National Park, and we didn’t have any extra time to stop even though we passed right by on our way to Arches.
Building in down time can help both kids and adults. Also, having a cooler filled with snacks and drinks in the car will allow more flexibility and help out in the event of an unexpected traffic jam or weather related driving delays. Planning for the unexpected is more important than ever with more people hitting the road each year!
Be Strategic When Visiting Popular Spots
Each time I planned a road trip, I found myself laying out the schedule on a calendar, which made it easier to plan travel between destinations. With the most popular national parks and other tourist spots, there are always certain days of the week that are less crowded. Check park or attraction websites to see if this information is available.
National Parks in summer are often most crowded in the middle of the day, so getting an early start is a wise choice. While in Yosemite, for example, we found that an early morning start made all the difference between having a popular trail to ourselves for the first hour versus hiking with a hundred of our closest friends. Advanced reservations for certain activities are required at some National Parks in 2026, so plan ahead.
And if you are looking for some classic road trip ideas, take a look at the Get Up & Go Road Trip Ideas and Itineraries, which includes family-tested road trips, like a 13 day road trip through the Southwest, or 19 days in California. You’ll find a general itinerary for each trip so that you can see the places we visited along the way. Safe travels!
