Going on a road trip? Let’s prepare
Recently, I decided to take the journey across Texas to the mountain state of Colorado to visit with friends. Now I could have just flew in to the area but my logic went something like this: 1) you’ll still need to rent a car, 2) my pup really isn’t fit to fly anymore but it will still be fun to bring him along, and 3) the drive will be beautiful!
A road trip such as this takes some preparation. For instance, the excitement of the mountain views still needs to account for what a half day (plus some) commute really means: with the majority of the drive crossing through Texas. Now those who know Texas… you know! I mean I’ve driven across two countries in the amount of time it takes me to get through this massive state.
Aside from mental preparation, it is important to know what you are getting into as it relates to financing a trip. Of course you have your essentials: lodging, transportation/gas, food and emergency funds are needed for any trip really. But also the benefit of a car is being able to pack those extra things that you really wouldn’t choose to take say you were traveling via airplane (like the extra shoes and wardrobe options). There are a few things I needed to prepare before getting on the road:
A PLACE TO STAY AND THINGS TO DO
Knowing your surroundings and having a place to rest while traveling is important to consider. Ensuring I have accommodations is actually one of the first things that I research when planning a trip. Researching the area in advance is certainly a way to save time. Have you ever gone on a trip thinking you’ll figure out what you’d like to do once you’re there? While that may work some of the times and at times may be intentional to not over plan when in explore mode, it is also nice to get an idea of what a place offers with activities, history, hikes, environment, etc. For example, it allows you to get an idea of distance between places and an idea of the expense involved in adding certain things to the itinerary. I actually enjoy it when gearing up for some of my travel ventures. I may not do all the things but it does shed some light on options should there be wiggle room in the purpose of the trip.
CAR MAINTENANCE CHECK
This right here is key. Sometimes it can be overlooked but it really is important (personal experience speaking here). There are areas of Texas that can feel pretty deserted and the last thing anyone would want is to be stranded in the middle of no where because of car trouble. It’s not to say that these things don’t happen, but if there are measures that I can take to prevent them, why not? At the same time, if they do, we deal with what comes (it’s just a part of the travel story I suppose).
The car happen to be due for some standard maintenance but even if it weren’t the case, it’s not a bad idea to get things checked out when going on any sort of long venture. In this case, good thing I did. One of Toyota Blue’s tires had a slow leak. Too bad I only took note of this not even a full day from getting on the road but I was able to get it resolved so no fuss there.
FOOD PREP
As we all know, it can get quite expensive to eat out nowadays not to mention the price of gas also being a factor into budgeting. Passing by all the tempting quick eat spots with these break/pit stops doesn’t help either, does it? Though there were some stretches of road where it was just land with the occasional gas station—which by the way took discipline to not grab snacks there just because. It was actually quite nice to get away to see the country side and national park areas.
I chose to save money on the road by going the bring your own cooler route. The decision was two-fold really:
1) Road trip food typically consists of snack attacks back in my younger years which to some degree served in the opposite direction of what my intent was. Sugar highs from sodas, candy, energy drinks, etc. equates to the inevitable feeling of tired. The crazy part is it took me years to even come to this realization.
Ergo, 2) the strategy needed to change. Instead of downing the junk food that made me all groggy, I prepared some meals that were quick yet still filling and something that would not drive me to my short cut ways. I felt more alert taking this approach even with driving through the night! And saving where I can at this stage in my life is not a bad idea with projects and such underway.
Food wasn’t difficult to prepare either! With a quick order from the HEB and with some items already at home, I sorted through:
1) Bread, chopped avocado, tomatoes, and marinated boiled eggs (the egg recipe is courtesy of Tiffycooks.com)
This was simply a spin-off on avocado toast really. And there was plenty to carry me through vacation, whether it be used for breakfast or lunch.
2) My newest go-to meal: chopped salad and Rotisserie chicken
This is my newest and favorite quick meal and its quite simple. HEB has a really tasty Tuscan pre-packaged salad kit. ($4.69) Add some shredded lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken ($8.19) to the mix and voila: deliciousness awaits! with leftovers…at least 2-3 servings worth. I pre-chopped ingredients for these meals into Tupperware and added them to the cooler alongside plenty of water, seasonal fruit and veg (in this case, I went with plums and cucumbers). I also had some oranges so they didn’t go to waste.
Now don’t get me wrong: I did enjoy some nice eateries here and there but I also easily saved, knew what I was eating (an intentional move I’ve been working on) and personally confirmed that ‘eating out’ doesn’t have to be too expense when you bring the food from home.
All in all, it had been a minute since I last did a road trip like this. While the commute back was tiresome, I enjoyed this trip and look forward to visiting again in the future.