Road trips

[Starseeker]

Going on a road trip is a fantastic way to spend your free time. It's a chance to explore new places, meet friends and get some physical activity outside.
It's a good idea to make a trip plan beforehand. Here are some tips about what to consider:

• Layout the itinerary.
• Arrange the details with your travel companions, if you're going with any.
• Plan the budget and put away a bit more money in case of emergency.
• If you're going by car/campervan/bike etc. check if the vehicle is functional.
• Do a research of touristic attractions or other sites you want to visit, book online if needed.
• Stock emergency items, list some emergency contacts.
• Verify your documents such as passport/ID/driver's licence and any other documents you might need, such as your vehicle's.
• Prepare a list of things you'll want to pack.

Let me know if you find those tips helpful! Also share your stories of road trips you've gone on in the past or ones you're planning. I'm curious about your experiences!

[Rivière]

Those are some really good tips!

I know whenever I've had to plan to go away somewhere, I recognise how much of a bad planner I am, and start planning as much as 3 months in advance. Planning can take time depending on where you're going and whom you're going with. The more people the harder it can be to organise and plan.

I think one of my biggest road trips, if you want to call it that, was when I went to Swansea for an event. I planned it out 3 months in advance and started looking at train times, hotels, costs. There was a lot of organisation required. And given my poor organisation skills due to learning disabilities, those 3 months were certainly needed!

The journey went quite well and I stayed just 1 night since at the time I was a student. But I made a mini holiday out of it and visited museums and galleries. I walked around the city and spent time chatting to people. It was February at the time, and the weather held up really nicely. Not a single drop of rain and clear skies. I walked along the beach as the sun started to set. I took a lot of pictures while I was away. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The journey to and from my flat was a total of 8 hours, but it was well worth it. Especially as I'd organised it all on my own and with my terrible organisation skills. It was a huge achievement for me and one I'll never forget.

[Everglow.]

These are all really handy tips, thanks for sharing.

I'm such a non-planner when it comes to trips, usually my more organised friends do a lot of the planning and I'm there to say yes or no to suggestions. I'd love to do a proper road trip around Europe or something one day, but right now the longest road trip I've been on was to Cornwall, which all in all was about a 6-7 hour journey. Google maps had estimated four hours, so it actually took much longer than we expected, so now we know to always leave some space in the journey for in case things like traffic, road works or road closures make the journey longer than anticipated. I actually really liked the journey though as seeing the countryside was quite relaxing.