I’m like a ninja when it comes to trip planning. I obsess over it way too much but can be pretty decisive when it comes to a destination. A lot of people struggle with pulling the plug on vacation though…excuse after excuse. Well, no more excuses bitches, it’s time you quit working so damn hard and had a little play time 😉

It’s pretty simple actually to plan a road trip in less than a day…maybe not every single detail, but you can outline it in that time. Add all of the juicy deets later! Hell, I planned an entirely new road trip in less than 2 hours but I am also very crazy. I won’t hold you to that standard just yet! Follow these amazing, smart, perfect guidelines to help you plan your next road trip in less than a day!!

Establish your budget

The key to planning a road trip fast is to know what you’re working with. You must establish a budget so you can properly plan for food/ accommodation and activities. Maybe this trip is all about sticking to a budget. Maybe it’s all about spending your pathetic life savings on a two week holiday…whatever kind of vacay…KNOW YOUR BUDGET!

This seems to be pretty straight forward. Log onto your bank account, check funds and then probably cry because you have a total of $18.98. No, but seriously, if you are planning a trip, you most likely have at least a little money saved. If not, maybe you’re trying to wing it and go sailing across the Greek Isles for around $500 including everything? I like people who live on the edge 😉

Create a time frame

Time is money so going back to point #1, establish your budget to know how much time you can afford to leave! If you have to take precious time off work, know your company rules and request off in advance! Some people aren’t as lucky as I am to take month-long journeys, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have just as much fun!

Pro tip: Plan your road trip around a major bank holiday so you use less sick/missed days!

Choosing a time frame is very important so you can justify how much you get to see and do in each place. I did a one week (well 8 day) southern road trip to Austin City Limits and knew I had only that amount of time to do it. While reading over my schedule, I knew I had to be in Austin by the weekend and back that next week so I planned everything around those few points!

Pick your destination(s)

Since I just completed a month-long United States road trip, I can say that America is the place to explore! All the diversity, change in altitude and scenery makes it (in my opinion) one of the greatest places on Earth!! Whether you are in the US or not though…you gotta know where you’re going. If traveling across seas to say, Ireland or Italy…map out places you’ve always wanted to go and start planning! With my road trip out west, I picked some major National Parks and some new fun cities to start; then saw what was in between and connected the dots!

Use RoadTrippers or Route Perfect

These two apps have been LIFESAVERS! RoadTrippers is perfect for the United States! You can put in destination points and it creates an awesomely efficient route! FUCK YES! On top of that…you can explore points of interest, nature, hotels, restaurants etc along with your route. Route Perfect, on the other hand, I have found very useful for Europe! You can add how many nights you want to spend in each place, and it calculates the distance and time you need to get there!!

Hopefully…I mean, you better have read my backpacking Europe post. If not, stop right now and have a look. This entire trip I knew I would fly into Amsterdam and fly out of Berlin. I added my start and end date since those were the only concrete things I had. Routeperfect will suggest cities along the way. You can even go as far as picking a “romantic” or “adventurous” vacation and it shows you the best cities for your liking. Just see for yourself damn it.

Start Contacting!

If you are a blogger…start getting in touch with companies as soon as you have a basis. If you are just a plain Jane, start contacting friends, family or acquaintances to give them a heads up that you are thinking about a trip. That puts it in the back of their mind at least for the time being until you build a solid foundation on where and when you’ll be visiting.

 Check Season

We all know, I hate people. Ha, kidding but I do hate crowds! Not only crowds but touristy crowds. Ugh, they annoy the shit out of me. A top priority on any of my travel lists is to NOT travel during peak season. With that being said, however, sometimes on a road trip, you can’t avoid this due to weather. Planning on taking a cross country Canadian trip in the middle of December? Probably not the best idea.

Checking both weather and tourist seasons can save you some grief in the long run. You don’t want to plan this amazing trip only to find out roads or attractions are closed. On top of that, you don’t want to get stuck waiting in hour-long lines for a shitty museum either because your dumbass decided to go to Disney in the middle of summer. Be smart folks and do your research!

Am I making any sense here y’all?? You CAN plan an entire road trip in less than a day if you really put your mind to it!! I believe in you. Follow these guidelines for planning the perfect vacay and you’ll be on the road in no time! I want to hear your suggestions in the comments if I forgot anything! Until our next encounter…

xo Bonvoyage Babes