Are you more of a vacation planner or let-the-road-guide-you kind of traveler? As much as I adore flexibility, I have to admit I love a good list! Prepping for a vacation, including a road trip, is made a lot easier with a plan.
When I think back to my family vacations as a kid, I have the happiest memories of our road trips. Now that I’m an adult, I find the preparation almost as fun as the actual trip. I love the research, the daydreaming about our destination, and the practical elements of a road trip.
That’s why I’m so excited to share this FREE Road Trip Planner with you!
The printable planning pages include:
- Road Trip Checklist
- Road Trip Meal Plan
- Road Trip Grocery Checklist
With these printable pages, you can prep for your road trip making sure you’ve got all of the shirts, shoes, and snacks ready to ensure the best trip ever.
GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE ROAD TRIP PLANNER
Use it to plan your food, packing, and fun for your next road trip. All you have to do is print out your planner and you’re ready to go.
To help facilitate the fun, I’ve got some additional tips to make your adventures their very best.
Best Road Trip Snacks
Any stretch of time in the car means my kids’ appetites go into overdrive. Use the Meal Plan to schedule restaurants along the way. You can use that with your Grocery Checklist also to grab the best road trip snacks.
My goals when selecting snacks for car rides: limited sugar, easy to clean up, easy to open. There’s nothing worse than sticky kids on a sugar high!
Some of my favorites:
- Popcorn
- Trail Mix
- Sunflower Seed (BBQ are popular here!)
- Crackers
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
Typically, I opt for refillable water bottles to wash it all down. And coffee, lots of coffee.
Best Road Trip Games
From the License Plate Game to the Alphabet Game, I spent my childhood road trips looking out the car window. There’s a reason these classic games have lasted the test of time.
If you’re looking for some additional games to keep the fun alive, try these!
I purchased the bingo game for my daughters, and was shocked how much fun they had playing it. Perhaps it was the possibility of a prize, but they loved it.
Best Road Trip Planning Hacks
Pick Your Must-Do’s As you are deciding on your destination, you’ll want to make a long list of possible things to do, eat, and see. Since I typically travel with my husband and three children, I ask each family member to pick their “Must Do.” Georgia wants to visit a book store in each destination. I typically select a road-side attraction.
You can find a bunch of inspiration on Pinterest or by searching your destination on Instagram.
Research the Route While my kids are great travelers, they do need to stop along the way. Research stops along the way, keeping your list longer than what you’ll actually need. Include restaurants, beautiful sights, and even stretches that may limit your resources so you can make sure to gas up in advance.
Add Surprises Whether it be a unique playlist or some special treats, add some fun to the trip with a surprise. For Harper’s birthday, we drove along the California coast. At every 30 minute mark, we gave her a gift. Some were snacks to enjoy on the road, others were birthday presents like cute clothes or treasures.
Snack Hacks for Road Trips Transform your empty coffee creamers into snack holders on the road. Dry snacks that don’t melt in hot cars are great for the road. I also recommend avoid overly sugary treats as built-up energy with nowhere to burn it off aren’t ideal.
Swap Personal Packing for Destination Packing My dear high school friend Michelle is the road trip master. When traveling cross country with her family, she shared the genius hack to pack suitcases by destination. When you arrive at your hotel, you’ll grab one suitcase with everyone’s belognings rather than trying to navigate one per traveler.
Got a favorite road trip tip? Feel free to share it in the comments!
With a plan in place for your road trip, you’ll be on your way to amazing adventures!
Tags:printables
