How to Plan A Long Car Trip Using The Internet
Car trips are the best way to make the journey the destination. Driving through a country brings out the "in between" spaces, which often have as much charm and interest as your final location. The Internet makes planning such long trips easier, with detailed mapping services, directories of unusual sightseeing opportunities, and calculators to help determine trip costs and budgets. What once took several days and many library trips you can now accomplish in a few hours of Internet research.
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Instructions
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Pick a destination. It doesn't have to be a specific city or landmark. Even a broad destination like "the Rocky Mountains" or "Canada" can be enough to start looking up routes.
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Use a trip planner to map your route. See this article's Resources section for road-trip-specific mapping sites, such as Road Trip USA or Rand McNally. These sites can serve you better than generic map services like MapQuest and Google Maps because they emphasize sightseeing opportunities and available lodging along a route.
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Find unusual landmarks along your route. Even if the trip-planning site made some recommendations, try looking up unusual spots on Roadside America and Roadtrip America to add flavor to the long drive.
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Plug your total mileage and nights of lodging into a cost calculator. You'll need to know your car's estimated highway-mile-per-gallon rating. Then use a cost calculator like the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator, which uses up-to-date gas prices to give you a good budget estimate.
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Plan for your trip to take 25 percent to 50 percent longer than your Internet trip calculator indicates if you are taking children or a group of four or more on the trip. This will help you overcome the anxiety that comes from running behind.
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References
Resources
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