Planning An Unplanned Road Trip - Roadesque (2024)

Today we wanted to share with all of you our favorite type of road trip which basically involves hitting the road while remaining flexible! We believe that this type of journey sheds all responsibility of getting somewhere at a certain time, and simply embraces the exploration of the roadside. It’s definitely not a type of road trip for everyone because it does sometimes feel like you’re navigating in the dark, but we certainly think that it can be quite an amazing adventure! So here are our tips based on our experiences with planning an unplanned road trip:

1. Plan a destination, but be comfortable with not making it there. We often pick a big city or town to reach, but there are many times where we don’t ever get there. We get so caught up with stopping at other places that the destination only acts as a direction to drive. It does make things that much more interesting!

2. Plan to take stops based on what passes outside the window. We constantly are looking for interesting things by the side of the road…sometimes you might only see a piece of it and have to make a decision to turn back around. We often do!

3. Plan to take backroads based on a hunch. If you like the way a road looks, take it. Many of the most fascinating things we found came from taking a road we chose at random!

4. Plan to lose cell phone service. Backroads rarely have cell phone service…no matter who your provider is. You definitely need to know how to survive without it…like getting back to the basics. Think of it as a survival reality show in a car!

5. Plan to feel lost. We often find ourselves asking “where are we?” And the usual answer is “I don’t know”…and we’re ok with that!

6. Plan to bring layers of clothing. You don’t know where you are…you don’t know the weather…just bring options!

7. Plan to end a road trip after dark when you feel tired of driving. This is our gauge…“are you tired of driving yet?” If so, then you’ve done something right!