These are some of our best tips for how to have an incredible road trip! Whether you are just trying to get from point A to point B as fast as possible or taking your time to smell the roses, planning ahead is essential to a great road trip.

essentials on the road

SNACKS! Personally, I feel really crappy if I go a while without some good protein, so things like protein bars and beef jerky are necessities.

These are some of our favourite snacks to pack:

• protein bars – I love these chocolate mint ones!
• beef jerky
• almonds
• applesauce pouches
• peanut butter crackers
• nutrigrain bars
• goldfish
• usually some candy

Don’t forget about drinks! We like to pack some seltzers and sodas to supplement our water. This also helps us to not feel so tempted to stop more often to buy drinks.

saving money on the road

Like I said above, bring snacks and drinks! If you’re packing ahead of time you can look for deals and avoid paying inflated prices for snacks from rest stops and gas stations. Having tasty snacks and drinks that you love will help you to not feel as tempted to buy things along the way – which also can help save time on the road!

Take advantage of gas station rewards. Sign up for a variety of rewards programs (Irving, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Cumberland Farms, etc.) so you are covered across the country and don’t have to go further out of your way to find a gas station that you can get rewards/a discount at. Cumberland Farms also offers lots of bonus rewards for free drinks and snacks inside which is a great treat along the way! We’ve gotten free Clearly Canadian seltzers a few times and they’re soooo good.

Take advantage of the free things your hotel or Airbnb offers! If there’s a complimentary breakfast, don’t skip it! Load up with a big meal in the morning and bring some for the road. If your Airbnb has coffee, even if it’s nothing special, have your travel mug ready to bring it on the road! You will likely want to stop later on for a fun coffee drink so take the free one first and save that for when you need an afternoon pick me up. It’s also a good idea to bring your travel mug to coffee shops because sometimes you can get a discount for using that because it’s more sustainable (although this seems to be less common now because of Covid).

how to pass the time

Our biggest tips for how to pass the time are to think of ideas in advance, be willing to be silly, and have variety! Come up with games, download podcasts in advance, download TV show episodes or movies, make multiple road trip playlists, pick an audio book (or two!) that you’re interested in listening to. Check out our Road Trip of 2016 blog post for some of the games we loved playing on that trip.

Make sure that you have all of these things downloaded ahead of time so you’re not out of luck when you’re suddenly stuck in a dead zone for hours. Chances are you will hit multiple areas where your cell phone carrier doesn’t have good coverage – none of them are perfect! This is important to think about when travel nursing.

Honestly, having our cats in the car with us can be a bit stressful, but they are so snuggly in the car that just sitting with them is a nice way to relax and pass the time also. We both take pretty frequent naps on road trips when the other person is driving; especially for me, being in the car as a passenger puts me to sleep real quick.

Unfortunately, I can’t read in the car without getting sick and watching TV and things is even iffy, but if you’re one of those lucky people who can, bring a book! Bring a crossword, sudoku, books, your laptop to get work done or play games, etc. As long as it doesn’t start bothering my head or stomach, I like taking pictures while we’re in the car of the landscapes we drive by.

Another thing I like to do to pass the time is call friends and family to chat and update them on our trip. Especially if I’m starting to feel a little tired and Dan’s napping or something like that, talking with someone can help me to stay focused and keep my energy up, and chances are your family will appreciate the update!

be safe

If you need to pull over for whatever reason, try to keep it in a crowded place and avoid the side of the highway if possible. If you have to pull over quick while on the highway, don’t forget your hazards!

Take turns driving and don’t be afraid to ask the other person to switch with you if you don’t feel well or are starting to get sleepy. I in particular have to really watch out for getting tired because being in the car in general makes me sleepy and I have had instances where I really have to fight to keep my eyes open while driving which isn’t safe. If you’re both exhausted, pull over (in a crowded place ideally with security cameras and doors locked) and take a nap. It’s so much more important that you actually arrive wherever you need to get to than arrive on time. On that same note, take your time through bad weather and don’t be afraid to pull over if it gets bad.

what are some of your road trip tips?