This document provides tips for planning a first road trip, including having a general plan for stops and accommodations, knowing your route and alternate routes, prioritizing goals such as sightseeing or comfort, and allowing flexibility for deviations from your plan. The key tips are to have a plan but not micromanage every detail, know your primary and backup routes, and prioritize what's most important for the trip whether it's seeing as many sites as possible or comfort.

1. Tips for
Taking Your
First Road
Trip
Mack Prioleau

2. INTRO
Few things are more All-American than the classic road
trip. With thousands of miles of road available, it’s
possible to make a trip last nearly as long as you’d like.
Before you get going, though, you should keep a bit of
necessary information in mind.

3. HAVE A PLAN
O N E O F T H E E S S E N T I A L R O A D T R I P T I P S Y O U ’ L L E V E R G E T I S
T O H A V E A P L A N B E F O R E Y O U G E T O N T H E R O A D . D O E S
T H I S M E A N T H A T Y O U N E E D T O M A P O U T E V E R Y M O M E N T O F
Y O U R T R I P ? O F C O U R S E N O T . H O W E V E R , I T D O E S M E A N
T H A T Y O U S H O U L D H A V E A G E N E R A L I D E A O F W H E R E Y O U
A R E G O I N G T O S T O P A N D W H E N S O T H A T Y O U C A N M A K E
D E C I S I O N S A B O U T H O W Y O U ’ L L S L E E P A N D E A T .

4. KNOW THE
ROUTED
Knowing your route is always a great idea, especially if
you’re going through unfamiliar territory. Though the
GPS’s advent makes it much easier to go exploring,
you’re still going to need to make some decisions for
yourself. Make sure that you’re planning on alternate
routes just in case you hit a city during rush hour and
that you know how to get back to the highway quickly in
case one of your side trips turns out to be a little too
adventurous.

5. Finally, try to prioritize what you’re going to do on your trip. Is your goal just to see as much
as possible? If so, you’re going to want to spend less on lodging and food so you can see
more sites. Is comfort the goal? Be prepared to skip some roadside attractions to keep your
wallet healthy. You can do an awful lot on a road trip, but no one can do it all, so make
sure that you have a plan that will allow you to do the most important things.
KNOW THE
ROUTED
Try to remember that your first road trip probably isn’t going to go exactly as you’ve
pictured it. Fortunately, that’s part of the appeal so give yourself room to deviate a bit.
With a good plan, a good route, and a good set of priorities, you can guarantee that your
very first road trip will end up being memorable.

6. THANK YOU!
MackPrioleau.org
M A C K P R I O L E A U