When the travel bug hits the next itch might be about deciding where to go, There are SO many great choices. Stay local? Go international? Take a cruise? Go camping? Return to Disneyland? Back to Hawaii? Try a train? Go visit Sandra Claus... at the South Pole? :)  

Ack! It can be overload.

So how about a simple road trip? They can be the best! Whether you take off right from home or fly somewhere and rent a car to see a region, road trips literally let you take the roads less travel and choose unexpected adventures. 

Having just got back from a recent road trip, just a few recommendations:

• Ask friends and family for tips ahead of time. I love getting tips from people who have already been where I'm going. Some of our favorite "discoveries" have been discovered by others first and they passed along the intel. 
• Ask locals and Siri for recommendations along the way. Siri is a great source of information. Every day on our trip, I checked in with Siri about places not to miss and the best places to eat. We had killer clam chowder at two very funky spots better known to locals than tourists as a result. And locals can be the best sources. One local told us about a little-known forest spot with carnivorous plants that was awesome! Ask!
• Don't rely on your phone for directions. Most the way in the Redwoods and along the Oregon Coast, unless we were in a small town, we didn't have cell service. Plan accordingly!
• Which means.... take a paper map! I think this might be my top tip. Paper maps a re considered passe but I personally love them and we used ours every day. Go old school and add in a paper map to your travel bag.
• Be prepared for road construction and windy roads. These days, if you're traveling in any kind of decent weather, chances are good there is going to be road construction. We were slowed down regularly by it. That and loads of curves int he road. Plan to slow down. Road trips are best when the going is slow.
• Find hotels along the way except when you want somewhere special. Unless you know for sure where you're going and when you're arriving, leave time for impromptu and book your hotels off you phone as you go along. Maybe this would be challenging during prime tourist seasons in prime spots but we had lots of choices each evening as we wrapped our day up.
• Surprisingly few rest stops. This sort of surprised us. Formal rest stops were rare. We would take advantage of rest rooms when we filled up for gas and when we filled up our stomachs. :)
• Don't just drive. Pull over. Be curious. Enjoy the gift shops. Check out the hikes. A road trip gets old fast if its just driving. Set limits and build in time for fun fun fun!

Hope to see you out there! -- Jingle