I am going on a huge road trip soon to see national parks, over multiple weeks, across the whole of the US. I have driven from DC to NY and DC to NC but those are the longest road trips I’ve ever done. Do you have any tips?

Absolutely! Let me know if you want a particular kind of advice, but I’m just going to word-vomit about road trips in general.

First of all, I hope you have a wonderful time! If you’re wondering about covid-specific travel trips, I have an entire post here, so I’ll just address more broader advice here.

1) Buy a national parks all-access pass! They’re only $80 and most parks’ admission fees are high enough that it will be well worth your while after only a few. Plus, the money goes to the NPS!

2) If you want to visit a super touristy site, get there early. I can’t stress this enough, and I genuinely have no idea why people don’t do it en masse, but my partner and I are almost always either alone or with very few other people on hikes, at viewpoints, etc. just because we tend to get up at 6 am to get there. Trust me when I say the extra hour(s) of sleep are never worth jam packed trails or an hour long line of cars waiting to get into the park.

3) Freecampsites.net is an invaluable resource! It has paid campsites as well as free ones listed, and tends to give brief comments about each spot. I paid exactly $20 once to camp this entire past summer in Alaska, and everywhere else was free and secluded and beautiful, all based on that site.  It also is very good at recommending permitted camping spots, many of which are in my favorite parts of Utah and Arizona. The whole site is user-driven, so add your own experiences!

4) Audiobooks really make drives feel shorter. I love music and sports radio and conversation, but those are more fun road trip activities. Audiobooks are the emergency way to stay awake, or to get through the tedium that is Iowa. If you’re looking for something else to listen to, here’s a masterpost of every episode of Cabin Pressure, a criminally underrated BBC comedy that has singlehandedly gotten us home safely on at least four occasions.

5) Never have an itinerary that doesn’t leave at least an hour to spare for stops along the way in case of wildlife, cool rock formations, esoteric museums, takeout, flat tires, etc.

6) If you use one of the hotel booking service apps with a stamp collection, you’ll get a free night after your tenth booking, and you can generally find nice, clean motels in the $30-$100 range if it’s after 9pm in any given location. You can also generally negotiate prices at the front desk, if you’re at all comfortable with haggling. Be sure to tip well!

7) Check any motel for signs of bed bugs by lifting up the mattress and looking for stains. It’s quick, and if you find signs, leave and ask for a refund immediately. You’ll get one.

8) Do as much of your driving in the day as possible. It will keep you awake, and also you’ll get to see more of the scenery.

9) Know where your next gas, food, and caffeine are coming from at all times. Don’t assume there will be another gas station within any given number of miles, especially out in the West where it can be over 100 between stations.

10) Always carry water in your car, if nothing else. I also like to have a first aid kit, jumper cables, a flashlight, and a blanket.

11) If you see a road that looks like it would be the setting for a horror movie, you should absolutely always take it.