Save Money on Road Trips

I have been traveling for years by air and road and just thought I’d share a few tips that help me make the most of my ventures. The first thing, obviously, is get a good set of directions. I prefer Yahoo maps, but I’m sure Mapquest does equally as well. GPS guides are handy, but I haven’t had much faith in them since they led me to a private residence, in a rough neighborhood, when following its directions to a grocery store. It seems to happen to a lot of people and not just me I’ve recently found out. So nevertheless, make sure you always carry a good, updated, set of printed maps.

Second, if you plan to stop overnight, pick a stopping point before heading out and check out the location’s town website if they have one. I’ve learned that if you depend solely on travel sites like Hotels.com to make reservations, the smaller towns usually don’t have their motels listed because of them being locally owned and not associated with any national chain. The town’s website or chamber of commerce website usually puts links to lodging on their sites that you couldn’t find on travel websites.

Third, you should always search to find the best gas prices. Do this before leaving. Don’t drive around till you run out of gas trying to save a couple cents a gallon. You can Google average gas prices for cities on your route.

Fourth, expect the unexpected. If your like me and tend to veer off the beaten path, its good to pack things like flashlights, first aid kits, extra food and water, and batteries. You never know what may happen unexpectedly. If your vehicle is equipped with Onstar, pay the subscription fees and get it activated. Onstar has no dead zones so you will always be able to get in touch with someone when you need them.

To wrap this up, try your best to stick to a schedule while traveling and remember to expect the unexpected. If you want set times to arrive and depart, take a plane, they are pretty consistent with getting you there within 20 minutes of ETA’s, and fares are very low right now.