Solo multi-day roadgeeking adventures

[hbelkins]

Do people plan out lodging before hand or just stop at places on the way and see if they have cheap rooms?

I do a mix of both. If I know that I am going to be in a certain town on a particular night, I will reserve online using a loyalty club number to earn ponits (or possibly cash in a free night if I can).

Other times, I will pick out a few options in the towns where I expect to be at the end of the driving day, vet them on TripAdvisor, and then make a reservation on my iPad an hour or two out.

The first few trips I made, I just stopped at some AAA-recommended motel at the end of the day.  Back in those days, I was looking for "data port" as a listed amenity so I could dial up to AOL.

[huskeroadgeek]

I've taken roadtrips of multiple days with other people. Things tend to get punchy by the third day. That's why anything longer than that, I'll go alone.

My experience is that when you are traveling with other people, the amount of time you spend just driving vs. sightseeing has to do with how long it takes before you start getting tired of each other. Back in 1994, I took a 6 day trip from Nebraska to California and back with my best friend. The first 4 days of the trip were fine because even though we were doing a lot of driving, we were sightseeing too, plus we had the ultimate destination-Las Vegas(after we went to California to see the ocean) to look forward to.
Things started to go downhill though on a long day of driving from Las Vegas to Cheyenne on the way home. Fortunately, nothing ever really blew up, but the last few hours of the trip you could cut the tension in the car with a knife. There were no lasting effects on our friendship though, and we had even started planning a longer trip a couple of years later before my friend got engaged and it killed the trip. Today, I don't think I would take that long of a trip with just one other person-I'd either go by myself or go with more people(like family) in a larger vehicle with more sightseeing involved. Any trip I take just for roadgeeking purposes too I do by myself.

[agentsteel53]

I'm best by myself or with precisely one other person.  sitting in the back blows goats!

indeed, sometimes it gets tense by the end, but I've had it be the case that fifteen minutes after dropping someone off at the airport, we're already planning the next trip!

[Duke87]

I deal with timing by having flexibility to my itinerary. I will have things I can cut out or shorten if I'm behind schedule, and I will find things to add if I am ahead of schedule.

I have only done a road trip multiple days away in one direction once, though I definitely will be doing it again in the future. I handled lodging by finding a random place, walking in, and asking for a room. I had vaguely planned what vicinity I would be stopping in but avoided reserving ahead of time so I could have the flexibility of going further if I felt up to it or not as far if I didn't. I say, wherever I am when it gets to be 8 or 9 PM, it's time to stop for the night. I can go much later if I will be home (or at my destination) that night but if I am getting up and driving again the following morning I need to wind down and get a good night's sleep.


One other thing about driving solo versus driving with someone is that I drive considerably more conservatively when I have a passenger. If I am by myself and I get zoned in, utterly focused on the road, I can and will start driving fast and aggressive. I will not do this if someone else is with me since I find having a passenger to be a significant distraction and so I have to be more cautious.
Besides, there's the nerve-rack factor. If I were a passenger with someone driving the way I sometimes drive when I'm by myself, I would be freaking out. Driving like a maniac when you're in control is one thing. Being at the mercy of someone else driving like a maniac is another thing entirely! Hell, I don't like being a passenger for an extended period of time even if the driver is driving quite normally.

[Takumi]

I'm best by myself or with precisely one other person.

I'm the same way. Of course, I have a car where only two can fit reasonably

I've always been pretty much limited to day trips for one reason or another, even on vacation. Even still, being on the road relaxes me.

[A.J. Bertin]

Then in the last year I've become comfortable going into restaurants on roadtrips by myself- when I started roadgeeking I would never do anything but fast food but now I have minimal reservation walking into a local sitdown restaurant and asking for a table for one, especially if I'm near a freeway or other major corridor. I'm still a little wary in towns that through traffic really wouldn't be in, but I'm getting more comfortable every time.

People do give judgmental looks sometimes, but you have to convince yourself that you'll never see them again, and on a couple occasions I've started talking to the waitress/another patron at a bar/whatever, and it's actually been fun. Wherever possible, sit at the bar, because more often than not you're not the only person eating alone and even if you don't talk to them, it feels more comfortable. Usually there's a sporting event or something on you can watch if you don't make conversation,  but oftentimes you'll end up making conversation.

I find it fun to occasionally make up an alter-ego and be that person- you're never going to see these people again, so you can be whoever you want.

Interesting thoughts about eating alone at sit-down restaurants. Yes... it can be a bit awkward at times, and it's true that you might not get as good of service from your server since s/he doesn't expect a big tip. I seriously have no problem dining alone that these types of restaurants. Usually what I do is bring my big road atlas with me and read maps of different states/provinces while I'm waiting for my food. A lot of times what happens is the server might ask, "Are you taking a trip?" or "Where are you going?" It's kinda cool because that's a good conversation starter.

There was only one time when I decided to eat at the counter. In September 2010 when I was on my way to the Rochester NY road meet from Michigan, I had dinner at a Bob Evans outside of Cleveland. I had my road atlas with me and was just looking at maps at the counter. It was pretty nice.

I really like dining at locally-owned restaurants as opposed to chains when I'm roadgeeking or on vacation. It's nice to eat at restaurants that don't exist in the city where I live.

[A.J. Bertin]

Do people plan out lodging before hand or just stop at places on the way and see if they have cheap rooms?

I generally plan out my full route and lodging in advance of the trip. This way I can check the reviews on TripAdvisor and make sure I'm staying at hotels that are reasonably priced but also have good reviews.

[A.J. Bertin]

Things started to go downhill though on a long day of driving from Las Vegas to Cheyenne on the way home. Fortunately, nothing ever really blew up, but the last few hours of the trip you could cut the tension in the car with a knife. There were no lasting effects on our friendship though, and we had even started planning a longer trip a couple of years later before my friend got engaged and it killed the trip. Today, I don't think I would take that long of a trip with just one other person-I'd either go by myself or go with more people(like family) in a larger vehicle with more sightseeing involved. Any trip I take just for roadgeeking purposes too I do by myself.

This summer my good friend Marya and I will taking a 9-day road trip from Michigan to California and back. I will be doing all the driving, and it will be a pretty aggressive agenda. Three days driving out, three days hanging out in the L.A. area, and three days driving back home. She is a good friend of mine, but I took a weekend trip with her about a year and a half ago and she was getting on my nerves a bit. I'm a bit nervous about that and will probably need to set some ground rules beforehand so avoid us getting sick of each other and to help the trip go smoothly.

One of the things I'm worried about is the fact that we will on such a tight time schedule... driving 700 to 800 miles per day. She likes looking at little trinkets at different places, and I'm a bit concerned that she'll want to spend too much time dilly-dallying around at a certain store that we'll get behind schedule on our drive.

I love her to death but will need to clarify some things first. I'm so excited about this trip though and will be doing ALL the driving... yay!!!

[huskeroadgeek]

Do people plan out lodging before hand or just stop at places on the way and see if they have cheap rooms?

I generally plan out my full route and lodging in advance of the trip. This way I can check the reviews on TripAdvisor and make sure I'm staying at hotels that are reasonably priced but also have good reviews.

I like to do that too. I tend to like to just have things planned out rather than just play it by ear. I try to force myself to be a little more spontaneous now and then though. One of these days, I intend to plan the ultimate spontaneous trip where I block out a period of time to be traveling, but don't decide exactly where I am going. I would like to just pick a road to head out of town on and then kind of decide as I drive along where I am going to go.

[Scott5114]

I've never done a multi-day solo trip, but the multi-day trips I have done have led me to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to reserve rooms at the ultimate destination, if any, but not to pin down any of the intermediate overnight stops. I don't like either of the possibilities of getting delayed due to traffic/construction/weather/bad timing estimates and having to slog through a hundred miles after dusk, or making better time than expected and finding yourself killing time in a hotel room instead of covering new territory. Generally the idea is to drive till dusk, then start looking for a medium sized town that would have some amenities. Wake up and haul out between 9 and 10 am.

[Alps]

I've never done a multi-day solo trip, but the multi-day trips I have done have led me to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to reserve rooms at the ultimate destination, if any, but not to pin down any of the intermediate overnight stops. I don't like either of the possibilities of getting delayed due to traffic/construction/weather/bad timing estimates and having to slog through a hundred miles after dusk, or making better time than expected and finding yourself killing time in a hotel room instead of covering new territory. Generally the idea is to drive till dusk, then start looking for a medium sized town that would have some amenities. Wake up and haul out between 9 and 10 am.

There's only one night on my upcoming trip where I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's a town that only has one hotel. If I make it there with enough time to keep moving, fine, but without a reservation, I may be pressing my luck a bit. Hopefully it's nice car-sleeping weather.