Going on a road trip with your friends can be one of the best experiences of your life. It can offer you many new destinations to see, many experiences to live through, strengthen your friendships, and allow you to create great memories together. However, navigating all the aspects of a road trip can be a bit tricky if many people are involved.
Here are some key pointers to help you plan a group road trip with your friends that will ensure success.
Handpick Your Companions
One of the things that can either make or break your road trip is choosing the right or wrong friends to do it with. The famous saying that you don’t know someone until you have traveled with them exists for a very good reason. When you’re taking a group road trip, you will be crammed in a vehicle for hours with your friends, and you will share every meal as well as pretty much all of the activities that you have planned. If you have doubts about some of your friends before the trip has begun, the chances are it will get much worse on the road.
The longer distance you plan to cover, the closer attention you should pay to who you are inviting to join you. Remember that these kinds of trips don’t happen that often, so it could be a great opportunity for you to turn good friendships into even better ones, On the flip side, you don’t want to feel like you have to be walking on eggshells around people who will only make the experience worse for you.
Read also: 5 Essential Skills for the Aspiring Traveller
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Set Ground Rules
Once you have handpicked the friends who you want to join you on a road trip, it’s time to set some ground rules so you can have a solid base for everyone to enjoy the experience, and no bad surprises down the road (pun intended). One of the smartest things you can do is to set a rule that no smartphones are allowed during the whole trip. However useful our smartphones may be, they can be a serious conversation killer, and this is exactly the type of thing you want to avoid during your road trip.
What is the point of visiting special places and spending time with your friends if no one is paying any attention? You can agree to limit usage of your mobiles. Or, you can also swap out your smartphones for simpler models so you can still be in contact with your friends and family outside of your traveling group, and so you can stay safe. Simpler phones will still be useful, but much less distracting. This will allow you to completely focus on your journey and not waste time and memories that can be life-changing.
Map It Out
Another essential thing that any road trip can’t go without is a solid route. When you’re setting ground rules with your friends and planning out the details of your trip, it’s unavoidable to map out the route completely. Sit down with your friends, or simply have each one of them suggest where they would like to travel to, and do your best to combine every option into a single road trip. Now, this can be particularly tricky, as it’s almost impossible to have every wish fulfilled. Make sure you have good communication and that you are all prepared to compromise.
Once you have decided which route you will take, you can further plan the specific activities you’d like to do at each one of the stops. Be sure to map out your route into your car GPS device to make sure that you don’t end up lost in the middle of nowhere. This will also ensure that everybody involved in the road trip knows exactly where you’re heading next, and how to follow the road.
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Figure Out the Food
A thoroughly planned and mapped out road trip surely is a great thing, but it’s nothing without good companions…and food! Getting proper meals and nutrition is one of the essential aspects of our daily lives, so why should it be any different for when we are out on the road? A major downfall in most cases when people are traveling is that they don’t have a place to cook their food. This is especially true if you are traveling in a car or on a bus, which leaves you open to additional costs as you will need to eat out at restaurants.
The cost of eating in restaurants can quickly add up, preventing you to do all the activities you had lined up for your special road trip. However, there are still options to overcome this, such as bringing packed lunches. If you’re taking a longer trip, this might not be advisable, so an alternative is to rent a travel trailer. Advice on how to do so can be found at https://www.thewanderingrv.com/travel-trailer-rentals/. Having plenty of space to make your meals and to store them safely will ensure a much more quality time for you and your friends during the road trip.
Drive Safely
Driving safely on the road is simply a no-brainer. If no one has a driver’s license or proper driving experience, they should not sit behind the wheel. The same goes if you know that some of your friends are simply lousy or impulsive drivers. These people should not be put in charge of everyone’s safety. When discussing who will be eligible to drive, you should all give insights into who you think is the best pick.
Another aspect of driving safely while traveling with a group of people is not to overburden a single driver with driving miles on end. If someone spends way too much time behind the wheel, they will lose concentration and get very tired, which is a recipe for disaster. To ensure this doesn’t happen, make sure that everyone eligible to drive takes regular turns sitting behind the wheel. Being safe and responsible on the road is crucial, especially if there are many people in the same vehicle at stake.
Conclusion
Going on a road trip with your friends is one of the most special and unique experiences you can have. To make sure everyone stays safe and you have the time of your lives, you should follow these essential pointers on how to best communicate with the rest of the group, and have the most fun!
