Hit The Road!
Whether you’re traveling near or far this summer, get the most mileage from your planning—and enjoy a better trip.

BEFORE YOU GO

The better you plan for a trip, the more relaxing it can be, allowing you to take pleasure in the happenings at hand. Follow these tips, keep good notes in your travel bag, and set yourself up for fun.

Route for success: If you’re driving, plan your route by taking into account your priorities. Organizations like AAA can help you find the most scenic route to your destination, or the fastest or most direct. Map your route before you go, altering the course to accommodate any spots you want to visit. It’s a good idea to let a family member or friend know your route, and update that person along the way if your plans change.

Know before you go: Check the weather for your destination, and take a look at guidebooks, Websites, and blogs for word on current happenings; perhaps there’s a crafts fair you’d like to visit, or an area under construction to avoid. Don’t go crazy, though. Travel tips are subjective, and the same set of experiences will not please everyone. Your experience should be your own.

Get a head start: In many cases, purchasing advance tickets for attractions will save you time and money. Often, you can bypass long lines, get special access, and save money on purchase prices just by going online before you arrive. And be sure to check for organizational discounts. “You might be surprised to find that AAA discounts are not just on hotels, but also available for dining, movie tickets, Amtrak, outlet malls, parking facilities, and much more,” says Tracy Noble, the group’s public affairs manager for the mid-Atlantic region. Think about making some restaurant reservations if you’re planning on dining as a large group, need to eat at specific times, or have any other special needs.

Get your motor running: If you’re traveling by car, take some time a day or so before you leave to be sure your vehicle is in tip-top shape. Check the oil and fluids, add air to your tires if you need it (it helps to stretch gas mileage), get up to date on scheduled maintenance, and make sure you have a spare in the car. Be sure you have updated copies of your registration and insurance cards in the car, as well as in a safe place at home.

Paper trail: Inform banks and credit card companies of your travel plans so they don’t flag your account for suspicious activity when you’re making unusual or out-of-state purchases. Noble reminds travelers to have copies of all vital phone contacts and account numbers in case of a loss or theft. “What many people don’t do when they travel is make copies of all the cards and documents in their wallets, as well as their passport and other vital documents they travel with,” she says. “Then, if the hotel safe turns out to be not so safe, you’re out of luck and don’t even have the numbers on the back of your cards to call to cancel them.” Noble advises travelers to make a few copies of each card (front and back): Travel with one copy packed away, leave one copy safe at home, and stow one copy with a trusted friend or family member who will be reachable while you’re away.

Fun pack: Whatever your mode of transportation, it’s essential to have items on hand to satisfy and entertain each traveler. Water and snacks make it easier to travel longer stretches without stopping, spending extra money, and getting off course. For children, arrange a package for each little traveler with snacks, games, books, and a couple of items of their choice. Noble explains that “a favorite stuffed animal or toy from home can go a long way toward making a child feel safe and comfortable even in unfamiliar surroundings.” Label items with pre-printed address labels to encourage their safe return if lost.

Essentials: When traveling by plane, it’s a good idea to have all medications and essentials on your person so that, should you get separated from your luggage, you have the things you absolutely can’t do without. When traveling by car, it’s wise to be set with a First Aid kit, a flashlight, a flat tire kit, garbage bags, moist wipes, toilet paper, blankets, and a car charger.

SMART WAYS TO SAVE

No one wants to pinch pennies on vacation, but most traveling families are on a budget. You don’t need to be constantly crunching numbers on the beach, but you also don’t want to throw caution to the wind.
Keep it in check: Before leaving, set a daily maximum for your trip, based on your overall budget. Keep a tally along the way. This is especially crucial at destinations where everything is charged to a card. It feels free, but it’s not!

Day planner: When possible, plan your most expensive travel expenses for during the week. This is especially true of airfare and hotels, since prices often spike as the weekend nears. When making your arrangements, ask what the prices are if you shift your travel a day earlier or a day later. You might be surprised by what you find, and be perfectly willing to change your days.

Value pack: Multi-day passes for amusement parks and museums are almost always a great buy, but check restrictions and policies before you purchase them. You don’t want to be locked into having to visit attractions on someone else’s timeframe. Also, check with your employer, your children’s schools, AAA, and any other organizations to which you belong for discounts and coupons on many travel expenses.

Best offer: Always ask the booking agent, “Is that the best rate you can offer?” Often, they’ll check and find you an even lower one. When booking air travel, check all the discount travel Websites, but also call the airline directly before you book through any site. Sometimes the very best rates are from the airlines themselves, and even if the rates on a specific flight are the same as on an aggregate site, speaking with a ticketing agent allows you to play around with dates and times to find the lowest rates available for your travel preferences. When booking, if you’re forced to take seats separate from your party, do your best to get as many aisle seats as you can, since those are the most desirable, and therefore are the easiest to trade with other travelers.

Gas up: On any road trip, gas is a major expense. Look online for tools that allow you to plug in your route and estimate how much gas you’ll need along the way, taking into account the prices in different regions. On some sites, you can find the cheapest gas in the area. And Noble offers this great tip: “Many people don’t know it, but the gas stations along the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike are only allowed to change their prices once weekly”—usually on Thursday nights at midnight—“so if you notice an uptick at your local pump, the highway is the best place to score a deal before the prices go up.”

Arm yourself: Although you might prepare to eat many of your meals out while on vacation, it’s easy to spend a small fortune on snacks and drinks in between. Try to travel with some shelf-stable snacks like nuts, pretzels, dried fruit, and plenty of bottled water. If you have to stop and replenish your supplies, try to do it at a supermarket or a local convenience store, rather than at a rest stop.

MAKING MEMORIES

There are few experiences that spur memory-making better than travel. Follow these suggestions for enjoying your time while it lasts, and preserving the memories long after it’s over.
That’s entertainment: Bring along all the trappings of our tech-savvy world, and use mobile applications to help you navigate and connect. For a lasting memory, choose playlists or movies for the car, plane, or hotel that you and your family will always associate with that trip.

Forget-me-not: Souvenirs can turn a modest daytrip into an expensive proposition. When traveling with children, consider giving each child an allowance for their souvenirs. Even a small amount of money in their own control can provide a sense of excitement and careful contemplation about what to choose. Purchase items that will become a usable part of your home rather than kitschy knick knacks for next year’s tag sale. It’s nice to look around your home and see memories of so many places and times—truly a visual representation of how places and moments become a part of who we are, as individuals and as families.

Frozen moments: A vacation without photographic evidence is almost unheard of, and it’s easy to go crazy trying to capture every second of every day. But there are better ways to enjoy memories than with hundreds of photos stuffed in boxes. Photo-sharing sites offer great options like photo books and collage prints, which allow you to choose the best shots and turn them into a professional-looking summary of your trip.
Take it easy: Remember to plan some downtime into your days. Sometimes the best experiences are the ones that happen naturally, and those often make the best memories. If you’re driving, be realistic about the amount of miles you can (and want to) log in a day, so that the trip is an enjoyable part of the journey—not just a means to an end.

Group participation: Every trip you take marks a specific moment in your life and in your family’s life that will never again exist, so it can be very special to commemorate those moments with a time capsule. Have each family member write a letter to him- or herself to be read ten years down the line, and include a small object that is representative of the trip or their life at the time. Then, pack it all away safely for a later time, and be surprised and touched by how much—and sometimes how little—has changed. Another idea is to take a moment at dinner each night of the trip and have each traveler share their favorite memory of the day, and what they’re most looking forward to the next day. Conversations like this help to solidify memories and engender storytelling and laughter that will most certainly come home with you after the trip.