This is the part that kept me happily occupied for eight months before we left. While Huck Finn would just “light out for the territories,” with kids in tow, you need to have a plan. There is so much to plan: where to go? Should we fly or drive? Where will we stay? What will I pack? Will I turn into Clark Griswold? (Yes, I rewatched “Vacation” and I played “Holiday Road” when we left the driveway.) I used mapping software, websites like this, and an actual wall map with pins next to the dinner table to plan the route.
Mapping It Out: I started by deciding where to go. After so many days of commuting the same roads to and from work, school, errands, I wanted us to see new places- wide open ones, and steep rocky ones. So, I looked west. It always seemed to me that the continent gets most interesting towards the Continental Divide, but that is a long way from the Northeast. My longest road trips before had been 250 miles to Montreal, and 400 to DC. This would be MUCH grander, and in order to make it viable for the four of us, I knew that I would need to break it up into segments, or legs; a day of driving, a day or so someplace good.
Here is a quick overview: we decided to start with
It is a lowtech change from Clark Griswold’s video game, but at least it got everyone involved!
Here is an interesting fact- once you leave the East Coast, most major American cities in the midwest are just about five hours apart by highway. Five hours is a long day of driving, but doable.
So, it was time to prepare the Family Truckster, our third-gen 2010 Honda Odyssey, the affectionately and accurately-named “Blue Van”. She was at 100k, so I had the timing belt done, radiator and transmission flushed. I put in new pads and rotors on all 4 wheels, changed wiper blades, spark plugs, battery, and every other maintenance thing I could think of well ahead of time. Also, renewed the expiring inspection sticker. We weren’t sure if, once we left Massachusetts, her Massachusetts inspection sticker required, but it seemed like a good thing to do.
Since it lacks a bathroom, Blue Van would never be an RV, but I tried to make reversible changes that would make it comfortable.
Since there were only four of us, and we had to pack luggage and camping gear for a month, I removed the third row of seats, added roof racks cross beams, and a Thule cargo bag.
Taking out the third row was medium challenging, but with the help of this YouTube video, I did it without breaking anything or hurting myself. If you are going to try this, watch the video because there are some high-tension springs in there that you have to account for.
A sharp eye will notice that the exposed floor of the unibody is silvery. I actually took out the carpet and covered the while rear floorpan with Kilmat, a sound deadening pad. I would like to think it made a difference in decreasing road noise. You can check it out on Amazon if you are curious.
Now that the read seats were out, that gave us space for a cooler and a sturdy storage box.
I wanted to do something with the oddly-shaped storage between the cooler/box and the rear sill. I could slide shoes in there, but they tend to shift, and small things would get lost altogether as they move around. I cobbled together a wooden box to put these things, with a step in the middle so I wouldn’t crush the cargo box. I grabbed some leftover 1/2″ plywood and went to work.
Planning the loadout
As I mentioned, the Thule roof bag was for the camping gear, leaving the back of the van for everything else. But I wanted to design something that would let me see out the back window, and would also be a comfortable den.
Entertainment
These days, a successful roadtrip must include books, educational materials, audio books, AC adapters and WiFi. Download books on Overdrive and Audible before you go, to avoid large downloads that may use your data and get interrupted by deadspots (found that out the hard way). Our kids have devices without their own data plans (our kids use our old phones and iPads) , so I used my Droid as a wireless hotspot, but that chewed through data very quickly.
We did have a lot of books, highway scavenger hunts, colorable maps, etc. That’s a whole other post!
My favorite thing is my Radio Shack AC Power Inverter. You plug one end of this into your DC charger port (aka the “Cigarette lighter” if you are my age) and the other end is a regular, grounded, AC plug. Plug a 6 foot power trip into that and you can charge whatever you want, anywhere in your vehicle. Not even sure where I picked this up. You can get one today with three plugs and a lot smaller, but this thing is great and I will keep it as long as I can.
Clothes
Clothes are an important part of adventuring well. Before you quote Thoreau to me, make sure to finish the quote: “I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” Travel opens a new chapter of ourselves, and make us a new wearer. So, I like to make sure that my clothes are comfortable, low maintenance, and versatile
Three major things:
Sunscreen shirts, quickdry shorts, and water shoes.
Socone water shoes. Bought them on Amazon and liked them a lot. Comfy, great for driving, no chafing. However, don’t wear water shoes on gravel, because it pokes into the tread, hurts and gets stuck. Also, when they get wet, dry them well immediately, or face a lifetime of stink.
Columbia quick dry cargo shorts met all of my criteria: comfortable enough to drive in for 5 hours, deep slash pockets, zipping cargo pockets, stretchy adjustable waistband, quickdry and with netting so you don’t need underwear. Right from drivers seat to the river (check your pockets first). Zipping pockets for treasures found while swimming, and a short drying time. I have worn these ever since for adventure. Check the photo- they used to be olive drab, but after countless rivers, pools, hut tobs, and water slides, they are almost white. Still no rips or tears, though!
I bought a matching pair of Kanu Surf Men’s Short Sleeve UPF 50+ shirts. They provide SPF and dry off quickly. They are also comfortable- soft enough to wear all day, and generously-sized. The close fits SPF shirts make me feel like a cased sausage! Photo here, but you’ll see it again.
Navigation
I bought a US paper map, just in case, and just to feel the joy of knowing we could go anywhere on the map that we wanted. But in the end, we relied on Google Maps. A bit of a blackout in Ontario, because we forgot to let AT&T know we were going and get the international plan, but other than that, it was invaluable. You can use it to navigate, find gas, food, and lodging. you can use it to look at a town ahead of time to see how big it might be. Just an awesome tool. Download maps ahead of time for blackouts. If you don’t do that, once you enter a dead spot, it will work on what you have already loaded as long as you don’t exit.
Credit cards, data plans, and health insurance cards
- Bring at least two different kinds of card (e.g. Visa and Amex, or MC and Discover).
- Call them ahead of time to let them know that you are going. MOst cards no longer require this, but JIK.
- Memorize the number, or take a photo, in case you lose it.
- Credit cards take care of international exchange rates!
- If you are going to leave the US, make sure you get an International Plan. You only pay for it if you use it- $10 per day on any day you use your device outside of the US. You need your phone more than you realize until it stops working. Don’t find yourself in Canada with a credit card that does not work, and a phone that cannot call them, in a place where the map will not load. Trust me.
- Bring your health insurance card. Hopefully you won’t need it, but we usually end up needing it. Let your PHP know you are traveling. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. It saved us thousands of dollars (more about that later).
Beard
Here is the before. I had a few weeks of growth before we left. Let’s compare this to where I end up!
