If you are planning a road-trip this summer – and if you’ve ever have been on one – you know that any successful road trip requires proper planning and execution. Before the days of internet and smartphones, we’d use road maps, and request brochures from locations we may be passing through. It was quite a project, since you had to really plan ahead to get all the info you needed and you sure couldn’t do a quick planning trip without just winging it.
Which is why I love technology. It’s made life pretty simple when it comes to travel – which is why I had to share some of my favorite sites and apps to help your road trip be the best road trip ever!
This post is sponsored by Reedman Toll Chevy.
- Roadtrippers
What is great about Roadtrippers is that you can use it on desktop AND your phone! I hate when I have a great app on my phone but I need to do a bit more research and I can’t open it up on my laptop and visa versa! What is also great about Roadtrippers is you can add all of your bucket list adventures and it creates an ideal route between all of them, giving you the best scenic routes and saving you time on the road. It also gives you an estimate on how much gas you’ll spend, how many miles you’ll be driving and arrival times.
You can also share your trip with friends or family (safety first!) and edit your route in case you change your mind, or decide to add something else. This is definitely one of my favorites, and I think it will be yours as well!
2. Waze
So my sister actually introduced me to the Waze app, and it’s something I use anytime I travel, whether I’m heading downtown, a work event, or a road trip. Waze is a bit different than most GPS apps as it lets the community (Waze community) decide which routes are best to take. Believe it or not, I’ve saved myself TONS of time using the Waze app verses just a regular GPS app to get around town. Users also report hazards and conditions to watch for during your trip, such as accidents, traffic jams, police radars and so on so that you can safely avoid them – and get to your destination on time (or at least close to it). They also will alert you to the cheapest gas around, which is also shared by the Waze community.
3. Travel Blogs/Pinterest
There are a slew of bloggers and social media influencers that love to share hidden gems and great deals that they find along the way in their travels – be sure to check them out! Google or search on Pinterest your destination and you’d be surprised at what you might find. I have found some great places I would of never known about (hotels, adventures, and restaurants) if I didn’t search for people like me who had been there themselves.
4. Hotel Tonight
If you’ve ever traveled on a long trip, you’ve probably had this experience: you are just too tired to keep driving, and parking at a rest stop to get some shut eye just isn’t as safe as it used to be. SO you have to find a hotel quick and cheap, before you blare your music and roll down all the windows and crank up the A.C. to try and stay awake (we’ve probably all done that too, but remember – safety first!) If you’ve ever stopped and gotten a hotel and immediately wished that you would of slept in your car in McDonalds’s parking lot – well Hotel Tonight is for you. They specialize in last minute hotel deals and you can book a room right from the app! It will also give you ratings and reviews, so you can make sure you are staying at a place you can actually get some rest at!
5. Trello
Trello is like a virtual checklist which is awesome for anyone like me who ALWAYS loves to make lists. You can create a checklist, upload files, make notes and more. Trello can be used on the desktop and phone as well, so again, makes life a lot easier. You can use Trello for really anything, but if you are planning a road trip, or even multiple trips, this would be a great place to store everything together and be able to access anywhere!
