STEP #2: ITINERARY IDEAS & CHOOSING A ROUTE STYLE

Before there is a Road Trip, there is a Plan.  But before there can be a Plan, there are:

Itinerary Ideas, and a Route Style.

Itinerary Ideas

are what get us started, and consequently end up being how our plans begin.

Ideas can come from anywhere.  For Example:

*A ‘Bucket List’ place that you’ve always wanted to see

*A plan to see all of the National Parks in the U.S. (For a list of the Parks by Region, Click: LIST OF NATIONAL PARKS BY REGION)

*Some places you’ve passed by before and said, “Next Time”

*An interest sparked by another’s experience

*A place you visited as a child or long ago that you’ve always wanted to go back to

*Pictures you’ve seen somewhere

*An historical place you’d like to see & learn more about

The list is endless, but you need to start with your Idea. It’s okay – maybe even best – if your idea is vague.  Just grab a hold of your Idea and take out a map.

After you land on an Idea, then the work begins and you need to decide on your basic Route.  Before getting too carried away, however, there are a few questions to ponder:

*Which Idea did we settle on?

*What are our travel dates?  (keep in mind that some places are better seen at specific times of the year)

*What is our Budget?

*Is there an Event that we want to work around?

*Are there people that we’d like to see along the way?

*Can we make arrangements for the pets?

*What is our general reason for picking this Idea?

*Can we identify what we most want to get from this trip?

*What are the things that we are most interested in seeing / doing?

Here you can Download and Print the PDF Checklist: BEGINNING THE ITINERARY Questions To Ponder

Okay…..now on we go……

Choosing A ‘Route Style’

Now that an itinerary Idea has taken shape, it’s time to choose a Route Style.   The Style will help you determine your basic route.  I think of my ‘Route Style’ as the skeleton that the skin, muscles, etc.., (which are the daily trip details), connect to.  Here’ are my ‘Route Style’ options:

* ‘A’: The Oblong Route Style: The ‘A’ or ‘Oblong’ is a route that takes one path to a specific destination, and then a different path home.  This Route Style trip is basically divided into 3 segments.  An initial segment is spent getting to your destination, the next part is spent being at your end point destination and a final segment is spent getting back home.  The time spent in each segment is not necessarily equal.

   An example of an ‘Oblong’ was our trip to Savannah, GA:

The Itinerary idea was sparked by my parents-in-law’s trip there.  Their enjoyment, description and photos were all I needed to put it at the top of my list!  The destination was Savannah, but the path getting there took us through St Louis, Nashville, Asheville & Charleston.  We spent the most of our time in Savannah, and then explored Tupelo, Little Rock and Ft Smith on the way back. 

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* ‘B’: The B-Line’ Route Style trip is a route that takes you the quickest way to your destination, spends the bulk of your time there, and uses the same route going home. It’s basically a ‘Bee-Line’ to your destination and back, resulting in the most available time spent there.

      An Example of a ‘B-Line’ was our trip to San Antonio, TX:

We made a Bee-Line there and back with our time spent in one place doing local and day-trip sights, including the Missions, the Alamo & the Riverwalk.

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* ‘C’: The Circle Route Style trip is a Route Style that basically heads to a general area and explores that area with no actual destination point, and then circles back.  It covers an area, instead of having a specific destination.  Think of this Route Style as one having a theme.

      An Example of a ‘Circle’ was our Great Lakes / Colonial History Trip:

We picked a route that started in Denver and included 4 of the Great Lakes, as well as Chicago, Niagara Falls, Salem, NYC, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Williamsburg, Monticello and Louisville, ending back in Denver.  We sure studied a lot of Colonial history!

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After you have a ‘Route Style’ picked out, then you can sit down with a map (I like the big Rand-McNally that we get each year from our insurance company) and map out the plan.  This makes choosing the stops much easier!

One side note:  As you map out each leg of your trip, keep track of the mileage. That will be a big help for planning your budget!

Whew!!! Now you have a Skeleton and you can take breather before the next step…

   TO GO TO: HOW TO PLAN AN ‘A the OBLONG’ TRIP CLICK HERE

   TO GO TO: HOW TO PLAN A ‘B the BEE-LINE’ TRIP CLICK HERE

TO GO TO: HOW TO PLAN A ‘C the CIRCLE TRIP’ CLICK HERE

   HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS WEBSITE CLICK HERE

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