My top road trip tips: Maps, tuneups and tunes

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Eager to head out on a day trip, weekend getaway or epic road trip but not sure how to prepare? In my years of puttering around Ontario, Quebec and points beyond, I’ve learned a thing or two about getting ready to hit the road. Here are my top road tripping tips.

Do your homework

While I don’t advise falling down a research rabbit hole before a road trip, a little legwork to find out what to see and do in your destination goes a long way.

Local tourist boards and chambers of commerce are great places to start—and I have a big list of every tourist information office I’ve been able to find within about five hours of Ottawa.

Associations and websites devoted to specific interests—such as hiking, mountain biking or local history—will often provide very detailed information on everything from trail elevations to genealogical libraries.

No one likes to talk about it, but everyone likes to know where to find an open public loo on their travels. In these days of closures and limited access, that can be tricky; again, I have a big list of public washrooms within a large radius of Ottawa.

Finally, ask your friends for their road trip tips. You’ll be amazed to learn what they’ve discovered on their own travels, and their recommendations for things to see and do.

Pack a paper map

Our Generation Z daughter thinks I’m hilarious for keeping a tote bag full of maps in the trunk. “Mom, use your phone!” she says, as if I’ve never heard of Google Maps. Yes, GPS apps are wonderful—until they’re not.

The further you venture into rural areas, the greater the likelihood that your favourite app will mistakenly direct you to drive through a farmer’s field or across a lake—and that’s only if your cell service doesn’t cut out completely. Mobile service can be patchy in the country at the best of times, and storms and random outages can leave you driving blind even in big cities.

Not sure where to buy a paper map? ONroute service centres, large gas stations and chain bookstores often have a few, but your best bet is a specialized retailer such as World of Maps (1191 Wellington Street West).

Be prepared

Your Boy Scout or Girl Guide leader was right: You should always be prepared for things to go wrong. Before your road trip, make sure your car is tuned up. Check the tire pressure and the oil before heading out. Pack a first aid kit. Ensure you have water, snacks, sunscreen, hats and bug spray. Learn about ticks (and how to remove them). In winter, bring a small shovel and a thermal blanket. If you belong to the CAA or similar emergency service, make sure you have your membership card.

Bring a cooler

Here’s one of my top road trip tips: Freeze those ice packs the night before, because you’re going to need them. First, you might want to bring along some picnic treats. But second, if you’re a foodie, you’re almost guaranteed to come across a farmers’ market, a cool cheese shop, a fruit stand, a great take-home foods store or some other source of irresistible perishable goodies on your travels.

Even though the photo above shows a hard-sided cooler, I’d advise getting a soft-sided, foldable one instead. It will take up less room in your trunk and will be lighter to carry.

If you’re planning to eat some of your finds along the way, don’t forget plates, cutlery, napkins, mugs, glasses, a vinyl tablecloth and wet wipes. A bread knife and a paring knife can come in handy, too. In fact, if you make a habit of this sort of thing, invest in a picnic basket to make it feel properly festive.

Other things to bring on a road trip

You might think you’re just going to do a little shopping or check out a museum. But then you spot a sign for a scenic trail or picnic spot, or someone tells you about a great place for birding or a photogenic waterfall. Or the weather forecast may not have been as accurate as you’d hoped. So, depending on the season, here’s a checklist of other items you might just want to pop in your trunk:

• hiking boots, water shoes, sandals, winter boots, rain boots
• folding chair
• binoculars
• swimsuit and towel
• camera equipment
• umbrella
• windbreaker, rain poncho, fleece
• toque, scarf, mittens

Make a playlist

Remember mix tapes? (Okay, I’m dating myself—and if you answered “yes,” so are you.)

I used to make mix tapes for long trips as a sort of soundtrack for the adventure. Now, I sometimes create a playlist on my phone—usually a mix of happy, boppy tunes, but sometimes music that’s top of mind for me at the moment.

For instance, a few years ago, I went to a Joe Jackson concert a couple of days before heading out on a meandering trip through Prince Edward County, Kington and upstate New York. I put Joe Jackson’s greatest hits on random shuffle and sang along to every tune. Now, whenever one of those songs comes up on my phone, it catapults me right back to that fun trip.

Ideally, your playlist should be at least half the length of your outbound journey, so the songs don’t repeat too often. Otherwise, you’ll get sick of them really quickly.

If you’re really keen, you could create several playlists for different phases of the trip—perhaps something bright and breezy for mornings or the start of the journey, and something gentler and more reflective for the trip home. (A word of warning: Don’t play the soft and gentle tunes at night, especially if you’re driving alone!)

No one will ever accuse me of having cutting-edge musical taste, but here are some of my all-time favourite road trip songs:

• Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves
• Follow Your Arrow, Kacey Musgraves
• Hungry Heart, Bruce Springsteen
• Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars
• In the Air, Phil Collins (air drumming on the steering wheel required)
• Rehab, Amy Winehouse
• Big Branch, Gangstagrass ft. Tomasina
• Best Friend, Sofi Tucker ft. NERVO, The Knocks and Alisa Ueno
• Burning Down the House, Talking Heads
• Rumour Has It, Adele
• Come Get It Bae, Pharrell Williams
• When Horsepower Meant What It Said, Sandi Thom
• Riverboat Fantasy, David Wilcox
• Personal Jesus, Johnny Cash (yeah, I know it was originally a Depeche Mode song; the Johnny Cash version is better)
• Are You Jimmy Ray? Jimmy Ray

Try podcasts and audiobooks

Not a music fan? Here’s another road trip tip: Binge on your favourite podcast or listen to an audiobook instead. My husband and I once listened to a 12-hour audiobook about the 2000 American election while doing a marathon drive from Melbourne to Sydney. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in a topic, especially if your trip involves long stretches of highway driving.

Looking for some podcast recommendations? Everyone’s taste is so idiosyncratic, and there’s a podcast out there for literally every interest, so take my podcast suggestions with a grain of salt. Also, I’m among the apparently 1.2% of human beings who don’t enjoy true crime podcasts, so I don’t have anything to offer there. Here are a few of my current favourites:

• Everything Everywhere: In this daily, 10-minute podcast, travel blogger Gary Arndt offers bite-sized takes on quirky historical topics (episodes include “Why Does Liechtenstein Even Exist?” and “Examine the Zipper”).
• Laugh Out Loud: For some reason, I love listening to standup comedy on long drives. Since this is the podcast version of a CBC Radio show, the content is usually safe for all ages.
• Reasons to Be Cheerful: This is one of my latest discoveries. Former British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and broadcaster Geoff Lloyd highlight examples of cool civic and social projects in the U.K. around the world—think windmills in Denmark or four-day work weeks in New Zealand.
• Under the Influence: Adman Terry O’Reilly delves into the history of advertising on this weekly half-hour CBC Radio show. Endlessly fascinating.

Create a road trip binder

If you thought my suggestion for paper maps was funny, you’re going to find this one downright hilarious. But it’s one of my favourite road trip hacks for long trips, so I’m hoping you’ll find it useful, too.

I actually can’t take credit for this concept; I stole it outright from my super-organized friend Yvonne.

Basically, get a small three-ring binder or a DuoTang, and a package of clear sheet protectors. Then, gather all the research you’ve done for your trip, which might include anything from emails and text messages containing recommendations from friends to articles, printouts of e-tickets you’ve bought in advance, maps (again!) and more.

Next, organize them chronologically. For each day of your long trip, put all the printouts related to that day in the same sheet protector (or several, if you have a lot of stuff). Then pop all the sheets into your binder, in order. That way, when you get to a cute town along the route and you can’t remember the name of that great restaurant your sister urged you to check out—voilà! It’s at your fingertips.

Of course, you could also do this electronically. For instance, you could set up a notebook in Evernote with tags for each destination or day. Alternatively, you could pop everything into a Google Sheet. The apps and options are endless. But again, I’ll warn you about the possibility of unreliable cell service in remote areas! Call me a neanderthal, but printouts do give me confidence.

And confidence is the key to a successful road trip. Once you have the basics covered—a tuned-up car, the right gear, a plan—you’ll have the confidence to go off script, find new things and have serendipitous adventures. Happy travels!

Other road trip tips?

Do you have a road trip tip I overlooked? Please let me know in the comments—and thanks!

Looking for ideas for things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter and/or buy my guidebook, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.