Road trip tips for a great weekend getaway or long-distance drive

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Road trips are a summer tradition, but anyone who has done a few knows that some road trips work out better than others. To celebrate the first-ever National Road Trip Day today (OK, it’s a U.S. thing, but I think it’s an idea Canadians will approve of, too!), here are my top tips for making your next weekend getaway or longer driving vacation a smashing success.

Note: The links below are not affiliate links.

Bring a cooler

This is my first recommendation for a very good reason: I love buying from local producers and I love a good picnic. You can manage both if you bring a cooler and a couple of ice packs (and if you forget the latter or can’t keep them frozen, you can usually buy ice at a nearby gas station). If you don’t have room for one of those hard plastic coolers, a folding, insulated cooler bag will do in a pinch. Your choices on that front are endless, but I did just come across this smallish, pretty cooler bag from Terra20, an eco-friendly Ottawa retailer, the other day.

Looking for places to buy locally produced foods in Ontario, Quebec or New York state? Here are some good places to start your search:

• my list of nearby farmers’ markets
• Savour Ottawa
• Farmers’ Markets Ontario
• Ontario Farm Fresh
• Outaouais Gourmet Way
• Terroir et Saveurs du Québec
• farmers’ markets in New York state

Pack beverage containers and road trip-worthy snacks

Everyone has their own favourite road trip snacks, but I’m particularly partial to trail mix. It holds up well, unlike crush-prone chips and cookies, and it’s usually loaded with protein-packed nuts and yummy dried fruits. Most kids like it, too. (That being said, I do indulge in a lot of less-than-healthy eating on the road—ummm, scones, anyone?) Other durable snacks include carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, grapes, granola bars and crackers.

If you want to avoid sugar-laden commercial trail mixes and make your own, here’s a great primer and trail mix recipe from The Healthy Maven.

And don’t forget to pack a refillable water bottle and travel beverage mug! Those empty paper coffee cups and disposable water bottles can pile up way too quickly on a long-distance drive.

Load up on cell-phone apps

The vast number of useful cell-phone apps for travellers warrants a whole post of its own (which I’ll write someday). Here are just a few of my go-to apps.

• Camera+ 2: If you want your phone to behave more like a full-sized DSLR when you’re capturing road trip photos, you’ll probably like this app. Among other handy functions, it has a good stabilizer and allows you to control photo-geek things like ISO (Apple only).
• Reverso: This one, which my Spanish teacher recently recommended, is great if you’re road tripping through a place where you don’t speak the language. You can say words and phrases in English and get an instant spoken translation in 12 other languages, including French and Spanish (Apple and Android).
• TripAdvisor: Love it or hate it (I’m in the middle), it’s the place to find reviews of just about any hotel, restaurant, attraction or anything else you might think of visiting on your driving holiday (Android and Apple).
• XE: This is my favourite simple, accurate currency converter, which is a handy thing to have if you’re doing hitting the road in the U.S. (Apple and Android).

Don’t forget the chargers

Judging by the number of gas stations and airport gift shops that sell cell-phone chargers, these little cords must be among the items travellers are most likely to forget at home. If you dread the thought of pawing through a tangle of cords at the end of the day, put each one in a separate zippered or drawstring bag, or tie each one to itself with an elastic band, then put them all in one bag or container. Make sure you also have extra USB cords or cigarette-lighter chargers for the car.

In addition, it can be handy to bring a power bank you can plug your phone into if you unexpectedly run out of juice or you’re staying somewhere without electricity. (I mean, if you absolutely have to play Candy Crush Saga while camping, who am I to judge?) I like Anker power banks; they’re often a bit heavy, but they’re durable and reliable. If you’re looking for a zero-carbon solution, MEC has a wide selection of solar-powered power banks.

Plan your road trip around an event

It’s one of the most common questions I get from readers: “Where should I go this summer?” The options are literally endless, but to narrow them down, you could find an event that appeals to you and plan your trip around that. Whether you like music festivals, art studio tours, fishing derbies or museum exhibitions, there are multiple communities within a day’s drive that would love you to come and check out their events.

Every week, I post a list of road trip ideas for the upcoming weekend on this site; you can subscribe to my free e-newsletter to make sure you don’t miss a post. And there’s still time to buy my festivals and events e-book for spring 2019, if you’re so inclined!

Get some fresh air and exercise in a park

When you’re doing a lot of driving to get from point A to point B, it can be easy to forget just how many hours of sitting that entails—until you get out of the car and you’re stiff as a board. Bring running shoes, a yoga mat, bathing suits, gym clothes, sunscreen, a hat, bug spray, your bike, a kayak—whatever you need to keep fit on the road, indoors or out.

One of the best ways to sneak in some exercise is to stop at a park to hike, paddle, swim or snowshoe. Use these links to find a park along your route in Ontario, Quebec or New York state.

• National Capital Commission
• Ontario Parks
• Sépaq (Quebec parks)
• Parks Canada
• New York State Parks

Bring a paper map

Our Generation Z daughter thinks I’m hilarious when she sees me checking the pocket in the driver’s-side door to make sure I have basic maps covering our destination. “You’re so OLD!” is her usual pithy comment. Ah, yes, but with age comes wisdom, Grasshopper. (And if you get that reference, you’re definitely in my snack bracket.)

Seriously, even though I love my GPS cell-phone apps, I’ve done enough road trips to know that they aren’t perfect. Sometimes they’ll point you to the wrong place. Sometimes your mobile phone will run out of juice (if you haven’t followed that previous tip about chargers). And sometimes—the horror!—you’ll find yourself in a spot with no cell service. And then you’ll be glad an old Gen Xer like me told you to bring a map.

Even if your technology doesn’t fail, paper maps are much better than apps at showing you the big picture. It’s easier to get a sense of where you’ve been and where you’re going when looking at a map than when looking at a tiny screen. It’s also easier to spot possible spontaneous side trips. Glued to a screen, you might have no clue you’re within 10 kilometres of a great beach or a cool historic site or whatever else floats your boat.

So where do you even find maps these days? Gas stations are still a good bet, but I’d recommend World of Maps on Wellington Street for the widest selection (you can order online, too).

Corral all your road-trip research

If you’re like me, you’ve probably done a ton of research before hitting the road—asking friends for restaurant and lodging recommendations, Googling kid-friendly parks, looking up great hiking trails and more. (Hint: You can always start that research with the search box right here on the Ottawa Road Trips site.) You may have already bought some tickets and made some reservations. You may have plans to meet friends at a particular time and place. If you’re heading out of the country, you’ll need the policy number for your travel insurance. (You did buy travel insurance—right?) Once you hit the road, you’ll want all that information at your fingertips. What’s the best way to organize it?

I have both a digital and an old-fashioned solution. If going paperless is your goal, try the Evernote app. It lets you save everything from PDF files (think downloaded tickets) and Word documents to Web links and photos, all in one file, which you can open on your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop.

If you want to go old school, you can’t beat a three-ring binder. (This is an idea I stole from my super-organized friend Yvonne.) Buy a bunch of heavy-duty sheet protectors, then load up each sheet protector with similar printouts and brochures. You could organize it chronologically or by theme. For instance, you could put all the information you need for the first day of your trip (hotel reservation confirmation, trail map and so on) in the first sheet, day two’s info in the second sheet, and so on. Or you could group info by topic, with all of your beach recommendations in one sheet, all of your maps in another—you get the idea.

I find this isn’t really necessary unless you’re doing a complicated trip, but on that kind of trip, it’s a godsend. It also makes a nice souvenir of your road trip.

Note: Because I am the worst at monetizing this website, none of the links above are affiliate links—the links many bloggers use to earn a little extra income from their recommendations. That might change in the future (I have nothing against making a living!), but for now, they’re not.

Looking for more tips on day trips, weekend getaways and longer trips from Ottawa? Why not subscribe to my free weekly e-newsletter?