Not too long ago, I had the chance to go on my first real road trip. It is something I had dreamed of doing for years, so I jumped right in when given the opportunity. A road trip can be quite the emotional roller coaster, from bliss to exhaustion to excitement. After driving from Raleigh, NC to San Diego, CA, I have come up with a list of tips to help you survive the long rides.

1. Get out of the car every time you stop. Stretching is very important when taking a long road trip. If you don’t stretch often, you could be setting yourself up for some major back pain. Move as often as you can, even if only a little.
2. Never book hotels ahead of time. Procrastination is not my thing. Nonetheless, part of the fun of road trips is not knowing where you will wind up at the end of the day. That’s all part of the fun. Instead of booking ahead of time, book the day of by using Hotwire. A lot of times you can save money by getting the deals last minute too.
3. Have a list ready of fun places to eat along your route. There will be days when you don’t have anything exciting to see along the route. Keeping the excitement up is still important, though, since everyone wants something to look forward to. I used Yelp to find the most interesting restaurants in whatever town we were passing through. We found quite a few fun places along our route that we would not have known about otherwise.
4. Always stay open to stopping somewhere last minute. You don’t have to have everything planned out completely. If you drive past something that looks interesting, then stop. Road trips are supposed to be impromptu. Always make time for unplanned adventures.

Road trips are quite an adventure. Hopefully these tips will help you to get the most out of your road trip.