Birthday Road Trip!

The first road trip I ever took as an adult, began a few days before my birthday. I had never really traveled anywhere as an adult. I have however experienced a multitude of road trips as a child and teenager but never one as an adult. A few weeks before my birthday, I made a decision that if at all possible, I would travel as often as I could. I spoke with my sister about traveling, as she is in college and depending on the semester will sometimes take online classes instead of in person. One of the first things we did, was decide where we wanted to travel. After making the decision to travel to the East Coast, we created an outline of the stops and timeframe we’d spend at each location. This was due to the fact that the number of days I had requested off were ten.  The second step was to determine how much money we would need for the road trip. I broke it down into several sections such as gas, hotel, food, entertainment, souvenirs, etc. We decided that the first stop would be Niagara Falls. Since then I’ve taken both the Canadian and US route. I recommend the Canadian route as its more scenic and overall beautiful. You get a closer view of what many consider the real Niagara Falls. For the first stop at Niagara Falls, I only had to pay $10 for parking as getting into the park is free so the only thing you pay for is parking and any souvenirs you may want from the shops. I spent a few hours at Niagara Falls, and what really gave me that waterfall view from the US side is when I paid $20 to take a boat ride to get the real view as the US side has a smaller waterfall. The massive one everyone sees on  television is on the Canadian side. Those $20 were more than worth the cost. They provide you with a poncho to protect you from getting soaked. As well as entrance into the lower cliff that gets you as close to the waterfall as possible. Make sure you put any devices that are not waterproof away as you will get drenched. Our next stop was Portland Maine, it was the first time I’d ever seen a lighthouse in person. I loved Maine, its ocean views, with deep cliffs. I took several selfies next to the lighthouse. I bought some sea glass souvenirs for myself and my family. I’ll discuss other locations we went to on another post.

These were items I found essential on the road trip. The first thing was to pack up the car, we included some blankets, a pillow, luggage, and a small cooler as we had agreed to limit the amount of street food by instead  stopping by the grocery store and buying bread to make sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables instead of buying street food all the time. Other useful items were maze known as pepper spray, loose cash, walking shoes, yoga pants (comfortable pants and shoes), a diffuser, swiss safe 5-in-1 car safety hammer, emergency kit, car kit, headphones, sunglasses, hat, jacket, journal, phone, extra phone charger, portable charger, road map ( this was in case our phone stopped working). The most important part was making sure everything was accessible.

Ways to save money on a road trip. 

1. Pay the tolls- it may seem counterproductive however you spend more time and gas when you take side roads to avoid paying the tolls (whenever possible). If you buy an    I-Pass you’ll save money in the long run as you typically pay less than you would having to pay cash. You also save time since you don’t have to stop each time there is a toll. With the I-Pass its automatically deducted. 
2. Avoid hotels whenever possible. We did stay at hotels however it wasn’t every single night, hotels will take up a large part of your budget. To help if you require a hotel every night Try using Airbnb, hostelworld, or whenever possible you can do what I did, I would stay in my car and park at large travel truck stops. I usually use a Pilot or Loves; however, I’ve stayed at other truck stops depending on how tired I am or where I am at. The best part is these locations have showers you pay to use which typically cost $12 per person. Which is far cheaper than staying at a campground or hotel. You can also use your gym membership to shower if you have a membership that’s nationwide. 
3.  Plan your trip, know what attractions you will be visiting. If you decide on visiting spur of the moment locations, you waste valuable time and money. 
4. Try filling your tank early morning or at night when its least hot out. Through the times I’ve traveled, I’ve noticed my gas lasts longer and I get more mileage when I’ve filled my tank in cooler weather.
5. Try driving more at night, though I caution you to be alert. When there is less traffic, you stop less, encounter less accidents, and save on gas as you are more often able to have your vehicle on cruise control. 
6. Minimize your time inside the gas stations. My parents raised us to spend no more than 10 minutes in the gas station that includes using the restroom, snacks, and gas.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. This in no way is at a cost to you, this is only if you decide you want to use the affiliate link. This in no way affects how I feel about a product. All opinions are my own, and solely based on my experiences.