On Tuesday, I kicked off my 2 week U.S. Roadtrip. I started the trip with a nice 14 hour drive to Gulf Shores, Alabama for Hangout Music Festival. I had to do the drive alone because my friend Maggie had work and couldn’t tag along. A long haul like that can be brutal (I have several more coming up in the next two weeks), so I made a list on how to lessen the pain if you ever do a long drive like that solo.

• Spotify Playlists – I am not sure what I would have done without these. I am a new Spotify premium user and I cannot tell you how much I love it. Rather than purchasing new albums and spending a lot of money, Spotify Premium allows you to create playlists or make whole albums a playlist, and listen while you’re offline. The music is quickly downloaded into the app, and you can listen on the go without wasting any of your data.
  • Note: Spotify has a promotion going on right now where you pay 99 cents for the first three months of Premium use. If you decide you do not like it, you can cancel after the 3 months.
• The 3 hour rule – When making long drives like this, one of the worst things you can do is stop all the time. I took a look at my GPS and noticed that every time I made a stop (even if it was to use the bathroom quickly and jump back on the road), that stop would tack on an extra 15 minutes to my drive. Taking breaks is essential, so I tried limiting those breaks to every 3 hours. It made the drive go by faster and I had something to look forward to each time. I would use the restroom, grab a quick snack, fill up on gas and head back out.
• Try to eat on the go – When I was working my previous job, I would have to make really long drives on my own as well, usually 5-6 hours one way. Because I would also need to send out emails and make calls, I would often pull over and sit down for lunch somewhere. Even with having a working lunch, stopping and sitting down somewhere (even for 30 minutes) would add on an hour or more to my trip. For the 14 hour drive to Gulf Shores, I grabbed everything on the go. I’ve been trying to eat healthy (which is difficult on the road), but I made one stop at a grocery store for some chicken and I stopped at Subway for a sandwich. I usually get a little more than I need for that particular meal so that I can snack while on the road.
• Handsfree bluetooth – Sometimes if you get a little tired, getting on the phone and chatting with someone helps wake you up. Focusing on the road is the most important thing, of course, but if you’ve got a long, wide, open road and feel like you could handle a small catch up session with a friend, do it! I got to catch up with my friend Stephanie in Miami for a bit and it helped revive me during the travel.
• Get a decent nights rest – When I do these long hauls, I make sure to split them up appropriately. For this drive, I made sure to get rest after about 7 hours of driving (halfway through). I stayed in Kentucky after the first 7 hours, got a good nights rest, woke up and made it the rest of the way to Gulf Shores.
  • NOTE: On my trip, I am primarily using Hotels.com because of their Welcome Rewards program. Staying 10 nights anywhere gets you a night free and I know I’ll get at least one night out of this roadtrip. Something to note, however, is that Hotels.com typically upcharges you a bit more than the hotel would if you were to book directly through them. If you do your due diligence and research the lowest rate, Hotels.com will match that price. Likewise, if you are staying in a chain with a points system, you can easily get a Hotels.com welcome reward night point AND points from your hotel chain by booking through Hotels.com. Its double dipping on points!

If you have a long drive ahead and have any questions or need advice, let me know. I’m happy to help!

Hangout Music Festival starts tonight and I cannot wait. Lots of pictures and posts to come this weekend!

<3 Steph