The art and science of planning scouting (car) trips for fun and adventure while you travel.
- Trip example (Excel File)
- TV Food Maps
- Roadside America
Transcript:
I do a lot of trip planning inside and outside of scouts. While some might disagree, I think the journey to wherever you are going is part of the adventure, and if it’s possible I like to break up longer trips with some goofy fun and adventure.
For trip planning I like to use Excel, this allows me to notate things that are important.
In general I mark down the starting and ending points first, and in a separate column I add a timeline. So in this instance, if I am planning on leaving my meeting place at 8 am, and the destination is 5 hours away, I know I need to slot in a meal somewhere around noon, and that will take about 45 minutes on average.
Now it’s very easy to just stop at a rest stop or a fast food restaurant and get a quick bite, but I like to check for fun food places featured on one of the food shows like Man vs Food, or Diners, Dives and Drive ins.
There’s a great search that will allow you to put in a location and it will tell you what is around. Unfortunately, most of these shows stick to larger areas, so if you are in the middle of the country, you might be out of luck.
But even if there isn’t a primo location around, doing a google search for the area you are stopping in can often find a hidden gem. When heading down to the Jamboree, we found an awesome diner with the best fried chicken in the state that my son still talks about.
To start this off though, you can put your start and end locations into google maps and it will show you the quickest path. Choose a location about 3 ½ to four hours in and use that general area as your pit stop for lunch.
When it’s possible I like to also visit local attractions. Cool spots like dinosaurs; Martian landing spots and giant chairs give you the opportunity to take a few photos, spread your legs a bit and also opportunities for folks to use the facilities.
Just make sure you give appropriate time to the activity. For a Martian Landing site, I give 15 minutes, but the PEZ museum, you may want to dedicate an hour or more, depending on your schedule.
There is a great website called roadside America that showcases tons of attractions all over the US.
Using excel to plan out your whole trip lets you timebox things, map out expenses and also give you an opportunity to give out an itinerary to the parents (the kids don’t care).
If you are more technology inclined you can save your maps and info in google maps and even share them.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this a little bit about trip planning.
