Road Tripping! Byeeee

As you read this, I am preparing to road trip down the East Coast. Or, depending on the time of day, I’m already road trippin’ down the East Coast. I’m going from Connecticut to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina! I’ll be with my boyfriend Chris and our friend Kris (lol) on this epic 14-15ish hour journey. We’re leaving around 5 PM on Wednesday night, when I get out of work, and will drive to Virginia for the night. Then, wake up Thursday morning and continue the second half of the trip. We’ll be on HHI for an extra long Memorial Day weekend and return to CT on Wednesday. I am in such desperate need of a vacation it’s insane. This is well-deserved, if I do say so myself.

I thought it would be fun to share some a road trip post today, including a bunch of things – books about road trips, what I’m bringing along for the ride, books I packed with me for the beach, and more. Check it out and wish me luck!

We’re going to be visiting all sorts of things around HHI over the next week. We’ll be in the Palmetto Dunes area (the purple section on the bottom of the map), which seems to be near a lot of shopping and some of the better beaches. Honestly I’m sure you can’t go wrong! We plan to check out the Harbour Town lighthouse (left) and eat a LOT of delicious food. Seriously though… you should see my to-do list for the week. It’s 90% restaurants. Chris and Kris went there together a few years ago and had a great, relaxing time… so we’re very excited!

These are all of the books I plan on bringing along on the trip! Don’t get nervous – some of them are on my Kindle and a few are physical copies. I wanted to bring a good mix. I have a few other books that will probably get added in at the last minute, depending on what I finish before we leave, and some that may get read beforehand. I wanted to stick with a few summery books so that I’d enjoy them on the beach! I love that feeling.

I’m going to be bringing along a bunch of random shit for the car ride. I have a creeping suspicion that I’m going to be the main driver on this journey, which is fine because we’re using my car… so I’m not sure how much of this I’ll actually be able to use personally! We’ll see how many hours I can get the boys to drive too…

Convenience

Floral backpack for the ride down and to use on the beach once we get there
Phone mount for the car so we can easily see the GPS and control music as needed

Clothing

Panthers zip-up hoodie to put over my tee shirt if I get cold while driving (plus I can represent!)
Yoga pants/leggings because I plan on being the most comfortable person ever
Moccasins in case my feet are cold with the AC, flip flops because they’re easiest

Entertainment

Kindle Paperwhite to read whenever I’m not driving
Mad Libs in case I can get the boys to play with me when we’re bored
Headphones if I have the ability to listen to my own audiobook or music
iPod Classic because it has a huge library for music that we’ll all enjoy (plus mix CDs)
iPad mini to download shows/movies on ahead of time for us to take turns watching

Snacks

Junk food because that’s the point of a road trip!
Water for hydration and soda to stay awake

I did quite a bit of planning ahead of time to make sure we had all of our ducks in a row. I found and pinned a bunch of fun articles with road trip hacks, as well as HHI websites for planning once we arrive. Here are some things I implemented for this trip and bought ahead of time.

• Buzzfeed’s Road Trip Hacks: I made the cereal container trash can and bought a dashboard mount for my phone! I loved so many of these tips, including using a roll of duct tape as an extra cupholder for the person in the backseat. The websites/apps Fuel My Route will definitely help, as well as Along the Way.
• Easy Vacation Food Prep: I went and got a cooler for us to use on the way because it’d save money, instead of stopping for food multiple times each way. I read a few websites of snack ideas, including this one. I loved all of the little containers of fruits and single serve dips (hummus, peanut butter, etc.). I want to try to be as healthy as possible for most of the food because I know I’ll reach for BBQ chips and soda otherwise!
• Tips for Packing for Vacation: I wanted to make sure we had enough stuff in the car itself (rather than the trunk) without crowding the person in the backseat. The good thing is that we only have three people on this trip, so there will be plenty of room for him and other things in the back. I liked some of these space-saving ideas in this article! It also confirmed my idea that rolling clothes up is smarter than just stacking them. I also always pick clothes in a similar color family so I can use the same jewelry and shoes.
• Tricks to Make Packing Easier: Yes, another article about packing. I like the idea of putting pairs of shoes in shower caps! That helps avoid getting dirty stuff all over your clothing.

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What’s the longest road trip you’ve been on?
Ever been to Hilton Head Island? Let’s chat!

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