If you’re already thinking of summer with a sense of longing then maybe you should plan an excursion so that you can look forward to something. Planning a journey on the open road could be the perfect form of motivation to lift your spirits over the next few months. Here’s how to plan an extraordinary road trip for the summer.

Plan Your Route

The first step to planning an extraordinary road trip for the summer is planning your route. It might be tempting to take a spontaneous approach to road tripping, but you might be setting yourself up for disappointment if you do that. You need to be prepared in terms of weather conditions and possible road closures. You should have a few different plans for multiple routes you could take to reach your destination. That way, if something unexpected happens on a particular route then you’ll have a plan B or plan C in place to ensure you don’t waste any time.

Plan Your Mode of Transportation

You also need to plan ahead in terms of your transportation. This depends on the number of people who’ll be coming with you on the road trip. Of course, it all depends on the type of experience you want. Maybe you and a group of your friends want to explore new places in a van, or maybe you want to take a few cars and head off on a journey to some epic destination. Maybe you’re simply planning a trip for you and your partner and you’ve got your heart set on riding a motorcycle. It goes without saying, of course, that you’ll need to know how to operate such a vehicle before you head out on a road trip, whether it’s a short journey or not. But knowing how to ride a bike is only the first step to consider. You need to choose the motorcycle itself. Most importantly, you need to choose the right one for long road trips. It needs to serve you well this time and any other time that you choose to venture out on a trip into the world. You might want to check out the American Motorcycle Trading Company for some used but high-quality Harley Davidson motorbikes. It doesn’t get much better than riding into the sunset on classic vehicles such as those.

Imagine You’re Playing Tetris When You Pack Your Vehicle

Whether you’re driving a small motorcycle or a huge campervan, you need to plan ahead in terms of packing. There’s nothing worse than finding you don’t have enough room for everything you need or simply realizing you’ve forgotten basic things once you’re already on the road. First of all, you need to think about the essentials you’ll need on your journey. This all depends on the duration of the trip and the destinations you plan on visiting along the way. You’ll need plenty of food and water. Make sure you pack emergency supplies such as a first aid kit and torches too. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Once you’ve got a list, you need to start loading up your vehicle to check that there’s room for everything. If you’re a little stretched in terms of space then get rid of any non-essentials.

Plan out Some Form of Entertainment for the Journey

You might have a fantastic plan in place with regards to the wonderful destinations you want to visit on your road trip, but remember that the journey itself is a huge part of the experience. You don’t want to see the trip on the road as a boring interlude between each stop. Obviously, you and your friends or family (whoever your travel companions may be) will probably have plenty of great conversations and you might even play some games of “I Spy”. However, you should have some other forms of entertainment in place when you want to rest your voices.

A great playlist is a necessity. Of course, you might not get a chance to rest your voice if some top tunes come on and you want to sing along, but the point is that you need that extra layer of entertainment to serve as a backdrop to a wonderful trip. The right playlist can make the journey extraordinary. If you’re heading along a windy desert road with some blues music blasting out of the window then you’ll feel as if you’re in some quirky music video. If you have kids coming along for the ride then you might also want to set up a portable DVD player in the back to keep them occupied with some movies.

Be Prepared for the Journey Home

We’ve talked a lot about the different things you need to prepare before you go on a road trip, but thinking about the journey home is one of the most important ways in which you need to prepare. Many people focus so much on the trip itself then that they forget about the journey back. Regardless, you need to be more prepared for the return trip because you’ll probably be tired from a long and successful trip. You might be financially as well as physically exhausted, for that matter. Don’t let your budget slip at this point. Make sure you find some cheap gas before you head off on that long journey and stock up on some more food so that you don’t end up having to resort to eating at expensive restaurants on the way home.

The key to being prepared for the journey home is to plan for it just as extensively as you do for the trip itself. To make things easier for yourself, make sure you clean out your car, bike, or whatever vehicle you’re using before you head home. It’ll be one less thing to sort out once you get back, and you won’t have to endure an unpleasant return journey in a messy and cluttered vehicle. You might be a little sad on the trip back because your fun experience is over, but it can still be a fun part of your road trip if you prepare for it just as thoroughly as you did for the initial portion of your excursion.