Planning a trip

How do you decide where to go?

We love to go places we’ve never been before. Our goal is to get our kids to 49 states. (We tell them they’re on their own to get to Hawaii, but who knows?) We keep a map on the fridge with the states they’ve been to colored in and a large highway map decorates our family room wall with our routes highlighted.

On one of our early trips, we spent time in the car talking about the places we wanted to see. We jotted them down in our notebook, then numbered them in the order that made sense based on the kids’ ages and the geographic locations of each destination. We’ve stuck to the plan ever since.

How do you plan the trip?

I’m lucky. My husband loves to plan these trips and researches everything from hotels to campgrounds to excursions and tours. He does all the research online and makes many phone calls and emails to get the scoop on each place. Trip Advisor is a great tool to get traveler reviews, although some people like to use it to complain, so take it with a grain of salt. We often leave reviews as well to pass along the help.