Tips from crazy: how to plan a trip

Trip planning has always been one of my specialities. In high school, I planned food, coordinated school buses in a dysfunctional school district, packed gear, and delegated tasks. And I did the same thing for family trips, except my mom got to deal with the food. So I definitely qualify as a boss at planning trips. Though my dad still has the honor of booking cheap hotels in red light districts.

I start with a start and an end-point, and a round trip ticket or car ride. Then I make a big loop. And I search for other people who have done that loop, plan food, gear, and mileage appropriately. Learn route tricks, ideal campsites, and helpful contacts along the way.

Then I pretty much throw everything away. I choose more direct and miserable routes over slightly scenic routes, and really roundabout scenic routes when the normal route is perfectly scenic. From all the planning I've done, I know where to spend the night, how far I need to go at a minimum, and when I can comfortably rest. But the rest must be an adventure.

When you plan for a trip, you know what can be done, but you can always do better. Others have done that trip, guidebook authors have convinced you to spend some hard earned dough for a list of a few phone numbers and some routes that they've driven or hiked with a toddler or seen on google maps. So why should you follow. Yes, stay at the hotels they've researched if they're cheap, and take heed of road details, trail maps. But otherwise, if you have some mental capacity, create your own adventure.

I like to think of placing a placard on my chest with my endpoint. If someone else is going that direction, figure it out and share part of the journey. If someone is going the other way, catch up, backtrack, and get the most current conditions. Then do something different. You'll almost always be able to get to your end destination and complete the loop if you give yourself a reasonable amount of time based on others' estimates. And if you take the fast track when you can and the slow track when its gorgeous, you'll spend more time in the awesome zone and less in the cool but could be cooler zone.