900 Mile Journey

Just a few days ago my daughter and I made the 900 mile journey back to our hometown. It was sort of a last minute trip. With that being said, I didn't save up any money because I honestly didn't think we would be visiting so soon. I had to make up a game plan in order to keep our travel expenses under a certain amount of $$$.

The day before leaving, I did all the laundry and ran all the errands I needed to get done (pay bills, get awesome wine for girl's night, make my brother homemade laundry detergent, etc). In the evening, I gathered up all my clothes and Emma's clothes and took them downstairs. Nathan is working, so he couldn't come with us so we wanted to spend some time together. While he was on the couch relaxing and watching a movie, me and Emma were packing our bags right next to him. Put your bags right next to the door so you don't have to haul them threw the house. Packing the night before saves time!

One thing that we spend too much money on while traveling is food. New York's interstate systems has these convenient plaza's where you just pull over and you can get gas and they usually have a few different places to eat in them. Super convenient but super pricey. Even the McDonalds in these plaza's are crazy expensive. So I decided to pack our meals. I made some peanut butter jelly sandwiches, packed some homemade muffins, threw in some chips and marshmallows, and we also had some drinks. I just used a big lunch box, but if you have a large family I would use a cooler. This was going to cover a morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack.

I decided I was going to attempt to wake up early (I'm not a morning person) the morning of our long drive. Originally I planned to wake up at 7am, well Nathan's alarm went off at 4:30am and it woke me up and then I debated with myself for 30 minutes whether or not I should get up or go back to bed. I got up and moving at 5am! I took a shower and got ready, finished packing the toiletry bag, and made myself and Emma breakfast. I ate my breakfast then woke Emma up, got her dressed and while she was eating her breakfast I was loading the jeep up with our bags. We were buckled in and pulling out at 6am! I totally saved time by multi-tasking!

On the interstate we go, and unfortunately we have to fill up. You really can't save money at the pump. If you can, please let me know! Here's a tip...don't speed! You don't have to stress out about being pulled over and you'll save money because you won't have to pay for that speeding ticket. To save time, everytime we made a stop (to get gas) we would take a bathroom break as well. Even if you don't need to go right then...just try because nothing is more annoying then getting back on the road and an hour later someone in the vehicle having to go to the bathroom. We also saved time by not having to eat breakfast or lunch at a restaurant, or having to pull over to get snacks!

Emma and I did spend some money on food. We stopped at Wendy's and spent under $8 for dinner. It was also nice to get out of the Jeep for a little while and stretch. I made use of our stop and called my parents and let Nathan know where we were at and I also filled up for the last time during our trip!

I noticed that I wasn't tired like how I usually get when I leave the house at my usual 8:30-9am time. Normally after I eat dinner while being on the road, I'm done for...we have to pull over and spend the night in a hotel. Not this time! I think waking up early is the way to go. I recommend waking up early for long trips. You're capable of longer driving time! Our 900 mile journey took 16 hours! 1 hour was spent with stops. I think that's pretty amazing!

I just wanted everyone to know what I do during my long trips (that I take every 3 months...maybe you should start coming up to see me) and tell you how I try to save time and money. The best tip is to have a game plan that fits your needs. Happy traveling!