5 Tips to Master a Mini Trip
B and I go on vacation with almost the same frequency as I get my hair cut. (To be fair, I push the split-end limits.) The proximity of cool things to see in our area and a mid-western heck-we’ll-just-drive-cross-country mindset mean we’re almost always cooking up new travel plans.
These little adventures are great, they’re a chance for us to explore; unwind and leave our cell phones in hotel refrigerators. (Oops.) After five long-weekend journeys, countless day trips and never a flight together—we’ve found our mini-trip groove. Here are some of my favorite quick trip tips:
1. Pack the kitchen sink
When we can, we pack heavy—food heavy. Muffins and apples make for easy breakfasts in and pita bread/lunchmeat and the fixins’ have saved us hundreds of dollars we’d otherwise spend at a restaurant. We usually leave room for one or two meals out, and then get to make it count when we do.
2. Vary your plans and limit your prep
Before we left for New Hope we had all the info for a near-by minor league hockey game, knew the hours and admission of the in-town train ride and wrote down directions to the casino. Once we were there we had enough information to play it by ear perfectly—just not enough luck to walk out of said casino with any winnings.
3. Use your time wisely
It’s not always convenient to take time off work when the vacation bug bites, so we try to make the most of the time we have. Sometimes this means getting on the road at 7 a.m. or booking it out of a restaurant at 7 p.m. to take a four-hour bite out of a daylong trip.
4. Ask the locals
Don’t be shy about asking your hotel concierge for directions to a hiking trail, or about asking the elderly couple on the park bench if you’re headed the right way toward said trail, or about taking the guy with the walking stick and golden retriever up on his offer to lead you to the trail start, and definitely don’t be too shy to ask how the bus system works so you can cut your two hour failed hike in half. Not that that’s what happened to us in Montreal or anything.
5. Forget about the hotel
Finding some swanky place to spend eight hours with my eyes closed is not high on my priority list. I like to spend the majority of mini trips on the go, so we find a cheap hotel (and by hotel, occasionally I mean dorm rooms rented out in the summer) and make the car home base. That way it doesn’t matter if our room is subpar or even a hike from prime attractions.
But most of all—be patient with your travel companion. It doesn’t matter how mapped out you have your trip, if you can't giggle when the GPS lady directs you nine hours out of the way back down New York toward Ohio because she doesn't recognize the Canada/Michigan bridge, no amount of travel tips will make your experience a good one.
These little adventures are great, they’re a chance for us to explore; unwind and leave our cell phones in hotel refrigerators. (Oops.) After five long-weekend journeys, countless day trips and never a flight together—we’ve found our mini-trip groove. Here are some of my favorite quick trip tips:
 |
| Lunch mid-trip |
When we can, we pack heavy—food heavy. Muffins and apples make for easy breakfasts in and pita bread/lunchmeat and the fixins’ have saved us hundreds of dollars we’d otherwise spend at a restaurant. We usually leave room for one or two meals out, and then get to make it count when we do.
2. Vary your plans and limit your prep
Before we left for New Hope we had all the info for a near-by minor league hockey game, knew the hours and admission of the in-town train ride and wrote down directions to the casino. Once we were there we had enough information to play it by ear perfectly—just not enough luck to walk out of said casino with any winnings.
3. Use your time wisely
It’s not always convenient to take time off work when the vacation bug bites, so we try to make the most of the time we have. Sometimes this means getting on the road at 7 a.m. or booking it out of a restaurant at 7 p.m. to take a four-hour bite out of a daylong trip.
 |
| The view of Montreal from our hike |
Don’t be shy about asking your hotel concierge for directions to a hiking trail, or about asking the elderly couple on the park bench if you’re headed the right way toward said trail, or about taking the guy with the walking stick and golden retriever up on his offer to lead you to the trail start, and definitely don’t be too shy to ask how the bus system works so you can cut your two hour failed hike in half. Not that that’s what happened to us in Montreal or anything.
5. Forget about the hotel
Finding some swanky place to spend eight hours with my eyes closed is not high on my priority list. I like to spend the majority of mini trips on the go, so we find a cheap hotel (and by hotel, occasionally I mean dorm rooms rented out in the summer) and make the car home base. That way it doesn’t matter if our room is subpar or even a hike from prime attractions.
But most of all—be patient with your travel companion. It doesn’t matter how mapped out you have your trip, if you can't giggle when the GPS lady directs you nine hours out of the way back down New York toward Ohio because she doesn't recognize the Canada/Michigan bridge, no amount of travel tips will make your experience a good one.