Road Trip Map: The Blueprint of Your Journey

Let's face it: no matter what a free spirit you consider yourself to be, you need a road trip map. You can't set off for your road trip by jumping into your car with no idea where you're going.

Roads twist and turn. Highways end. And mountains are fairly set in their ways. At the very least, you'll need to plan around these obstacles.

Your map will be the blueprint of your road trip. So whether you just need to get from point A to point B quickly, or you're hoping to go off the main road in search of adventure, planning your route is crucial.

We've used most of the online mapping programs as well as good old-fashioned maps. So, what's the best approach for planning your route? We say it's a mixture of pixels and paper. Online mapping programs come with the advantage of being much more flexible and customizable than paper maps. Paper maps, on the other hand, are easier to read than computer printouts.

We have plenty of tips on creating a road trip map online. We also have some thoughts on using old-fashioned paper maps. Check out these helpful resources:

MapQuest Road Trip Planner. We've enjoyed MapQuest's trip-mapping tools. No solution is perfect, but having Mapquest's online maps has been helpful.

AAA maps. If you haven't requested AAA maps in a while, you should take a look at AAA's free, highly convenient online services.

Road trip directions. Your driving directions will break down your map into a sort of to-do list. Here's the best way to generate directions for your road trip.

Use these pages to figure out your approach to mapping. Just don't leave home without a plan of some sort!