Take The Road Less Traveled

TTT - Road Trip
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Meggan: Hey everyone, and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday. We are so glad that you are here. As always I am joined by my podcast partner, Jenn. How are things in your world?

Jenn: Pretty good. It's 7 15 p. m. It's still light outside. It got up into double digits today, temperature wise. Like, I can't complain, really. We're, we're just trucking along.

Meggan: Give us a couple days. I think we're gonna find something to complain

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: about, but

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: this week I wanted to talk a little bit about road trips and what to do to mix things up if you have time. So that is the key with this Travel Tip Tuesday. Really only applies if you aren't on a tight schedule on your road trip.

So I am a recovering over planner, as we know, and I've come a long way. I'm super proud, but I'm still someone who The well known path, as they say, the path of supposed least resistance. Now, on the other hand, my husband is definitely more adventurous, and I am grateful for this most of the time. And one thing that he incorporates on our road trips is not following the GPS.

No, I don't mean that he ignores it. We couldn't have that. Like, that is not what I mean. Thank goodness. What I mean is, when we're planning our routes, so often the day before, just making sure we have everything in order for the next day. If we aren't on a schedule, he will check out several routes including one that does not involve highways or freeways or major thoroughfares. Instead opting to see what the drive time looks like for local routes and you can actually adjust your GPS so it does not show you highways or toll roads so that you can take local routes. Now we've done this several times in recent years including our Epic 2022 European road trip. Once in Germany, we did it.

We had some extra time and we came across the most amazing local bakery with incredible desserts and coffees that we didn't know about before that. We had not planned to visit. Um, another time when we left Innsbruck, Austria, and we went to Brenner, Italy for lunch. Firstly, I would never have thought of going to Italy for lunch because the car was parked, I felt comfortable where we were, it was out of my comfort zone. Secondly though, instead of the main highway, we took the winding mountain route and the scenery was absolutely incredible. So we checked out the road we actually would have taken if we'd hadn't opted for that scenic route on Google Maps when we got home and it was bland. And just literally a generic highway.

So we definitely lucked out by doing that. And I think another place this way of thinking can really change your perspective on is New Brunswick. We've talked about this before on the podcast. If you stay on the highway, you literally just want to get through there as soon as possible. And if you have to, that's fine too. But if you have time and can get off the beaten path, you really do discover that New Brunswick is actually quite lovely and well worth a visit. It just doesn't seem that way from the highway.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: A lot of people likely already do what I'm suggesting, but if you are someone who thinks in absolutes, you know, well, this is the route Google Maps says to go. So that's what we're going to do. Maybe take another look at other options. You never know what roadside attractions or food or scenery you could discover that Maybe otherwise you wouldn't have. So Jenn, I know you guys haven't done a ton of road trips, but when planning them out, are you guys usually A to B, or how do you plan your routes?

Jenn: Yes. So, yeah, we haven't done a lot of, like, long, long road trips. And we are usually A to B people. , but we do, we're, we're going to Maine in July, and I, I'm hoping to do a little bit more detouring or, uh, you know, taking the, the long way, maybe. And one time actually we did this coming home from, Um, Maine, we were in Houlton doing our, our interviews.

So we were staying in like Woodstock, New Brunswick, and all the way home, we just decided that we were going to stop at the giant things. So we went into Nackawick to see the giant, um, axe. And then we stopped into Oxford to see the giant blueberry and just for fun. Cause we had some extra time on the way home, but I already. knew that they existed. But anyway, , I think there's definitely some merit in taking your time and, uh, stumbling upon those types of, you know, awesome coffee shops because you just don't know that they're there. So, yeah, if you have time, do it. But, uh, yeah. I, I, we'll see. We'll see what we end up doing. I'll report back when we drive to Maine.

Bye

Meggan: Yeah and that's the thing, if you're an A to B person and that's what you want to do, do it. If you don't want to stop and don't want to take the road less traveled, do it. don't do it. But if you do have time and you think, you know, just this once, what am I missing? Let's check it out. Then do that too.

Like it really is whatever is in your comfort zone or whatever you have time for or interested in. Just a suggestion people. Um, well that is it for this week's Travel Tip Tuesday. We hope we have inspired you to think outside of the box, maybe for your next road trip. As always, thank you so much for tuning in.

We're so grateful that you're here. If you enjoy what we're doing, you can support the show through buy me a coffee and the show notes helps us keep the lights on. Uh, if this isn't an option for you, you can share the show maybe with a travel loving pal or leave us a review on either Apple or Spotify. You can find us on social media at Travel Mug Podcast. That's on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and threads and our website, travelmugpodcast. com and until next time. Bye.