Planning a road trip can be an overwhelming process. Below, the process is broken down into digestible chunks. Take one piece at a time, and don’t rush or stress. It’s fun – if anxiety doesn’t overcome your enthusiasm.

First: buy a large, updated road atlas. Combined with online mapping services like Google Maps or Bing!, you can spend a week tinkering the itinerary. Both the atlas and the online service is crucial for planning – the former helps foresee day-to-day travel options, the latter makes big picture planning easier, and quickly calculates miles and hours between various destination points.

Having a GPS on your trip is an amazing luxury: turn by turn directions, points of interests, and detours are just a few features that prove invaluable. An atlas, however, never runs out of batteries. It doesn’t require a signal, it doesn’t scream “Steal me!” You can write on it and mark it up, and stick post-it notes on it. Don’t depend solely upon the GPS.

Remember, the GPS is a luxury.

The atlas is essential.

Planning the Itinerary and Route

Creating a solid itinerary starts with the right questions:

1. Where will you start and end your trip?
2. What specific cities/towns do you want to see? Why? Because you love the mountain air, because you dreamed about becoming a ski bum, because you’ve considered living there?
3. What’s your passion? Designing the itinerary around your passion immediately brings the trip into focus: national parks, music, martial arts schools, beer breweries, distilleries, sushi joints, famous bars.
4. Who do you know across the states? It’s a great way to visit family and friends in their native surroundings, where they’re the most comfortable and therefore, the most receptive.
5. Of these locations you’re starting to compile, which are absolutely essential to get your full experience? Which are you willing to drive five hours out of your way to visit? Which are destinations you’d like to experience at your leisure?
6. How many miles or hours can you spend on the road per day? As a rough guide, calculate 50 mph on roads east of the Mississippi, and 55 mph on roads west of the Mississippi. It’s conservative, and accounts for rest stops and light traffic.
7. Lodging logistics – are you going to camp out every night? Is so, how close are your destination spots to campground sites? Or, do you prefer the comfort of the bed to the prickle of brush beneath you?

Spend the time on research. Wrangle in concrete answers to these questions, and the itinerary takes its own shape. If you understand your own comfort levels, your route will lay itself, unfolding like a yellow brick road.

Preparations

You’re about to take your vehicle on a 3,000-plus mile journey; spend the time and money to ensure she’s up for it. Make sure the inspection is updated, your insurance papers are intact, the tires still have good treads, and the oil has been recently changed.

Do you know where your jack and spare tire are? Do you know how to change a tire? If not, learn, and learn how to do it quickly. Murphy’s law dictates a flat will most likely happen in the dead of the night during the middle of thunderstorm. Practice changing that tire until you can do it blindfolded, naked, with your left foot in a cast. Then you’ll be ready when Murphy strikes.

Check your fluids: motor, transmission, coolant, brake, steering and windshield.

Does your auto insurance provide roadside assistance? Do you have AAA membership?

Other notes to remember: check your Entertainment Book for coupons on national motels and auto body shops, notify your insurance company and credit card company you’ll be traveling, and buy a National Parks Pass for $80 if you plan on touring the parks.

Make sure there’s the emergency contact information for everyone in your car (who knows your car and its license plate,) in your wallet, and on your cell phone.

Keep a copy of your medical insurance card, and recent photos of you and your travel mates in the car.

Packing

Clothing

Three sets of clothing (shorts/pants, t-shirts, underwear and socks) and a jacket are all you’ll need in regards to clothing. If you plan on going out, include a nice dress shirt and shoes. Anything besides this is excessive.

See Minimalism Attire for ideas on clothing.

Electronics

If you don’t feel like making a three dozen CD’s, buy an mp3 player and make sure you have a tape hook-up or auxiliary hook-up to your car’s stereo.

Check to see you’ve packed your camera.

Also, a device that coverts the cigarette lighter into an outlet will prove invaluable.

A laptop is useless on the road, unless you need it for writing or when you arrive at your destination. A smart phone and data plan can come in handy, however.

Camping

You’ll save money camping – whether it’s at National Parks, State Parks and Forests, or just pulled over on some side road in Utah. It means you’ll have a few extra items to pack, however.

A cooler – which can be a hard cooler, or a cooler bag, with a refreezeable ice pack.

Extra plastic, zip-lock bags for leftover food and miscellaneous items.

Buy a tent – the ALPS Mountaineering Zephyr 2 Tent 2-Person 3-Season Tent serves well and cost around $90.

A sleeping bag – not just a fleece blanket. Even if it’s the middle of the summer, the temperature drops sharply in late evening/early morning, especially in the hottest parts of the United States. Don’t think you can get away with just a blanket. Spend the money.

A sleeping mat is a nice addition to elevate yourself off cold, rock surfaces. Check out – the ALPS mountaineering lightweight pad.

Other miscellaneous items: knife/Swiss Army Knife, matches, toiletries and toilet paper.

Food

Spending 8 to 10 hours in a sedentary position, staring off into the void called Illinois or Kansas terrain won’t burn many calories, so you’ll eat less. If you don’t require much variety in your diet during the road trip, it’s possible to get by cheaply on food. Two peanut butter sandwiches per day per person, a few bags full of nuts, some fruit, and plenty of water and coffee keeps the fuel in the tank and money in the pocket.

The great part about going bare bones in this area is that if you get bored with your PB&J’s, it’s easy to splurge: one morning, get McDonald’s breakfast. Stop at a dive somewhere. Visit a friend and go out for dinner.

With food, you can really spend as much or as little as you want.

Resources

If you’re looking for inspiration, try these resources:

Books

Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen – an excellent resource that offers a dozen pre-planned routes to choose, and memorable destinations along the way. Use these routes as a guideline while planning your trip – the more you invest in personalizing your journey, the more you’ll take away from the long stretches of pavement, besides asphalt and dust.

Live Your Road Trip Dream by Phil and Carol White – this book is divided into two sections: the planning, and the trip. While “the trip” portion gets dry (think: daily journal, covering a year worth of traveling,) the former covers many areas long-term roadtripping: from telling your family, finances, packing, and what to do with your stuff. It requires scouring and skimming to find notes that you can apply to your trip, but proves well worth the time.

Websites

Squidoo’s Road Trip Lens by kimisoutback – a fantastic lens on every aspect of road trip planning

Road Trip America – features a dedicated forum, articles on road tripping, and a Fuel Cost Calculator

Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen – Jensen’s blog to accompany his book (noted above.) He answers reader questions and discusses in-depth various aspects of the road.

Free Campgrounds – the website includes a search feature for free (or inexpensive) campgrounds in any state.

About: Student Travel provides more information about camping and camping grounds.

Off Road Adventure by Paul Thompson – Thompson wrote a treasure chest’s worth of booty for other road trippers. Two posts of significant note: 10 Things Not To Leave Home Without and The 4X4 Gourmet

Phillip Ryan Johnson – Johnson’s blog posts on his trip from New York to Los Angeles

Road Brew by Teri Fahrendorf – Fahrendorf’s road trip across the country and back, visiting and brewing with professional brewers along the way.

Travel Channel – use the Travel Channel website to create a “theme” to your itinerary.

Taylor Davidson’s 79 Things is a great road trip packing resource.

If you’re looking to put together a California themed playlist, check out Wikipedia’s California Song List.

Continue to XC2LA: Part 4 – The Road Trip

Return to XC2LA: Part 2 – Planning a Permanent Move

Related posts:

1. The Road Trip
2. Planning a Permanent Move
3. Sidebar: Final Thoughts

Overabundance of option and choice make slaves of us all. Cutting to the “core” of your closet, then building from those essentials, simplifies traveling, moving, and living. The challenge is whittling down to your core closet.

Core closet – 1. the attire an individual wears 90 percent of the time. 2. the attire selected under an extreme quantity constraint that allows an individual to perform 90 percent of his day-to-day activities at 90 percent comfort level.

Even when running on a skeleton of a closet, we’re assaulted with a multitude of options: colors, cuts, sizes, materials, brands.

The purpose of this guide is to assist in the creation of the core closet.

Disclosure: All links are non-affiliate links. Most link directly to either Backcountry or Moosejaw; please support these companies with your business. All costs are approximate.

Base Layer

[from right to left: 140 Tech-T, 200 Hopper, Long-Sleeve]

The Icebreaker Line

The following Icebreaker products are 100% Merino wool. Merino wool surpasses cotton in nearly every aspect. It traps heat, wicks sweat, and dries extremely quickly – three to four hours, hanging. (To extend the life of Merino wool garb, do not dry by hand wringing. Instead, lay out garment on a towel, and roll into a tight cylinder. Do not stick Merino wool into the dryer).

Merino wool is also antimicrobial. After a rinse in cold water, there is close to no odor.

The Bodyfit150 Ultralite Short Sleeve Atlas T-Shirt ($45 – not pictured) as the name implies, is a fitted, athletic-cut shirt (short on the arms, short on the torso.) Out-of-the-box, Bodyfit resembles more of an undershirt than a t-shirt.

The SuperFine140 Tech T Lite($50) fits more like a casual t-shirt. A size small fits comfortably fits a frame of  5’7”, 140 lbs.

The SuperFine200 Hopper T-shirt ($65) also possesses a casual t-shirt cut. The weight of the t-shirt possesses substance, and unlike the above shirts, does not feel like it’ll rip after mild wear.

The Bodyfit200 Oasis Crew ($70) has an athletic long-sleeve fit. Think Under Armor, without the feel of a synthetic fabric against the skin. The Oasis Crew is nearly a perfect base-layer for cold conditions (sub-40 degrees.) It suffers the same sizing issue as much of Icebreaker apparel – snug fit on top, but short on the length.

Save for the SuperFine200 Hopper T-shirt, there’s been the unfortunate experience of ripping in all the Icebreaker products mentioned above. Ripped articles were worn strictly under casual use and light athletics (running, weightlifting.)

The Stoic Line

The Stoic brand is the exclusive brand to Backcountry. Shirts tried on typically have a looser fit, and none exhibited the next-to-skin (NTS) quality found in Icebreaker or Under Armor brands. At first touch, the quality of merino wool feels cheaper than Icebreaker; though it still wicks sweat, holds heat, and is antimicrobial.

As a whole, the Stoic brand is less expensive and offers a greater variety of colors. The back of the shirt “tails” at the end, and fits more comfortably than Icebreaker during casual wear. The sleeves are extra long, and stay in place when pushed up the forearms.

Stoic Merino Bliss ($80)

The Merino Bliss has three noteworthy features: thumb holes at the end of the sleeves, a zippered chest pocket, and a zippered half-collar. The former two are welcome additions to the Stoic brand. The style of the latter, however, feels strange. Unzipped, the shirt opens just north of the solar plexus, and wearing in this fashion produces odd looks. (The functionality of the zipper length can’t be denied, though; there’s an immediate cooling affect when unzipped.)

The Stoic Merino Crew ($60) is an alternative to the Icebreaker Oasis Crew. While the Oasis Crew has a heavier, warmer feel and is NTS, Stoic Merino Crew is longer in torso and arm length, and the sleeves have thumb holes.

Other Base Layers (in brief)

SmartWool Sport NTS Crew – Long-Sleeve ($80)

Looseness around the wrist “cuffs,” lightness of the material, and price make the SmartWool Sport NTS Crew inferior to its Icebreaker and Stoic counterparts.

SmartWool Men’s NTS Lightweight Bottom ($70)

A comfortably snug, lightweight bottom that discretely keeps the legs warm beneath jeans and slacks.

EMS Techwick ($20)

Techwick pills and doesn’t battle odors well, but at less than half the cost, it’s a noteworthy Merino wool alternative.

Ex-Officio Men’s Wicking Boxer-Brief ($25)

A nylon-spandex blend boxer-brief that’s antimicrobial, stretches, and dries in a few hours.

SmartWool PhD Outdoor Light Cushion Micro Sock ($13)

Merino wool blend makes it an excellent athletic sock.

SmartWool Diamond Jim Sock ($18)

Merino wool blend and three-color argyle makes it an excellent dress sock.

Mid Layer

Icebreaker Sport 320 Nomad ($160)

The Sport 320 Nomad is one of Icebreaker’s heavier products, weighing in at 320 g/m². It’s a quarter-zip, pull-over hoodie. Unzipped, the hood has a triangular look sitting atop your head. Fully zipped, the hood sits snug on the skull, creating a “speed skater” appearance.

It’s an extremely durable product, with double stitching at the bottom hem, at the end of the sleeves, and inside the thumb loops.

Like other Icebreaker apparel, sizing fits slightly small.

Icebreaker GT Quantum Hood ($170)

The GT Quantum Hood is lighter than the Sport320 Nomad (260 g/m²) but what it lacks in weight, it makes up in style. It’s a sleek full-zip hoodie with a plethora of features: drop tail hem, two zippered stash pockets (one on the chest, a second at the small of the back) and a reflective zipper. The most prominent detractor is lack of hand pockets. For casual wear, size-up.

Coolibar Shirt ($60)

A lightweight long-sleeve with a 50 UPF rating. The material feels like cotton but dries as fast as nylon or Merino wool. Gusseted sides keep you cool, a tri-fold collar keeps the sun off your neck, and solid construction means the Coolibar shirt is built to last. Size small fits a 5’7” to 5’8”, 14½ – 15 inch neck.

Pants

Ex-officio Nomad Pant ($40)

This pair of pants deceptively looks like an ordinary pair of cotton trousers. Only closer inspection reveals its versatility: nylon-material brushed with Teflon makes it stain and wrinkle resistant, light, and fast drying. It features an “indestructible button,” an elastic waistband and belt loops, two hip pockets, two zippered back pockets, and a discrete security pocket on the right leg. Sizing on the length runs about an inch long – may require tailoring.

EMS Profile Convertible Pants ($40)

The Profile Convertible Pants is an ideal model as far as convertibles go. It possesses all the properties of nylon material, has a built-in belt, and cargo pockets along the thighs. Overall it’s a loose, casual fit; the zip-off attribute of the pants isn’t unnoticeable, but it is discrete. As shorts, the length of the cut falls at approximately mid-knee. Sizing on the leg length runs about an inch long – may require tailoring.

Footwear

Footwear is the natural enemy of any core closet – in no other attire form does your environment, activity, and company so greatly affect your selection. Unlike a base layer, it’s unlikely to come across a “one-shoe-fits-all” product. Function varies widely, and few articles of clothing communicate personality better than footwear. Even after selecting a brand, the magnitude of models, colors, and styles could submit even the savviest of shoppers into choice-paralysis.

The following link to brands/models of Core Closet footwear: Crocs, Keen, Vibram Five Fingers, Rainbow Sandals, The Northface Ultra 104 XCR, The Northface Hedgehog, The Northface Ultra 103 XCR

Dress Layer

In reality, the Dress Layer isn’t part of the Core Closet, but rather an extension of it, naturally bridged by your profession, personality, and desire to accessorize. It does not lend itself to mobility, but may be essential in day-to-day operations. It’s where the Core Closet exhibits the most variance. Here are some components of the Core Closet Dress Layer of an urban professional:

(2) Suits
(3) Dress Shirts
(3) Ties
(2) Pairs of Dress Shoes
(2) Belts

Summary

The Minimalism: Attire Guide should be used as that – a guide. It’s not an attempt to start brand wars, or to trumpet one brand, model, or style as the premiere.

Insights in the Minimalism: Attire Guide inspired by authors like Tynan, Tim Ferriss, Kareem, and Taylor Davidson.

Author’s Selection:

(2) IB Hopper T-shirts
(1) Stoic Long-sleeve
(1) SmartWool Bottom
(2) Ex-officio underwear
(1) Ex-officio nomad pants
(1) Nomad hoodie
(2) SmartWool Socks
(2) SmartWool Diamond Jim Socks
(1) Crocs

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