Travel Tips

“Aight fuck it, lets go.” -jane and mary

Blah blah blah, intro…take our advice. Some things, we learned it as a lesson and not by early research! Either way, we came out of it all with some of the best memories, so it worked for everyone because here the fuck we are, talking to yal.
This will be us, skipping over ALL of the corny stuff and bullshit ideas that make the whole thing a little bit extra. (This is not me bashing other shared ideas of other bloggers. This is me saying, we don’t give a damn about some of the suggestions we came across.) We put our own list together for you guys. Road-tripping to another city, driving across states, and even leaving the country may be a lot less stressful after you read this.

Jumping on in!

Take your time.
Maybe you just have a day or two. That’s okay. Take your time anyway. The point of this, if for you to relax and enjoy life a little. Take the longer hike, find the best place to pull over, eat, and enjoy the views!

Research Research Research!
There shouldn’t be too much I have to say about that yal. Know where you’re going! Google is great right, but sometimes your social media will give you the best incite. Instagram for example. (FOLLOW @rollinjaneandmary) There are countless travelers, that have visited some of the most unexpected places. We have personally found plenty of trip ideas that way. Search the hashtags. Find real, normal people and see what they say! Everyone has phones now days. Take fifteen solid minutes in the car to do research on cities you may pass. You’d be surprised what you find along the way.
Speaking of research, make sure you know…specific laws about the place you are visiting. For example, NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) will let you get fucked up all day long. 24/7! Just don’t get drunk-drunk or TO THE TANK WITH THIS ONE! Publicly, you can have alcohol in plastic containers/to-go drinks. So like, get your drink on, visit the swamps, and gamble your life away (DON’T REALLY). We’re from Texas so, “Oh my, Drinking on a Sunday?? Sweet Baby Jesus, that’s the devil. Darlin’ not on the Lord’s day!”
Just kidding, but then there’s Utah. You can’t even walk in for a drink at a bar/restaurant without buying food. Although drinking is not our cup of tea, That’s the best I have off the top of my head. You guys get what you get okay. OR, OR… if you’re into…other things… given to us by the great creator naturally *wink wink*DON’T GET GOT. If you do, at least don’t get in the worst possible places! FEEL ME? OKAY. MOVING ON…

If time allows it, Make a Plan! (If time barely allows it, pick a destination & go, fuck it. LOL)
So Mary and I are quite spontaneous. For example, our $100 road-trip from Dallas idea was less than 24 hours old when we acted on it. How much planning can you REALLY DO right. Turns out you can do a shit ton of research in a matter of well, 8 hours if you are excited enough about it! If you can’t, just make sure you know where you are going, what they want from you, (if anything) charge your phone, drink water and feed yourself. We’re 87% sure you will still have a good time!

SAVE and Budget? Yeah, AIGHT.
“First of all, bitch. I’m Broke. So.” is my first thought when I hear SAVE. Real life people don’t usually have extra money if we’re being real. So many families are putting off going somewhere because they think it requires a lot of money. Hopefully we can change that for you. We want to make this as possible as possible for you guys. Either way, if you’re anything like us, you’re just always on a budget so you go into most things thinking cheap! Remember, experiences and memories are the goal here. Not fancy luxury traveling (yeah, that’s cool. too, but that’s not an option right, for us at least!) After you do research, get the estimate on everything. Be realistic. Think like a minimalist. (Don’t worry, we’re here to help with these things!!) Then take that money and add a couple of extra bucks to it! Just have $100? Read our first travel blog! $100 will get you places.

Pack Shit from Home.
You know damn well you don’t need a new outfits for every trip. I don’t know if I have to say that, but I don’t know. No judgement, but some of you folks have some questionable logic. You should also have water, since that’s a necessity to survive and what not. You don’t have to have it bottled. Actually, let me add, it is significantly more environmentally friendly to fill up some plastic containers. Freeze some even. that way it melts and stays cool! for most of your journey. It’s sorta free to take from your home! A lot cheaper than buying a case of water at least. Snacks too. Folks be hungry. Take easy to pack dry foods. A pot and a pan for light cooking. (this is actually super fun, and humbling. Traveling requires a lot of energy. Especially if you are on an outdoors kind of adventure. You don’t want to be anywhere without water. and a few snacks. I mean….MUNCHIES if you BOUT THAT LIFE.

Take the Scenic Route
Routes are obviously important. You can miss or find some of the most beautiful scenery because of a slight change in your road choices. Don’t be afraid to take a different route to and from also. This assures that you get every experience possible on your way! Leading to our next point.

Make the Extra Stops along the way.
You know that whole, “It’s not the about the destination, it’s about the journey” thing? Well apply that here. Roadside attractions!!! We found that a lot of our best memories came from the stops we didn’t actually intend to make. Straight up, some shit is weird! It always turns out to be fun and educational. (OH AND PROBABLY FREE!) If you have kids, please let this be a thing, and let them be curious. Teach them to explore. It’s great stuff! People come up with the craziest things, we love that shit.

Entertainment is important.
OMG, Entertainment. Most, of the time, when you’re on the road, there will be a point where you are no longer in service areas. Of course once you reach these points, YouTube and music players that require internet are not going to work out well for you. There is nothing worse than driving for 2 hours without music, in my opinion (I’m Jane and I need it. Mary can drive peacefully down the road though. To each his own!) Offline listening is key. I’m not going to say one music site is better than the other, that’s a matter of opinion that I don’t think really matters, as long as offline music plays! If you don’t have these options, downloaded music of course works. Go old school. Bring Cd’s. OR go even more old school and pop a cassette tape in. All i’m saying is get yo jam on. If your transportation is a little more updated, you may have a screen in your car. If so, of course take a movie or two for the little ones! I personally would play car games with my nonexistent kids. It kind of really pulls the trip together for me. Make memories, laugh, tell jokes. Pay attention to the road tho. Driver and passenger!

Accommodations: Where you staying??
Camp, Car, Hotel, Airbnb, Hostel, a backyard, a Walmart parking lot, a friends place, whatever it is, always set it up. Sometimes people make the mistake of just traveling to a place, expecting to find somewhere when they get there. This is okay sometimes, but it just makes things so hard sometimes. Our favorite thing to do is Airbnb. This allows us to find something in any price range. Believe it or not, people on there sometimes have a tent set up in their backyard that they will let you stay in for maybe $20 or less a night! It’s something when there’s nothing. (Use our code. It will get you up to $55 on your reservations! https://abnb.me/e/umhpI2j0yY)

Travel with your Homies
Obviously things are cheaper when they’re split. Traveling with friends and/or family can be super fun. It’s even more fun when it cost a fraction of the price. Just because you travel together, it doesn’t mean you have to do everything together! Don’t limit yourself on things you can do, just because others are there. Make it clear that you don’t mind others, but you also have a few things you want to do on your own. If someone has a problem with that, they may need some time to evaluate themselves anyway. Why you mad? Stop. Just go enjoy your own time apologetically. Why not both.

Find Free Shit
Listen, Some of our best experiences came from the moments that didn’t cost us a thing. There are entirely too many parks, and attractions out here to NOT go see them for free. But hey, you don’t like free shit? Be bougie, no judgement. All I’m saying, its worth researching, especially when you have a family.

Understanding Bucket list MUST-DOs
If there is something you want to do, that you can do near your home, don’t waste your time, or money doing these things somewhere else. Most likely it would be more expensive too. Zip-line across the jungle, or try a food unique to the area. Avoid the common things, as they are not necessary. I promise you’ll thank us for it. It’s super easy to get pulled into things like that, so be aware from the start.

Avoid Holiday travels
If the holiday is all you have, run with it! If its possible for you to travel on normal weekdays, do it instead. Almost everything is cheaper that way. Especially accommodations. Parks also have limits. Camping gets full, and park max capacities are a real thing. If you must travel during holidays, this would be the time to plan in advance. Way advance if you can. Don’t let it stop you though! There are entirely too many things to do, and way too many sites to see.

Keep portable chargers close.
If you think your phone loses battery on a regular basis, just wait until you’re on the road. Battery is gone, just as quick as your water. Charge up as many portables as you can, and have a car charger too! You want many pics, but you also want to have your phone available for the rest of the trip needs! GPS, Music, Pictures, and last minute research are factors to consider.

Minimize Screen time
Don’t miss anything because you can’t get off Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CHECK IN EVERYWHERE THE MOMENT YOU GET THERE. These days, we sometimes over do it with the social media. We want to upload pictures and check in as soon as we can. Or, sometimes you have kids with phones, make them put them away. They’ll thank you for it. Use this time to connect with each other. Yeah, It’s corny i know, but It matters more than they understand at their ages. If you’re an adult that has the same habits, grow up okay. Just kidding, but not really. Grow up, you’re missing life in front of you. Literally.

Nature Tips
Treat anything and everything as the beautiful fragile being it is. We’ll get more into detail with this. But long story short, The earth is your mother, treat her as such.

Lastly be respectful!
While on our nature trips, we come across some of the most humble people. Think about it. Why are you there? Peace? Curiosity? Just their love for nature?
They want to see something beautiful too. Respect each other and the place you are visiting. There hasn’t been a single person out there, that wasn’t nice. Other visitors always address us. Whether it’s just a “hello” and a smile, or a real conversation, its always pleasant. If you go in with positive intents, it will work out for everyone. Be the example of the person you would want to cross paths with.

Happy Traveling!!!