I have a few suggestions. Background: my wife and I regularly do long distance road trips, including a 10,000 mile road trip this January-February (from Michigan to ALL of the western states except for Montana), and have done several trips in the 5-8000 mile range.
Here are my tips:
-On any road, pick a speed that doesn’t stress you out. That may be 10 over or 3 under depending on all conditions. If you’re going faster than you are comfortable with, it will stress you and greatly reduce your ability to drive distances.
-Plan your routes and times to avoid rush hour traffic in big cities. I usually start after the morning rush hour and drive into mid evening, but stop for an early dinner, gas and maybe an extended rest (park or shopping mall) right at the start of the evening rush, getting back on the road after it’s over.
-Figure out how many hours a day you can do. I have done up to 12-13 hours of actual driving in a day, and with the wife have switched off for 20+ hours of driving between hotel stops. If you’re by yourself, that’s not an option so figure what’s realistic. One person driving 20+ hours without sleep is not, IMHO, realistic.
-Multiple rest stops or gas stops really eat into your awake time and reduce your mileage per day. I have a regular trip that’s only 6h20m actual driving time but easily becomes 8-9 hours with stops factored in. Minimizing stops is key. Gas your car each morning even if it’s nearly full, and try to combine food, bathroom and gas stops as much as you can. When you can’t, freeway rest areas are usually much quicker stops than anything involving an exit from the freeway into the land of stoplights.
-The single best way to waste time is getting lost. I’ve had this happen two ways - going on the wrong freeway (or freeway direction) at an interchange, or trying to find a specific restaurant that is miles off the freeway in a town I don’t know. GPS helps but shouldn’t be your only source of direction. I like the free state maps each state produces the best, with a Rand McNally road atlas my second choice. In my experience AAA maps are not as good as either of those.
-Decide how late you can safely drive, plan a stop accordingly and be realistic. When I was younger I could keep driving until about 2am. I no longer consider that a good idea and now plan to stop much earlier.
-I probably don’t need to tell Will this, but eat well and something consistent with your normal diet, so you don’t get digestive issues.
-Shoes can be important - you want something with a stiff sole (to minimize your effort on the pedals) and as small as practical to fit in the rather cramped footwells of newer cars and let you move your feet and legs around to avoid cramping.
-Get the car to a comfortable temperature for wearing just a shirt and pants, not a jacket, even in cold weather. Much more comfortable after hours and hours.
-I rotate two types of sunglasses to minimize eyestrain - a gray pair for bright sun, and an orange/amber pair for cloudy bright conditions.
-I like music, but most people I know seem to prefer audiobooks.
-By myself I find it handy to have a small cooler in the right footwell with water, other drinks and snacks available. Traveling as a family we do the same thing but placed in the middle of the second row.
-Even with a new car, check your tire pressure. If you have a TPMS that reads actual pressures on the dash, awesome - just make sure they are what you want. If not, use a gauge. Generally you want to be a couple PSI below the maximum cold pressure. If you go through major changes in temperature or altitude, you may need to adjust pressures up or down. Don’t bleed air based on a hot tire temp unless it is far too high - all tires heat up at freeway speeds, that increases pressure and it’s taken into account in establishing the recommended cold pressures. (It’s also a good idea to make sure your spare is properly inflated.)
