What’s one thing that helped you enjoy long road trips after 60?

DavidWilson

DavidWilson

New Member
Hi, I‘m new to this forum🤓. I’m David, 65, a retired engineer who still spends as much time as I can on the road or outdoors. These days I travel a bit slower and pay more attention to balance and comfort, but I’m still eager to explore and learn from others here.

I’ve always loved taking long road trips, but after turning 65 I found I needed to rethink how I travel.
These days I keep my setup simple — lighter bags, frequent stretch breaks, and a couple of small items that help with balance when I’m walking around new places.
I’m curious how others here adjusted their routines over the years.
What’s one thing you changed that made long trips more enjoyable and sustainable?
 

Former road tripper here. My late husband and I took many long road trips on his motorcycle, pulling a small camper behind. It was fun. After he died (17 years ago), I fitted out a van and went all over the continental US. Texas to Maine, about five weeks; then Texas to Alaska, five months. Never planned much along the way, just took whatever roads looked interesting, mostly back roads. The things seen and people met left some great memories. A lady musher and her 12 Siberians; a retired circus tiger trainer whose wife was killed by a tiger. A ride in an open cockpit biplane over Bar Harbor, Maine. East Coast, West Coast and everything in between.

I don't know what happened but one morning, I woke up far from home and thought, "I've had enough, time to go home." It's been three years since I took a road trip. The last one was from Colorado to Oregon, staying in motels/hotels along the way. Been thinking about it lately but now that winter has arrived, I think not. Road tripping days are most likely over. I'm 74.
 
I forgot to answer that question.

I gutted, then fitted out a passenger van to live in while on the road. It took a couple of trips to make it comfortable. It was a very simple layout, no plumbing, no electricity. Spent an entire winter building it. If I was tired, I would just stop and climb into the bed for a nap. Hungry? Stop and fix a meal. No worries about lodging or restaurants or the systems in RV's that require attention. Simple, easy to drive and park anywhere.
 
@GoodEnuff has a great idea about the van. Van conversions are the rage…and professional conversions are not cheap. But what a difference in travel. We have a van too, and I LOVE the ability to fix a meal or take a nap as needed. We can park like a car, camp if wanted. I drive it even when hotels are the sleep plan….as it more than makes a difference in meal costs.
 
When we retired, we bought a motorhome because we had four dogs and wanted to take them when we traveled. We went all over the United States, including many national parks.

In 2019 we were down to two dogs so decided we no longer needed the motorhome and sold it. Then we started to travel by car because it was easy to find pet friendly hotels for two small dogs and it was much cheaper. Then a couple years later we got divorced and that was the end of my road trips.
 
Welcome David!
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I have since a child loved road trips, especially if we could go off the main road and explore the
areas and people of the communities we passed through. I actually take more delight meeting
the people than looking at tourist trap destinations.
Currently my DH does not like to go anywhere too long from home so my adventures are not
happening. I now have to give back to him what he gave to me for many years. Me dragging him
about the country when he really wanted to stay home. :ROFLMAO: Tit for Tat thing. I'm slowly getting used to it.
But how that road does keep calling sometimes!
 
The one thing that has made it easier for me is being able to wander where I want and stay wherever I want. I also converted a vehicle, my RAV4, so that I can comfortably sleep in it. I have a tent that attaches to the side of the car. I can alternate between hotels and camping.
 
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  1. Driving shorter distances.
  2. Packing lighter.
  3. Share the driving.
  4. Take back roads at times.
  5. Planning points of interest to visit along the route.
  6. Travel with other couples
 
When I retired in 2010, we bought a fifth-wheel trailer and an F-250 to pull it and spent 4-5 months at a time out on the road, leaving the Florida summers behind. He did all the driving; I did the navigating (with some near-disastrous results until I got the hang of it). One of the things I really enjoyed was seeing where we were on the GPS on my phone. What lake we were passing, where that road went, what mountains those were, what town we were coming up on, .........

After 10 years of that, we sold it and stayed home. I miss the BAT (Big-Ass-Trailer) terribly. I don't like staying in motels and hotels, so we hold trips down to 10 days or so at a time. He still does all the driving; I still do all the navigating and seeing where we are.

We also stop a lot.
 
My friend and I used to take long road trips to the hill country of Texas every spring, we'd see the many fields of wildflowers, hit the thrift stores and just wander around, best tip I can give is explore the less traveled back roads.
 
Pursuit of a hobby is always a great diversion from the road. Viewing plants, animals, landscapes, and I suppose cityscapes, museums, historical locations can all be a focus, along w hiking, fishing, or many other activities can serve as motivation, seasonal timing, and route selection.
 
Although many people have always just gotten into vehicles and drove away without planning, that has significant limitations. The more one plans and researches destinations, the more one understands places one will visit, the more one understands natural sciences of those places, the more one can enjoy whatever places and do so more deeply.

For overnight travel, having a base vehicle from which to sleep overnight within has huge advantages. For some that may mean, huge RVs with an array of modern equipment. For others, could be a van or pick-up with a camper shell. Then at the extreme end, are those like this frugal minimalist person that extensively hikes and backpacks while free dispersed camping, using just a SUV with AWD that I've set up to easily do so at all times of year. In this Internet era, it is easier than ever to research destinations, copying maps and information onto smartphones or laptop computers for use while on the road.

On Friday, I used the same skills to drive into at night, a high crime urban zone. I made Print Screen captures of on screen city street maps as jpg's that I later just viewed on my smartphone. I also just use the smartphone camera to capture jpg images of my desktop computer display. For instance, captured a page of text information on public transit routes and times schedules.
 
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I haven't been on a long US road trip in a long time. We have traveled all over Europe and have gone on long drives there. I want to see more of the US but my wife isn't particularly interested.
 
For those SF members with date flexibility, visiting parks and natural areas here in California, this old landscape and nature photographer, hiker, and backpacker, can point any members asking, to such information sources. Given much above normal precipitation so far early in this 2025/2026 rainy season in our Southwest Sonora and Mojave Deserts, late winter and spring in 2026 are likely to have some of the best wildflower displays in years.
 

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