Chile's Travel Tips

Food

While traveling may seem like the perfect time to indulge your cravings, don't. If you are on a road trip, you need your system to stay regular. Junk food from vending machines and fast food at truck stops will throw your digestive system for a loop. (That is, assuming you eat pretty healthy food at home...) Trust me; the last thing you want to deal with on the road is constipation or diarrhea!

If possible, take your own food that your body is familiar with. See this post for ideas if you have plenty of space or will be camping, or my more recent posts regarding planning for this trip if you have limited space and are stuck in hotels.

If at all possible, reserve hotel rooms with a microwave and mini-fridge. This expands your non-restaurant food options considerably. If you can't get a microwave, invest in a $5 immersion heater so you can heat water in your room for instant oatmeal, soup cups, or even backpacking food. Yes, you can use the in-room coffee pot to heat water, but it may not be cleaned very often.

If you are going somewhere new and exciting with regional food specialties, by all means sample the local fare. Splurge on a dinner out when you have no driving plans the next day....just in case.

If you must buy food from fast food joints, make healthy choices. I've been amazed this trip to see that there is a Subway franchise at darn near every exit. We can always get a healthy sandwich there: whole wheat bread, mustard or fatfree sweet onion sauce, no meat/cheese (choose low-fat turkey breast and no cheese if you're not a vegetarian), tons of vegetables, and salt and pepper. Baked chips are better than fries, but even better than that would be the apple slices. (Better than that would be a whole apple from a produce stand...) Skip the soda and drink water to keep hydrated.


On the Road

Speaking of keeping hydrated, take advantage of rest areas as soon as you feel the slightest need. Just because you are positive you can make it to the next rest area, only "28 miles away", doesn't mean it will actually be open! Some roads also go hundreds of miles without a single bush or tree to hide behind in an emergency.

You will hit construction zones. It doesn't matter where you are, there will be construction and delays. Take a deep breath and relax. Getting frustrated about it won't change it.

There will be idiots on the road. This is guaranteed. I trust you are not one of the idiots but you will be driving behind or next to them, or have them merge on to the freeway and slow down forcing you to try to slow from 70 mph to 40 mph in seconds. Again, take a deep breath and relax. Screaming at them will not get them to change their behavior. Remember, they are idiots. Don't incite a road rage incident by reacting badly. Just get as far away from them, at a legal and safe speed, as you can.

If possible, do not plan to go a zillion miles each day, especially if you are getting older. Your body will stiffen up between rest stops and ache terribly at the end of the day. The hotel beds will not allow enough restful sleep to adequately recover.

Avoid traveling during holidays, weekend, and Spring Break. There are more idiots on the road.


Choice of Hotels

You may have spent hours online researching hotel options - finding the ones that allow pets but don't charge a $150 non-refundable deposit for them, have rooms with microwave and fridge, guarantee non-smoking rooms, and seem like you will be able to rest up for the next day's brutal drive.

Signs that you still made a poor choice include:

Having no power in your room.

Seeing a number of young men carrying cases of beer to several rooms close to yours.

Sharing the hotel with a large number of illegal immigrants.

Getting a non-smoking room right across the hall from a chain smoker so that the hallway reeks every time you leave the room.

Settling for a hotel with a microwave in the lobby only and discovering that really annoying people hang out in the lobby all the time.

Getting stuck on the second floor because the entire first floor is full of long-term rentals to construction workers, and then finding out there is no elevator. Your dog will not appreciate all the trips up and down the stairs, especially after you already took her for 3 long walks that day.

Having an acrobatic family check in to the room next door with a child who practices by jumping on the bed until 11:30 pm.

Leaving before dawn and finding the parking lot covered with cockroaches...also leaving your hotel.


Can you tell I don't really care for road trips?