October 1, 2024
By Mia Raguse
After months of planning, we finally spent nearly four weeks in God’s own country, road-tripping our way. Being the total opposite of backpacker types, we knew our trip had to be planned to perfection, maximum vibes, minimum stress. Initially, we had big dreams of crossing the entire U.S., from Times Square to Hollywood Boulevard, but reality hit, and we decided to keep it tighter. Instead, we focused on scenic coastal and mountain drives with plenty of cute stops along the way. We ended up going all-in on the ultimate California road trip. Not just to revisit cities and spots we’d loved before but to discover charming coastal gems, breathtaking nature, and explore new big cities. We were chasing that perfect summer vibe with luxe motel-style hotels, cozy little bakeries, and big city energy. But we quickly realized that the boutique hotels we were after could either sell out or double in price overnight. So we spent 48 hours mapping out our route, locking in hotels to secure our stay, and then spent the next month booking everything else, restaurants, activities, and all the must-visits along the way. By the time we hit the road, everything was planned to perfection.
At the bottom of this journal, we’ve created a map where you can see our entire route, along with all the hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, grocery stores we visited, and the activities we did.
The planning
When we plan a trip, we always start by setting the dates and locking in flights. Once that’s sorted, we create a shared note on our phones to list everything we want to do. From there, we make a schedule with dates and organize all our must-dos to ensure we fit it all in. Then comes figuring out the best areas to stay in based on our plans This is especially useful in massive cities like LA, where getting around pretty much requires a car. Since we’re big fans of hotel-hopping, we usually pick a few different spots to stay in large cities, so we can explore multiple neighborhoods without missing anything.
Since this trip was nearly four weeks long, we went full planner mode and made a schedule for all the restaurants we’d booked ahead of time. To keep things chill and not feel trapped by our own schedule, we also added backup options under each destination, like restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, you name it, just in case we felt like switching it up. This way, we saved ourselves from last-minute Googling and avoided the classic hangry fights about where to eat.
To wrap it all up, we throw every hotel and restaurant reservation and activities into a shared calendar. And because we like to make life easy, we also save all our must-visit spots onto a shared Google Maps list. That way, when we need to find a supermarket or grab a quick matcha, it’s all right there at our fingertips.
Here’s what we booked in advance
- Flights: 3-4 months ahead
- Hotels: 3 months ahead
- Yosemite National Park access: 3 months ahead
- Car rental: 2 months ahead
- Experiences like Las Vegas shows and the Alcatraz tour: 2 months ahead
- Restaurants like Hell’s Kitchen and Bacchanal: 0-3 months ahead
To sum it up, here are the ultimate travel hacks
- Lock in your dates and location first.
- Secure your flights before prices do their thing.
- Create a note and dump in everything you want to see, do and eat.
- Find hotels in spots that make sense for your plans.
- Set up a schedule and spread out activities so you’re not sprinting through the trip.
- Book restaurants ahead of time, then save them in both your notes and calendar.
- Leave some days open for pure vibes, spontaneity, and last-minute adventures.
- Put everything into a Google Maps list.
To pick each destination for our trip, we went full research mode on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Google, and a deep dive into maps to see what was out there. Our goal? A perfectly balanced itinerary. We kicked things off with three coastal stops for sun, relaxation, and quick wins, aka, no brutal drives right away. Then, we mixed it up with San Francisco city life, Lake Tahoe’s nature vibes, and Yosemite adventure mode. From there, we hit the madness of Vegas for three days before unwinding in San Diego – finally, a week in LA, half in the city & hills, half by the ocean.
Most drives were around two hours, with the longest being a seven-hour stretch from Yosemite to Vegas. Worth it
Landing jet-lagged in the afternoon, we spent one night in LA before kicking things off properly. First order of business the next morning? Grabbing our car, and right after a mandatory Erewhon breakfast and matcha fix, naturally. Then, we hit the road to our first stop!
Our itinerary
- 1 night in LA
- 2 nights in Santa Barbara
- 1 night in Cambria
- 2 nights in Carmel-by-the-Sea
- 4 nights in San Francisco
- 2 nights in Lake Tahoe
- 2 nights in Yosemite
- 3 nights in Las Vegas
- 3 nights in San Diego
- 6 nights in Los Angeles
26 nights total