Your first order of business after deciding where you are going to take a road trip will be to roughly plan the route. The key here is to make sure not to over plan and leave plenty of time for spontaneity.

You can start planning the route by finding the sites and activities you absolutely don't want to miss along the way. From there you can roughly plan where you will spend nights, whether that be in hotels or at campgrounds. Make sure the drive between the places you will sleep is reasonable. One or two days (for example at the beginning or end of the trip) with long drives may be preferable, but on every other day, try to keep the driving to a minimum to be able to take in all that you want to see. Nothing will ruin your trip more than trying to drive too much every day leaving you exhausted.

Another reason you want to keep the driving to a minimum is to be able to make unplanned stops. You never know when you'll stumble upon a gem and want to stop and experience it.

Finally, it is a good idea to leave a day to spare just in case anything comes up along the way.

These days a paper map or atlas is not necessary. However, if seeking a nostalgic version of a road trip, you may want to use one just for fun.

Should you book all of your accommodation ahead of time? Maybe.

It really depends on the time of year you are traveling as to whether you need to book ahead of time. If traveling during summer (the most common time to go on a road trip), you very may well have to book everything ahead of time, particularly when planning to visit popular national parks. For these, you may need to plan even months ahead of time.

At other times of the year, you may be able to get away with booking accommodation a day ahead or perhaps just showing up the night of. If you are flexible, this will give you more leeway to be spontaneous — which is a big part of what road trips should be.

When planning your route, you'll want not just to figure out what sights you want to see and where you want to stay, but see if there will be any toll roads on your route and what parking is like where you're planning to go.

There are toll roads across the US and in many other countries in the world. And while you used to be able to just pay at toll booths, many of them no longer have toll booths and use electronic tolling instead.

Whether you're going to be traveling in your own car or a rental car, you'll need to see if you'll be using any of these toll roads that are electronically tolled. And if you are, you'll need to find out how you can pay the tolls.

For some tolls, you can pay online either before or after traveling on the road or bridge. For example, if you cross the Golden Gate Bridge, you need to pay online within the next day using your license plate number — and if in a rental car, it's all the same.

Other toll roads require transponders. In these places, car rental companies usually equip their cars with these but usually charge an additional fee for that service. If in your own car, you'll need to see if you can order one in advance or purchase one in a welcome center, shop, or post office.

It's just as important to investigate parking where you plan to travel to make sure you don't accrue some hefty parking fines. Many cities now have apps with which you can pay to park, so you can just download them in advance. If you're unsure about street parking, you can always search for garages.

When searching for hotels, be sure to see if parking is offered and if there's an additional cost for that. What may be a great deal at first might come with a hefty parking fee.

Packing for a road trip doesn't need to be any more complicated than packing for any other trip. Just remember that even though you may have the space, you still should try not to pack too much.

It's best to take a suitcase and a smaller backpack for carrying things during the day ë for example, water when going for a hike. Having a suitcase that you can take into and out of your hotel rooms is much more convenient than having everything sprawled out in the car.

Some essentials that you should make sure to take:

• Phone charger
• Dashboard phone holder
• Emergency kit
• Water and snacks
• A cooler
• Driver's license, ID, credit card, and anything else you need to pick up your rental car

Also, don't forget to check out our complete packing checklist.

A road trip just isn't a road trip without the right music to listen to on the road. So make sure you're prepared with a soundtrack for your trip. You can find road trip song playlists everywhere. For example, just search for road trip on Spotify and you'll find many different lists.

Of course, to have the perfect soundtrack, you should make your own playlist. This would be time well spent. There are so many classic songs that it's impossible to list them all, but here are our top road trip songs:

Life is a Highway - Tom Cochrane (or the Rascal Flatts version)
On the Road Again - Willie Nelson
Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers
Take It Easy - The Eagles
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
I've Been Everywhere - Johny Cash
Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead
Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams