Three easy steps to get the most out of your travel using “The Big Rocks” time management tool for route planning. Let’s hit the road!
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You’ve set aside time for a family travel experience and decided it will be a road trip (a future post will explain why I am not using the word “vacation”). You’ve even picked the destination–aka the “turn around point”. But when it comes to route planning, now what?
This is where “The Big Rocks Theory” comes in.
What is “The Big Rocks Theory”?
The Big Rocks Theory, as popularized by Dr. Stephen Covey, is a time management tool that is very useful in route planning. The tool has you see your priorities as “big rocks” and your successively less important tasks as pebbles and sand. We often get bogged down by the “pebbles and sand” vying for our immediate attention–Covey describes these tasks as urgent but not necessarily important. Whereas the “big rocks” are the important tasks.
The goal is to ensure that the big rocks are prioritized and not overtaken by the pebbles and sand. You don’t want to wake up one day, for example, and realize that you don’t have a relationship with your kids because you were busy responding to “urgent” text messages at the dinner table.
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Determine Your Big Rocks
There are several ways to determine the big rocks for your trip. These are the things around which you plan your trip.
Sometimes there are family or friends that you want to visit. So, you would have to determine who, where, and when they are available. You may be excited to meet up with your cousins in Memphis, but they may be in Hawaii. Also, never assume that your friends are able to drop everything simply because you happen to be passing through town.
Sometimes there is a festival, concert, or event that is in a specific place on a specific date. I know someone who plans his yearly RV trip around the NASCAR schedule. You may have a child to drop off at sleepaway camp. One summer we planned around being at the Lumberjack World Championship (totally worth it).
Important tip: if you are planning around an event, book your tickets and accommodations as soon as possible. Don’t take any chances. You don’t want the event to be sold out or to find yourself sleeping on a park bench–unless that’s what you want to do. Additionally, events often have better seat selection or less expensive tickets further in advance. If you already know you’re going, why not take advantage?
Another option in determining your can’t miss destinations is figuring out places you want to go that are at least kind of on the way to/from your ultimate destination. Does one of your kids love penguins? Try to fit in the penguin center at the Detroit Zoo. Do you have a Boy Scout in your family? Explore the National Scouting Museum in New Mexico. Headed across the US and want to see Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the Mall of America, Mount Washington, and the Liberty Bell all on the same trip? Go more southerly one way and more northerly the other (you can even get to the penguins on the northerly portion and the Scouting Museum on the southerly portion).
These are just a few suggestions for determining your “Big Rocks”. However, keep in mind that time will be a crucial factor as well. Time can be a factor in terms of conflicting dates of scheduled events or in terms of the limited amount of time you have to get it all in. You may want to see your cousins in Memphis, get to the Lumberjack Championship in Wisconsin, and do everything outlined in the map above. Oh, and you want to do it all in the one week you took off from work! Not happening. Time to prioritize…and plan a second trip…
Onto the Pebbles
Now that you’ve laid out your big rock destinations on a map, it is time to figure out your pebbles. Looking at the map, you may see that some of your points are just a couple hours from each other whereas others may be 10-15 hours apart.
In the example above, Niagara Falls is only 4 hours from the Detroit Zoo. However, the National Scouting Museum is 27 hours from the Liberty Bell–but the route passes through Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and just south of Pittsburgh. And that is just with a cursory glance.
How many and how often you need to schedule your pebbles depends on the make up of your group. Can your kids sit for 10 hours? Or do they need to run around every half hour?
As you look at the map, you may recognize places along the way that you are interested in exploring. You may also come across names of places that spark your interest and lead you in an unexpected direction. Looking at a map for something to break up a 7 hour drive, I came across a town called “Natural Bridge”. So, I googled it, figuring there would be a pretty hike in the area. I was surprised to come across elephant riding at the Natural Bridge Zoo! And that’s what we did…I never did find out about any pretty hikes.
If you still have big blocks of time, Roadtrippers is a good resource (use promo code BTR5QTP for $5 off your first year of Roadtrippers Plus). Use their online trip planner or download the App to use on the go. It allows you to input how out of the way you are willing to go and filter points of interest by category. Then it lays all the results out on a map allowing you to click on the icon for more information and reviews. Zoom in and more points of interest will populate. Simply add what you want to your route and get turn-by-turn navigation. There is even an option to select for RV or Auto travel. We have found anything from off the beaten path quirky attractions to nice parks with playgrounds and lakes for a lunch break.
Another great resource is YouTube road trip videos. You should always try to include activities and destinations that you can’t find in your own backyard. If you want to see the Blue Angels or experience a rodeo, for example, check to see if you can catch it along the way.
Fill in the Sand
Your jar is now seemingly full of rocks and pebbles–your actual plans. In the “Big Rocks Theory”, it is now time to pour in the sand to fill in the gaps.
Be sure to leave wiggle room in your road trip plan. You don’t want to feel pressured to hurry up where you are because you have to make it to where you need to be. Leave buffer space for traffic, taking a break, lingering at the museum your kids surprisingly found interesting, enjoying a beautiful sunset, or even sleeping in. (You’ll also be happy that an unexpected trip to urgent care doesn’t throw off your whole plan.)
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As you make your way along the highways and byways, get off and take advantage of the unexpected. Follow the road sign to the “Original Pony Express Station”, take the scenic route rather than the interstate, stop in at a local farmers market, or find a unique place to do a family art project as a trip memento.
Don’t think of it as unplanned, rather think of it as strategically unstructured blocks of time. Literally take the road less travelled. It may sound cliched, but the best memories are often formed in the “sand” of time.
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Route planning can seem overwhelming; daunting even. But, when viewed through the lens of The Big Rocks Theory, it is broken down into three easy steps.
The “big rocks” are the things around which you plan the whole trip.
The “pebbles” are the planned activities that are not written in stone (no pun intended).
And the “sand” represents the spontaneity.
Get in touch and let me know where you’re headed!
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