Travel Swellness: 7 Ways to Make Solo Road-Tripping Better

When driving alone, I can get bored pretty quickly. I think doing the drive from Toronto to Montreal as a passenger on the weekends every two weeks when I first moved to Toronto really made me develop a deep dread for being in a car for hours. So the idea of driving solo several hours alone has always been a bit daunting to me up until recently. Now having done it a couple of times, I have a few tactics to make driving solo for several hours easier:

Pack great road-trip snacks you’re excited to eat. I swear that having snacks to look forward to helps break up the drive into chunks of time. This is no different than a regular day for me; I’m always planning what I’m eating next. Some snacks I tend to pack for road trips: bagels, apples, almonds, sour patch kids, Pringles (the can makes it easy to eat in the car), Peanut M&Ms, and if I’m organized enough to pack a meal, I like making pita wraps because they’re easy to eat on the go. To drink, I bring a Sap Sucker and Bubly, although I do try to somewhat limit my fluids so that I can avoid stopping for a ton of bathroom breaks.

Plan for fun stops along the way. I used to only focus on getting to my final destination as quickly as possible.Now, I try to plan for at least one stop along the way so that I have something to look forward to. It might be at the beginning of the trip (for example, I’ve gone to San Remo Bakery to pick up doughnuts so that I have a sweet treat to look forward to) or a practical errand midway (such as Giant Tiger to pick up the last few cottage essentials–and I’m always checking to see if they’ve got the $6 bike shorts I scored two summers ago). Or sometimes I’ll stop somewhere touristy, such as the Big Apple in Cobourg. Incorporating stops helps to break up the journey; rather than facing a long, boring six-drive to Montreal, it’s only two hours til the Big Apple, and then another one or so til I stop for gas. This method of breaking up the drive into chunks reminds of running 10 and 1s; it’s easier to mentally wrap your head around getting through the next 10 minutes rather than hours of running (when in the thick of marathon training you’ve got those 30k runs as you near race day!). In fact, when I was getting drained completing the mileage for the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee, I planned fun stops during some runs, including meeting my friend in the park to hike. Look how much marathon training has taught me, haha!

Plan your gas stop and bathroom breaks. Like in a marathon, for a road trip you need to plan when to fuel and when you go to the bathroom. I now know that I fill up on gas every three hours of driving or so; with that in mind, I plan my other stops accordingly–it’s all about spacing apart the breaks from driving and giving your legs a stretch and some fresh air (for Billie Jean, too!). When I get gas, I usually pick up a double-double at Timmies, too, cuz I’m a good ol’ Canadian, eh! It’s my little road trip ritual.

Have a playlist planned. I much prefer running with music or a podcast on my AirPods and I need entertainment for my drives as well. I only listen to a handful of podcasts regularly, so if I know I have a road trip coming up, I will save new episodes to listen to in the car. Podcasts really help the time fly by; I drove five hours to Meech Lake in the fall and by the time I’d listened to my favourites (Dave Chang Show, Smartless, Conan O’Brien, Spilled Milk, Fake Doctors Real Friends, and Recipe Club) I’d arrived! I’d take breaks in between podcasts for music. Since I don’t own a lot of music, I’ve very much enjoyed the Sirius XM subscription in the GM Canada cars. I set my favourites before I hit the road so I can easily switch between pop, hip hip, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. If you’re into audiobooks, download a few for your drive, I bet that’d be a great time to have a listen if it’s a format you enjoy (I find my mind wanders off when listening to audiobooks so they’re not my jam for road trips.)

Dress for the drive. You’ll want to be comfortable, obviously. For winter drives, I typically take off my winter coat and wear a sweatsuit or a sweater and leggings. More important than your outfit is your footwear; in the summer, this means wearing footwear other than flimsy flip flops (which can slip on the pedals) and for fall and winter, I opt for sneakers or boots that don’t have an overly chunky sole (too much of platform and I can’t feel the pedal!). Avoid wearng jumpsuits or onesies as your ootd; trust me, you do not want the hassle of getting half undressed at every bathroom pit stop!

Sing! Learn a new language! One of my IG followers suggested learning a new language while driving, and I love that idea! I haven’t tried it yet (although I am learning Italian with the Babbel app), but I do regularly sing in the car. If a boyband comes on or some classic 90s RnB, you’ll find my singing at the top of my lungs behind the wheel. I find singing helps keep you alert for the drive and you end up feeling more energized after you’ve belted out some Mary J Blige. And while I’m not really one to talk on the phone, if you love phone calls, use this time to chat with that friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with.

Driving with confidence. Besides all of these little tactics I use for going on solo road trips,  for me a big part of what makes me comfortable and confident with driving solo is knowing the car I’m driving can handle the conditions and that its features help me drive more safely.

My recent test drive of the 2022 GMC Acadia AWD was perfect for my trip cottage-hopping. While the highways were clear, it was white-out conditions in Gatineau on the day I departed for Wentworth and the roads were slippery for most of my two-hour trek, but all-wheel-drive got me safely to my destination. And let’s hear it for the heated steering wheel and seats; much appreciated in the -21 degree weather (and I think the more comfortable you are, the more focused you are on driving)! Also, because I do not pack light, the ample trunk space (plus I put down the third row of seats to expand it) was put to good use with all of my cottage groceries, luggage and work-from-cottage essentials stashed in there; they didn’t have to be piled up, which would’ve blocked the rear window). The Acadia also had heads-up display is something I always appreciate as it helps me be more aware of my speed (when I get in a zone, I’m a little bit of a lead foot!), and the blind-spot detection light is super helpful for keeping you aware of your surroundings (even though, of course, I always do shoulder check before changing lanes). I will tell you that I never would’ve predicted I’d love GMC, but I do! Although I don’t love parking them (so big!) I do love being the big GMC SUV on the road surrounded by little cars. Maybe that confidence was BCE: Big Car Energy. Does this mean, ahem, size matters?!

(Side note: Just last year, an old SUV I was driving solo one day in the summer went dead right as I was in the middle of making a turn onto a busy downtown street. There I was, in the middle of the intersection with the car completely dead. Talk about panic! It makes me appreciate cars like this smooth driving GMC Acadia all that much more!)

How do you approach your road trips? I’m still learning (and I dream of one day driving to Banff and Jasper to hike with Billie Jean) so would love to know if you have any strategies for road tripping (especially driving solo). And more importantly, what podcasts should I add to my library for my next road trip?? ‘Cause I’ll need way more to listen to if I’m going to tackle longer drives!

Leave a Comment February 15, 2022

Travel Swellness: Cottage getaway to Viamede Resort

I am not one of the lucky people who has a cottage. Nor do I have friends who have cottages. So it was so wonderful to get away last summer to Viamede Resort in the Kawarthas. So much so that early this year I looked into going again, and they kindly hosted me again. I was especially keen on returning there, as it’s a dog-friendly resort. Last year, we borrowed two golden retrievers from the hotel’s GM to go for a hike, but this year, I had my very own dog to bring along, Billie Jean!

One reason I really enjoy Viamede (besides it being a beautiful, quiet property) is that it’s like cottaging lite. As in there is the Boathouse and Mount Julian on the property, so you don’t have to cook at all if you don’t want to, and I’ve stayed at cottages where it’s quite remote (and I think I’d maybe feel a bit wary to stay solo with just Billie Jean), but here you have other guests around, and there’s staff who can help you with questions (like last year, when I was on the hunt to find an air pump to inflate my swan floatie!).

For this, another edition in this summer’s road trip series I’m doing, General Motors Canada set me up with a GMC Acadia Denali to test drive for this road trip (which, with the traffic we got caught in took about three hours, but we did stop for a late lunch), and I felt it is exactly in line with this type of trip. Still luxurious in feel but with a little bit  more rugged appeal — think subtle wood-grain touches on the dashboard. And it has phenomenal trunk space — no problem at all packing Billie Jean’s crate, her toys and supplies and all of our bags. The car feels very solid and even for me, the not too frequent driver, felt it was manageable in terms of size. And I thought it did great in terms of fuel economy. And I felt like we fit right in with all of the other more rugged cars and pickup trucks we were surrounded by. Although I bet we still very much seemed like “Toronto people.”

On the drive home from the Kawarthas, we hit some extremely heavy rain. But the Acadia handled well, and we made it through easily even though roads were slick and the visibility was low.

As for what to do once you arrive and stay at Viamede Resort? Here are some of the top things I’ve discovered during my two visits:

Just relax. If you’re like me, and your mind’s always going a mile a minute, this is where you can and should enjoy a breather. I probably missed out on discovering new things to do at the resort and in the area because what I needed most was just sometime to recharge.

Kayak. Canoe. SUP. All of these watercraft are available on the resort’s beach to take out onto Stoney Lake (just grab whatever’s available) and the water is typically pretty calm. If the floating bouncy thing is too far for you to swim (or the water too cold, as it was for me — I’m a wimp with the temp of Ontario lakes!), you can use the SUP to cruise on over to it. If watersports aren’t your thing, there is a tennis court, disc golf, and a few bikes you can  borrow to explore the property.

Eat at Mount Julian. Mount Julian is the restaurant on the property where you can enjoy tasting menus and wine pairings, and the focus is on local ingredients — I particularly loved a perch course last summer. It’s a way to add a little bit of a foodie indulgence that’s more on the fine dining  to your trip to the country. But the food is solid at the Boathouse as well, it’s just a more casual setting and menu. I enjoyed the burger, and the fish and chips, and I’m sad I didn’t get to try the brisket poutine.

Hike. There are a few hiking trails on the property, and while we found the maps a little bit confusing and the trails not too clearly marked, it’s easy enough to find your way on some sort of hike. We stumbled onto a 100-year-old oak tree that looks straight out of a fairy tale.

Make s’mores by the campfire. The supplies are there so all you need to do is roast that marshmallow perfectly and squish it with chocolate in between two graham crackers. What’s a cottage getaway without s’mores?!

Bring your dog to vacation with you. Billie Jean’s tail wagged the entire time we were there and it made me so happy to see my little rescue so at ease and joyful. She loved roaming the woods and hanging out on the dock. Dogs are to be leashed in the main property area but otherwise they can be off leash, and there’s even a grassy dog park on the property, too. The dog-friendly bookings are for the cottages, whereas the main resort building is just for human guests.

Attend the ice cream social. I believe this is held Saturdays at 1 p.m. Complimentary ice cream, I mean what’s not to like. And if you’re an ice cream fiend like me, make sure to stop for some Kawartha Dairy when in the area (we popped into Country Cone before we drove back to Toronto — and they have a whole variety of different butter tarts, such as bacon and Rolo versions).

Those are just a few of the things you can do; there’s a daily schedule at Viamede, which looks remarkably like the property from the movie Dirty Dancing (that’s the main building behind Billie Jean in the photo above). Last year, we visited the farm, although we didn’t go this year, but other guests told us they saw the pigs being fed the breakfast scraps, which I would’ve loved to have gone to. There’s also the Petroglyphs Provincial Park, that I’ve had on my to-do list both years…and then just relaxing by the lake wins every time!

Leave a Comment July 21, 2017