Hey hey!! So as we move through the days of the Southern Series roadtrip, I’ll be breaking some posts up into smaller ones because a few of the days were *super* packed full of awesome things to talk about. While the first couple days were more about just getting situated and a including a lot of miles, which is why we’ll be keeping today’s post similar to Post #1 in that it’ll be all about Day 2’s activities and adventures. Legoooo!

Breakfast in Nashville and Our Attempt at Travel Routines

So! After enjoying our first airbnb (stay tuned til the end of the series where we decide to ditch the airbnbs for another option), we packed up, loaded the food back into our cooler, then quickly foam rolled and stretched…the only day we managed to keep this habit…boo to that!

Part of something I was just talking about on socials yesterday was that keeping consistent routines and habits throughout traveling are of utmost importance. (You can read more about that over on FB if you’d like! I share daily updates there as well).💁‍♀️ So speaking of that, I am really sad that we only instilled these for one singular day and then completely avoided it the rest of the trip. Oops.

We decided to grab breakfast nearby at a place called Sweet Milk, where the hubs grabbed a hot honey bowl (we were in Nashville, after all), and I went with the protein powerhouse, steak and eggs. I may or may not have grabbed like two or three delicious drinks here, and we also scooped up a GINOURMOUS cinnamon roll for the road. (It lasted *days.*) I wish I snagged a picture of it to show you guys. 🤦‍♀️

When it came to meals out on this trip, we had the intention of treating ourselves to once per day. We actually stuck to this pretty well except for a few days, but we’re planning to do more cooking next time after seeing our overall spend for restaurants despite our rule! 😳 (I’ll touch on this in the end of the series as well).

Since we’re working on packing less and less each time we travel, we opted to wear a few fits more than once. Driving days got their own outfit, and we’d wash them once we found the first set of machines. Judge if you will, but sweats take up a TON of space in a backpack, mmkay.

What do you prefer to wear while traveling?

 

Road Trip Grocery Stops and an Airbnb Check-In in Mississippi

This day, we drove through Birmingham, AL all the way to Jackson, MS, where we stocked up on groceries and some more water. Where did we shop at you ask? Dollar General, of course! These are everywhere, and have basically everything you need if there’s no box stores around. We got the essentials from here for just a few bucks, and with that savings, went to the Whole Foods about 5 minutes away to grab some of our favorite snacks and drinks…guys. You *can* have savings AND your favorite things, too. 💁‍♀️

PS! Don’t forget to add your Amazon Prime discount when you shop at Whole Foods, it adds up!

We checked in after that to our next airbnb, assessed the place and unloaded the necessities, then decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood enjoying the warmth of the 80 degree weather we were not used to in December back home. It was a short treat, since it would soon be in the 30s again!! 🙈

We have always like the option of airbnbs for easy booking and fun locations, but not all of them are as awesome as they look in the photos. The bed was a little rough, and there was hardly any space to cook, but we still managed to heat up leftovers from the night before (check the last post if you wanna read what we got!), and with the new chicken from the grocery store, we prepped it for the next days lunch.

Although we planned to hit the hay early because we were wanting an early start, dog sitter issues arose last minute and kept us up until late. Because of this, and the bed sitch, we slept terrible but it was only Day 2! So we got back into the “we’re on vacation” mindset, grabbed some caffeine and hit the road.

Looking back, this was the start of the downhill burnout that was snowballing into getting sick. 🤧

 

Dividing Tasks, Communicating Well, and Traveling as a Team

Now the start of Day 3 we’ll cover briefly since I want to share with you how we utilize both of our time wisely (so far, this was the best trip for that!), so that we can keep moving and not waste time getting sucked into doom scrolling or having one person do all the work. I think after having this experience in particular, it’s very important to note while traveling like this (without a plan and driving a bunch), to ensure effectiveness and communicating well with your partner so that you can keep forging ahead with the least amount of stress as possible.

We did still manage to get up decently early despite the fumbles the night before, so we got packed up again, and made our way to the next place. (Which we usually decided after we were already on the road). I thought this part was really fun. It was a little overwhelming some days when it was nearing 3 or 4pm, but we always found a good spot and enjoyed the location we ended up in.

If you have a partner with you while traveling, I recommend having one person pack and one person load the vehicle. This way, both of you have a specific system for that specific area, and things will always be put back in their proper place so that you can relocate them easily when they’re needed. There were a few days where we swapped tasks, and it ended up making it much harder and way less efficient.

The same goes for when we check into new places. We’ll both go to the place first to check it out empty handed, (safety first!), 🦺 and then I’ll stick around and check on the interior while he starts bringing in our things. As he does this, I’ll begin putting them where they belong, and then by the time he’s done with his part, I’m nearly done with mine as well and we can move onto the next adventure!

Pro Tip!
Try to keep everything on the same table/in the same room, so that you don’t have little things scattered everywhere. This helped us a ton to not lose anything or leave any items behind in the 14 places we stayed during our 16 days of travel. I’m honestly shocked this worked so well.

It’s worth mentioning that this routine has taken us literally years to achieve. If you’ve been around HB for awhile, you’ll know that our relationship is about 13 years old with about 11 years of marriage, so it’s not something you can just perfect overnight unless you’re super organized to start with! 😅 (we were *not*)

Southern Road Trip Day 2 Recap and Road Trip Expenses Breakdown

So, to recap! We traveled from Nashville, TN on Day 2, through Alabama and into Mississippi. These were all new states for us so it was really cool to experience together. But out of all states on the trip that we traveled through, (there were 13!!) our favorite one is coming up next. Stick around to see what it is! 🥰

And as with the first post, I’d like to share our travel expenses again for each day so that we can share what we spent and where. This way, if you’re considering doing something similar, you’ll have a number to reference! While we want to try to do better on road trips in the future, we’re still calling it a win given the unplanned, unexpected adventures we were taking this time.

Here it is! 👇
(As we move on to later days, you’ll notice I try to break it down a little more with what we were purchasing at each stop as well for additional context).

Southern States Road Trip Expenses for Day 2:

• Sweetmilk (breakfast restaurant): $97.33
• Buc-ees (fuel): $42.12
• Gas station (DEF and drinks): $29.78 
• Airbnb: $121.98
• Loves (electrolyte drinks): $7.96
• Dollar General (essentials restock): $25.43
• Whole Foods (drinks, water, groceries for lunches & smoothies): $167.31
  • Total: $491.91

Thanks again for hanging out! I’ll see on the next post where we travel to our favorite state of the trip! Yay!! 🥳 ✨