The blog
Field notes from the road.
Stories about why we built this, what works on long drives, and what to know before you visit the places we've planned.
Guides
When the trip ends: turn it into a story with your photos, and share it
Tap End trip, add your photos and a few honest notes, and Wanderply writes the trip up as a family travel story, day by day, with your pictures in it. Then one link lets grandparents and friends read it, no account needed.
Guides
How to create a trip on Wanderply, step by step
Four short screens take you from "we should go to Moab" to a day-by-day plan with narrated stops, a packing list and a map. Here's each screen, what to fill in, and what to do once the plan lands.
Guides
Winter is desert season: 5 Southwest road trips that are better from November to March
Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Sedona and the Grand Canyon's South Rim, Zion without the crowds, and Route 66 are all at their best when the rest of the country is scraping ice. Here's where to go, the one hike to do at each, and what winter changes on the road.
Tips
Driving for Thanksgiving? When to leave, what to check, and how to keep the car sane
Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest road-travel weeks of the year. Here's how to pick a departure time that skips the worst of it, what to check before a mountain pass, and how to make five hours in the car with the family feel like part of the holiday.
Guides
One last hike before winter: 6 fall-color road trips still worth driving this year
The aspens in the Rockies are done, but fall isn't. From the Smokies to Zion's cottonwoods, here are six places where the color typically runs from mid-October into November, with the hike to do at each and the roads that close behind you.
Itineraries
Zion and Bryce road trip with kids: a 3-day plan that actually fits
Two of Utah's best national parks are 85 miles apart, and both are great with kids — if you pick the right trails, use the shuttles, and plan around heat, altitude and nap time. Here's a realistic three-day plan, hour by hour where it matters.
Guides
Road trip audio tours: what they are and how to get one for any route
GPS-triggered audio tours turn a long drive into a guided one — a voice that tells you what you're looking at, right as it comes into view. Here's how they work, who makes them, what to look for, and how to get narration for a route nobody has recorded a tour for.
How-to
National park road trip planning checklist (reservations, permits, passes for 2026)
The scenery is the easy part. What derails national park trips now is paperwork — timed-entry reservations, permit lotteries, campsites that sell out in minutes, and pass rules that changed for 2026. Here's the checklist, in the order you should work through it.
How-to
How much does a road trip cost? A realistic budget breakdown
Gas is the line everyone calculates and the smallest one on the bill. Here's how to estimate a road trip honestly — the fuel math, lodging and food bands, the fees people forget, and two worked examples you can adapt to your own route.
Itineraries
Yellowstone in 3 days: the first-timer's itinerary (by loop, not by list)
Yellowstone is a figure-eight of road bigger than Rhode Island. Here's how to split it into three days that each stay on one loop, when to be where to dodge the buses, and where to sleep so you're not driving two hours before breakfast.
Itineraries
Utah's Mighty 5 road trip: a 7-day itinerary that doesn't rush the good parts
Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches — the classic loop, in the right order, with realistic drive times, the one hike to do in each park, and where to sleep so you're never driving red-rock roads in the dark.
Packing
The national park road trip packing list (the version that fits in one car)
Every long national parks drive we've done taught us the same thing — it's not the big gear you forget, it's the six small things that turn a great day into a miserable one. Here's the list, organized by where it goes in the car.
How-to
How to plan a road trip in seven steps (the order matters more than the tools)
Most road trip plans fall apart because they're built in the wrong order — stops first, reality later. Here's the sequence that produces plans that survive contact with the actual road, whether you use a spreadsheet, a notebook, or an app.
Day trips
Grand Canyon day trip from Las Vegas: South Rim vs. West Rim, honestly
The two "Grand Canyon from Vegas" options are completely different trips. Here's the real drive time to each, what you actually see, and the itinerary we'd use for a one-day, own-car run to the South Rim.
Family
12 road trip games for the car that don't need a screen (and 3 that do, but earn it)
The best car games work for a seven-year-old and a grandparent at the same time, need zero setup, and survive a dead phone. Here's the list we actually use — plus the trivia decks that turn a long Nevada straightaway into a competition.
Field notes
You don't need a vacation. You need a Saturday.
The best trips we took last year weren't the big ones — they were the day trips we almost didn't take. Here's how Wanderply turns "we should get out more" into a planned Saturday in about two minutes.
Guides
The packing list you never have to write again
Every trip starts with the same list, scribbled on the same notes app, forgetting the same charger. Wanderply builds the packing checklist with the trip — sectioned, shareable, and checkable from the trunk of your car.
Behind the scenes
Sixteen quizzes for people who love maps
Capitals, flags, anthems, airline logos, the countries behind internet domains — Wanderply's Travel Trivia is 16 free decks and about 1,500 questions, playable by anyone, no account required. Here's a tour, and the story of why a trip planner has a trivia arcade.
Guides
How to plan a group trip without the group-chat chaos
Eight people, one weekend, and a group chat that scrolls forever. Wanderply replaces the chaos with a single shared plan everyone can see, rename, and settle up on. Here's how.
Field notes
How Wanderply quietly saved our family road trip
No signal, two restless kids, and a plan that lived in someone's email. Here's how one app turned the worst two hours of the drive into the best — and why we don't travel without it now.
Destinations
A weekend in Moab, planned before your coffee got cold
We timed it. From a blank screen to a full two-day Moab itinerary — routed, packed, and narrated — took less than the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Here's exactly what that looks like.
Field notes
The money side — member rates, expense splitting, and flight alerts
Wanderply won't sell you a hotel. But it will show you the member rate you already qualify for, split the trip costs fairly, and tell you when your flight moves. Here's the practical, boring, genuinely useful money layer.
Behind the scenes
The back seat is handled — audio guides, trivia, and the Drive Co-Pilot
A great itinerary tells you where to go. Wanderply also tells you why the next stop matters, quizzes the kids on the way, and turns the drive itself into part of the trip.
Field notes
Plans that survive the drive — offline mode, weather, and packing
The best itinerary in the world is useless in a canyon with no signal. Here's how Wanderply keeps your plan, your maps, and your checklist working when the bars disappear.
Guides
How Wanderply turns a destination into a real itinerary
Type in where you're going, answer a few questions, and get a day-by-day plan that honors your pace, your budget, and the two or three things you refuse to miss. Here's what actually happens under the hood.
Behind the scenes
Why we built Wanderply
A planner that survives the drive — built out of frustration with spreadsheets, Google Maps lists, and the question every parent dreads from the back seat.
Field notes
Five rules for a road trip with kids (that we actually keep)
After a decade of family drives, the few rules that survived. Snack discipline, screen rationing, and the one rule that changed everything.
Destinations
Inside the Sphere — what to know before you go
It's the most expensive concert venue ever built and it's worth every dollar at the box office. The seven things we wish someone had told us first.