Soul Kitchen: How to Plan the Perfect Road Trip

A Soul Kitchen road trip story about planning, snacks, and letting go a little

I’ve gone on quite a few road trips over the years, and I have to say, I’ve enjoyed most of them. There’s something exciting about traveling by car. You get to listen to carefully curated playlists, indulge in delicious snacks, and chat with the people you’re with while the scenery slowly changes outside your window.

Even though road trips can sometimes feel long and tedious, there’s also something beautiful about gazing out into the unknown and discovering places along the way. Time stretches differently on a road trip. It moves slower and softer than it does in everyday life.

For me, planning a road trip isn’t just about logistics—it’s about creating a sense of comfort before the journey even begins.

Step 1: Map Out the Journey (Even If You Don’t Stick to It)

When it comes to planning, I need to map everything out beforehand.

I need to know the route, how long it will take to get there, where we can stop along the way, and what we’re doing once we reach the destination. Generally, I need to know every little detail. My brain won’t settle otherwise. Especially while traveling, I need structure.

There’s something calming about knowing the shape of the trip before it even begins. It makes the unknown feel a little softer.

Even if I don’t end up stopping at every planned place, I still need to know they’re there. It makes the drive feel safer somehow—less like being carried forward blindly and more like moving through something with small checkpoints along the way.

But honestly, my absolute favorite part of the planning process—other than the playlists and mapping everything out—is the food.

Step 2: Pack the Snacks Like They’re the Main Event

A road trip without snacks just feels… incomplete.

For me, it’s never just a few random things thrown into a bag. It’s about bringing a small piece of home with you.

I’m talking about:

• packed sandwiches wrapped in foil
• cookies (always cookies)
• chips or something salty
• a little junk food that somehow feels essential to the experience
• maybe something cold packed into a cooler if I’m feeling organized

There’s something comforting about having food within reach at all times.

I’ve done long road trips like California to Texas, and shorter ones from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, Laguna Beach, and Las Vegas. But there’s one road trip in particular that stands out to me because the food—and the feeling of it all—made the experience everything you could want a road trip to be.

I was with my parents on our way to Las Vegas. They loved to gamble, so we went there often. Honestly, I’ve been going there for most of my life. But this particular trip always stayed with me.

I remember listening to Alanis Morissette, who was my favorite singer at the time, and feeling a kind of joy, I rarely felt back then. I spent most of the drive staring out the window at the wide-open desert, daydreaming about the future.

My mom had packed homemade goodies: tuna salad sandwiches on kaiser rolls, soft and chewy oatmeal cookies, and fresh fruit. And of course, there were road trip staples like potato chips, licorice, and Milky Ways.

It was simple, but it was so much fun.

At one point, we were all singing along to Jimi Hendrix while sitting in traffic. My dad was singing “All Along the Watchtower”— “There must be some way out of here”—which felt like the perfect song for that exact moment. Honestly, traffic somehow always feels a little more bearable when you have snacks in your lap and music playing through the speakers.

Step 3: Let the Music Set the Tone

I think every road trip has its own atmosphere.

The music changes the entire feeling of the drive. Some songs make it feel cinematic. Some make it feel nostalgic. And some feel like freedom. Others simply make the miles pass a little easier.

And somewhere between the music, the passing scenery, and the snacks, time starts to feel different.

When you’re actually in the middle of the trip, sometimes the structured plan I had in my head doesn’t unfold the way I imagined it would. But strangely, that gives me a sense of relief. I start to embrace going with the flow and becoming a little more fluid.

Maybe that’s part of the magic of road trips in the first place.

Step 4: Don’t Forget the Food (Soul Kitchen Recipe)

Tuna Salad Sandwiches on Kaiser Rolls

A nostalgic, comforting road trip lunch that feels simple in the best way.

There’s something about a cold tuna salad sandwich packed into a cooler for a road trip that feels incredibly familiar and comforting. Maybe it’s the softness of the roll, the cold crunch of lettuce, or the fact that it’s easy, filling, and somehow tastes even better while sitting in the passenger seat somewhere between destinations.

Step 5: Remember It’s About Comfort

I think the perfect road trip isn’t really about the destination at all. It’s about the space in between.

For me, it’s really about the memories that happen along the way—the little moments you don’t always think about while they’re happening, but they stay with you afterward.

The food, the snacks, the map spread out somewhere, the music playing in the background, and that feeling of just being in motion without needing to rush anywhere in particular.

Those small things make everything feel a little more alive and a little less overwhelming.

And I think that’s the part I always come back to—making it feel good for you, in whatever way that looks like.

Even if that just means extra cookies and a very detailed route.

What are some of your favorite road trip snacks?

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” — Confucius