Re: How to do Route Shopping?

I'm not sure about cheat sheets since route shopping is pretty location-specific. Basically, you just figure out where you want to go and pick up shops along the way.

When I did this full-time years ago, I used to be able to contact schedulers. I live in California, so I would say "Hey! I'm going from [home city] to [destination city] on [date]. I'm able to do shops in [list cities along the way]. Do you have any you could assign me in bulk along the route?"

I'd also done similar emails when I'd be in a bigger metro area and just fill up my days with work. Get a nice hotel shop in Anaheim (for example) and offer to to any shops in Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, etc, etc.

If you're not on as friendly terms with schedulers, it's a lot of applying and hoping you get what you need for your specific dates and cities. It's certainly possible, but just a bit more work on your end to plan it all out and grab the shops that fit what you need.

It's good to have a record system that works for you. I'm simple and usually just use a hand written notebook to use along the way. A good binder with printed guidelines and blank report forms is a lifesaver for me. That way, I can write all of the info quickly and move on instead of having to work with the websites on a phone or tablet. If I'm doing multiple of the same shop, I'll even create my own template with necessary info for that particular client so it's super quick to scribble my notes and go.

If you're doing a trip for work only (no personal stuff), just track your mileage any the beginning and the end. If it's work interspersed with personal business, track your work miles separately.

Hope that helps a bit.