Self-drive is the quiet middle ground between a package and going in blind. We book every bed, mark every fuel stop and dead spot on the map, and write the route notes the way a friend would — which café to trust, which pass to skip after rain, where the police checkpoint always sits.

You drive at your own pace and change your mind as often as you like. The only fixed points are the beds, and even those can usually shift by a night with one phone call.