Get the car road trip ready before you take off! When you get busy, it’s easy to let your car spiral out of control with daily odds and ends. Whether you’re traveling with kids, friends, or all by yourself, it’s important to make room for creature comforts. With kids (or certain friends) it’s imperative to keep them comfortable to keep yourself happy. Pillows, blankets, portable gaming devices, and lots of music can be the difference between a road trip that will never end and one you won’t want to end.
Plan to take plenty of stops throughout your trip. There are no awards won for holding it in and driving until your ankles go numb. As they say, life is about the journey, not necessarily the destination. Keep yourself and your travel buddies comfortable, happy, and feeling more cultured by stopping to chat with the locals!
Safety Safety Safety should always be your first responsibility. Whether you’re driving down the block or across the country, every trip you take should be as safe and fun as possible! Bef0re voyaging out on your trek, it’s always a good idea to get your vehicle inspected from the inside out. While many people look back and wish they had their lights and fluids inspected before they left, there are very few who wish they hadn’t. You can save yourself an amazing amount of time, stress, and money by having preventative maintenance and inspections performed on your vehicle. Once you’re ready to go, always make sure everyone is buckled in; just because you’re the driver taking care of everyone doesn’t mean you are exempt from this rule! Safety belts can save your life, which is usually a nice thing to have happen when the worst occurs during a trip! Whether you’re just taking off or are half way through your trip and you notice some of your luggage is disrupting your view, pull over to move it. It may seem like a pain but it can actually be the safest, quickest solution.
Brain games can keep you alert and pass time if it starts to drag. Having a bad joke contest can be an amazing way to laugh the miles away. Pick up joke books at the dollar store, study up before you leave, or take turns with your favorites. If you deem one bad enough, that “lucky” person gets a point marked down. Really into road trip games? Keep a running ledger per person where their points are recorded, no matter the game. At the end, the winner gets a funky little prize or free meal! A spelling bee can be another way to rack up points and put the miles behind you. Toss a dictionary in the car and take turns quizzing each other on every word you never needed to learn.
Utilize multiple navigation tools during your trip. While a paper map may seem like the most ridiculous item you’d ever pack, it can be an enormous help in the event of an emergency. With smart phones, tablets, and GPS everything flourishing every vehicle on the road, paper maps are generally more useful as the trees they were before becoming paper. However, if your cell phone dies or your GPS malfunctions you will be so thankful! Expect the best and plan for the worst. Having said that, make sure you are using an up-to-date map that you understand how to read. Grabbing one of your parent’s maps from the 80s out of their glove box may seem like a smart move but it can actually lead to more confusion. Paper maps need to be upgraded similarly to how you need to upgrade your GPS system.