Did You Think of Everything for the Road Trip?
The excitement of any kind of trip can cause us to forget a few essentials. If you get so busy packing and preparing for a road trip, it’s understandable that you might miss a few important things you should have packed. Instead of realizing what you forgot halfway down the road, why not take time to look through this article and see if some of these things need to be added to your to-do list.
Activities for the Kids
When you take kids on a road trip, you might be hopeful that they will just enjoy the sights and play car games on the drive- games like finding license plates for each state or locating every letter in the alphabet in order. But your kids will inevitably get bored if the ride is longer than an hour, and maybe even sooner than that. To keep them from annoying you with the question of “Are we there yet?”, you can pack a few activities for them. Make sure that you pack things that they will enjoy and that are appropriate for the ride.
Our suggestions are tablets and portable gaming systems (with car chargers and batteries), coloring books, reading books, and toys. You can also download and print out activities for them to do that are relevant to the drive, like scavenger hunts. It is best if you give them a variety of things to do so that boredom doesn’t set in too quickly.
Security for the Home
Is your home going to be secure while you are gone? If you have an alarm system, make sure it is set to the right mode for when you are absent. Alert your friends and neighbors that you will be leaving so that they can notify the police of suspicious activity near your house while you are gone. Also check all doors and windows to see if they are properly secured before you leave out. Turn off water and power to prevent leaks, flooding, and unnecessary power usage in your absence.
Clean Your Home
If you have time, you will probably want to clean your house before you head out. That will make it much nicer to come back to. You may not have a lot of energy to clean when you return and might just want to relax and do nothing. So, it will benefit you to clean things up and make your home as spotless as possible before you leave. This also makes it less likely that pests will find food and hang out in your house while you are traveling. You may even want to hire a cleaning crew to tidy your home before leaving, just to take some of the pressure off of you and to ensure that the job is done right.
Service Your Car
For some people, this will seem like a no-brainer, but for others, it would be something they wouldn’t even think of. If you are about to head out on a long road trip, though, your car is going to go through a lot of stress and will be worked hard. That is probably going to be far more than its regular workload, and that puts extra stress on all of the components. It is wise to have the car checked out and get a regular servicing done (oil change, tune-up, alignment) before you head out. That could save you thousands of dollars on repairs later on, and it could prevent a breakdown on the road. Especially pay attention to the tires and ensure they are in good shape before you leave.
Pack a Map
Even if you are going to rely on your phone’s GPS or a dedicated GPS device, you could end up in a bad situation where those devices fail you. For many reasons, these GPS systems may not function- bad weather, system malfunction, low battery, etc. You should have physical maps handy for the areas you will be traveling through, just in case. You may never need them, but it is better to have them to help you deal with any eventuality.
Have a Plan B
Have you figured out where you will be staying each night for the road trip? What if you can’t make it to hotels that you booked or to friends’ or family members’ houses before you are ready to rest? A road trip is full of unexpected difficulties, and you might have to spend more time resting than you thought or you may not reach as far as you think in the time that you planned.
It is a good idea to have some other options available, and you want to be careful about reserving hotel rooms ahead of time, as that can force you to push yourself further than you feel comfortable with just to reach your hotel each night of the trip.
Have Extra Food and Drinks on Hand
Speaking of not reaching your destination on time, you may get slowed down with constant snack and water breaks. If you pack extra of these, though, then you can keep on going and allow everyone in the car to get the nourishment and water they need. You can even skip a meal or two this way and survive on snacks, just to make up lost time or to check out some sights that are not near any eating places. Having extra supplies on hand gives you more freedom and helps you to be prepared for many eventualities.
Pack Practical Auto Supplies
Nothing derails a road trip faster than car trouble. For those emergencies, you want to be prepared by packing a few essentials. You should have jumper cables in the car and a battery operated tire pump. These can help you when your battery dies or your tires go flat. It’s also wise to pack an ice scraper in the winter and flares for times when you shut down during the night.
If you forgot any of these, you would want to take care of that before you go on your trip.
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