5 Road Trip Essentials
According to Booking.com, 25% of Americans were planning to go on an “epic” road trip in 2018. If you haven’t embarked on a journey like this before and hope to do so, be sure to keep these five road trip essentials in mind before taking off.
Bring Soft Bags, Not Hard Suitcases
It’s much easier to squeeze in a soft, duffle bag than a hard-shell suitcase into your car. You can use several of them if you need too, and each person also may want to bring a smaller bag, like a backpack that contain their own items like snacks and books. Those can also be useful outdoor activities like hiking, biking or paddling.
Plan Games Ahead of Time
While you might want to bring handheld devices passengers can individually play, be sure to plan some games everyone can enjoy together too, like Mad Libs or those old-fashioned road trip game such as “guess what a person is thinking in 21 questions or less.” One person thinks of something then each person in the car starts by asking a question – whoever guesses it right can then start the next round by thinking of something.
If you have children, you might want to bring an iPad with their favorite movies and/or TV series loaded for those times that get to be a little too trying.
Snacks
You don’t want to wait until everyone is starving to start looking for a place to eat or resorting to junk foods at the gas station. Bringing snacks from home is cheaper and a much healthier option too. Think dried fruit, nuts and seeds, energy bars and the like. You might even mix up various items to create your own trail mix. Put them in individual Ziploc bags so everyone has one of their own.
Preload a Playlist of Fun Songs
Even the most spacious SUV starts to feel too crowded after spending hours together on the road. You can help ease the stress by playing fun songs everyone can sing too – it might just transform everyone’s mood while making the trip feel shorter too. Just don’t pick anything too soothing and/or repetitive as it can make the driver sleepy. Think upbeat – for example, maybe you just purchased a new home among Boston real estate, try loading a song like “For Boston” by the Boston-birthed Irish punk band Dropkick Murphys, it’ll definitely keep everyone in the car awake and feel them with pride about their city too.
Don’t Forget About Safety
A road trip should always consider safety aspects, such as bringing an emergency road assistance kit, a first aid kit and a fully-charged portable charger in case your car has no battery and your cell phone charge is low. These items are inexpensive but can be true life savers should an incident occur.
Before you leave home, check all fluid levels – oil, brake fluid, coolant, windshield wash, etc. Be sure to have a spare tire, check tire pressure on all tires and get the oil changed if necessary.
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