Road Trip Tips to Try Next Time You Hit the Road
You’ve booked the hotel/condo/restort/house, you’ve figured out your route, you’ve packed your bags. Everything is ready: including the car! Here are our top tips for a smooth road trip until you reach your destination (and return back home).
Pack a Separate Overnight Bag
Staying overnight on the road? Take our advice and pack a small duffle bag or suitcase to take with you into the hotel with just your overnight necessities; and pack them in an easily accessible spot in the car! That way when you get to your stay-over location, you can just grab and go without having to unload a weeks’ worth of stuff.
Download Travel Apps
Most smart phones have navigation, but it might be helpful to download a couple of other travel apps to help you map out the best routes and gas station/pit stop locations. Waze is our favorite for maps: it updates in real time to give you the best possible route and alerts you speed traps, stalled vehicles, etc. iExit is an excellent app for providing upcoming gas stations, coffee stops, rest areas and more.
Buy a Paper Map or Guidebook
A paper map or guidebook can be a great way to teach kids life skills such as compass rose directions and geography . Give them a highlighter and have them keep track of the route as you drive. An added (and possibly beneficial!) bonus is if cell service goes down and you find yourself without your navigation apps, you won’t get lost , that is assuming your own map reading skills are not too rusty.
Download your Entertainment in Advance
In anticipation of spotty service, download podcasts, movies and television shows while at home. That way when service goes down, you can switch over to downloaded content without missing a beat.
Traveling with Kids? Try an Audiobook
This is one of our favorite tips for road-tripping with kids. Download an audiobook that appeals to the entire family! During screen breaks, kids can gaze out the window and let their imaginations take them to far-off lands, not to mention it’s a great way to pass the time. Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, and Andrew Clements are all authors who have fabulous audio book selections that our entire family has enjoyed listening to on recent road trips. Local libraries use apps such as Overdrive, so you may not even have to pay a fee to check out your next great audiobook.
DIY Your Car to Organized Bliss
Cars, especially on road trips, can easily become a disaster zone. Try these DIY tips to keep it as organized as possible until you get where you are going.
Hang a shoe organizer on the back of the seat to keep hand sanitizer, tissues, water bottles, and toys at an arm’s reach.
Bring several plastic grocery bags to use as trash bags along the route: store them in your console or to be even more organized, use a plastic snack or cereal container as a portable car trash can. Clean out the trash at every pit stop so it doesn’t build up.
Use plastic shower caddies as portable plates, snack and drink containers, or an art supply holder.
What are your favorite road trip hacks to stay organized and have a smooth path to your destination? We’d love to hear them!
