5 Mistakes To Avoid When Preparing For A Roadtrip
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Failing to prepare properly for a road trip can make it a miserable experience. If you want your next road trip to be a fun adventure, make sure to not make any of these classic mistakes.
Failing to plan your route first
Nowadays, it’s easy to rely on GPS for navigating. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still plan your route. For long drives, it’s likely you’ll want to break it up and find places to stop – this could include places to eat, motels to stay the night or attractions that could be worth stopping at. Planning your route could also be important for timing so that you don’t get to your destination too late – you don’t want to arrive past midnight only to find out you’re too late to check in.
Forgoing essential car maintenance checks
You should check that your car is in tip top condition before setting off. Getting your car serviced beforehand could be worthwhile to check that there are no problems under the bonnet – you don’t want to break down! Many people also forget the basics such as checking that oil and engine coolant is topped up and that tires are well inflated.
Packing too much stuff
Bringing too much stuff will not just weigh the car down and make your slower – it will also cause you to use up more fuel. It could also mean that passenger space has to be taken up with bags, which could leave all your passengers in cramped conditions. Whilst you can take more in a car than a plane, this shouldn’t be a reason to take as much luggage as you can – try to still pack light if you can. If you’ve got a small boot and don’t want to take up passenger space, you could also consider buying a roof rack from a company such as Roof Racks DIY. Alternatively, you could bring a trailer.
Forgetting to bring a phone charger
Having a dead phone could stop you from using your GPS and from getting in touch with important people. Make sure to bring a car charger so that you can keep your phone powered up for the journey. You could also consider looking into portable chargers as available from TeckNet. Some of these portable chargers have multiple ports allowing you to plug in multiple devices and may be able to carry as much as 6 charges.
Bringing no entertainment for the kids
If you’re travelling with kids, you don’t want them to be short of entertainment, otherwise you’ll have to suffer the dreaded ‘are we there yet?’ question and possible tantrums. Young kids will likely need some toys for the journey. A tablet could also be handy for streaming movies or playing games. This guide at Tech Advisor details some of the best tablets for kids if you don’t already own one.
