Tis’ the season of Humid days, Bad Hair Styles, Mosquito bites, and tons of Air Conditioning. What better time to go on a road trip and explore what this beautiful country has to offer, than now? Before you go, though, we have some helpful tips and tricks to make sure your drive with your family is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
Travel Tip #1: Make sure to Always have a Flash Drive with all your Important Documents.
When it comes to making sure you are completely prepared for your trip, the most important item that you could bring with you would be a flash drive so your documents stored on it. Having documents, such as your POA(Power Of Attorney) and your living will would be a great asset to making sure you and your decisions are protected because when you’re in the middle of an emergency that’s the last thing that you want to worry about. So even if you don’t have to use your flash drive, having it will at least give you and your family a piece of mind. Not computer savvy, don’t worry, just Click Here!
Travel Tip #2:Pack a Single, Overnight Suitcase for the Family.
This tip is important because when you’re going on road trip you have to always expect to have delays. Your child could spill something on their clothes, you might have to stay overnight at a hotel, or the temperature might change, what ever the case is, this one simple step will make your life much easier. Instead of going through the hassle of pulling everything out, to only put it right back in, this helps to keep everything in order, so you can have all your necessities for an overnight stay, without disorganizing your luggage or your car.
Travel Tip #3: Do you or your children have Allergies or Asthma?
If you answered yes to this question, then you can understand how a road trip could go from good to bad in a split second. What if I told you that your ride could be dust free, without having to sacrifice your trip? Instead of riding with all of the dust particles and fibers floating around everywhere, in just 10 minutes your car could be dust free. Just remember before your departure, turn the air conditioning on high and open the windows, this will blow most of the dust out of the car, and keep other particles out as well. Do this for 10 minutes and you can be on your way in a fairly dustless car.
Travel tip #4: Make Breakfast & Lunch yourself (i.e. Sandwiches, chips, drinks) and only go out to eat for Dinner.
This tip, alone, can save you time and money. Buying a cooler and filling it up with snacks, drinks and mini meals are essential to having an enjoyable road trip because so many issues can arise from eating out, frequently, on the road. Fast food can be very dangerous on long trips because it can cause an upset stomach, it could take 20 to 30 minutes off of your trip, per each stop, if someone messes up your order, that’s money down the drain and not to mention you’ll have to make more rest stops. So this tip has a lot of perks. Making dinner the only meal that you eat out for will make it much more appreciated, and it will save you the hassle of constantly stopping at Fast Food restaurants, only to be disappointed with the quality. It will also prevent unnecessary stomach aches.
Travel Tip #5: Bringing Denture Cleaning Tablets as a Sterilizer can be a life saver!
So as you may know traveling with children can be a job in itself. To save time, it’s a great idea to bring Denture Cleaning Tablets, because it sterilizes very easily, and it makes it safe for the child to play with the object almost immediately afterwards. So if your baby drops his/her bottle on the floor, instead of putting it away and waiting until you get to a clean restroom to clean it, you can pour warm water into a cup, drop in the tablet, soak the item in the solution for 5 minutes and it’s clean!
Travel Tip #6: Satellite Radio is a MUST.
Satellite Radio streams music, news, sports and talk over approximately 100 channels via satellite to the continental US. It is great for traveling because there are channels for kids, for adults, families, etc. Also you don’t have to spend great amounts of time trying to find a radio station that will play your favorite genre of music every time you enter a new county. Not to mention it is usually commercial free. Satellite radio is a must because it will go wherever you go, except under a bridge, unfortunately, but despite that, it puts all of your favorite stations right at the tip of your fingers. Now that’s convenient!
Travel Tip #7: Do you have Work to do down the road? No need to Pay for an Mobile Internet Card…
So I know you’re wondering “How can I do work on the road without the internet?” But have no fear, that’s why travel tip #7 is here! There is a website that you could go to that will specifically tell you where all the wi-fi hotspots are located anywhere in the country. Practically every Library, Panera Bread, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and many other entities will have free Wi-Fi for their customers and who ever can reach the connection (i.e. YOU!). So stop paying for wi-fi, just go to www.wi-fihotspotlist.com.
Travel Tip #8: Looking for a Clean Restroom?
For those of you who have traveled outside of your hometown, you know that the hardest thing to find while you are on a road trip is a clean restroom. I’m here to tell you that that will no longer be an issue after you read this! If you are on a road trip but don’t trust that the gas stations will have a good place to relieve yourself, try traveling a little further to locate a budget chain hotel. They will most likely have a clean bathroom located right in the lobby of the hotel because they all have a cleaning staff that is constantly on duty.
Travel Tip #9: Remember the License Plate Game? Well it just got better!
So I know you remember being so bored in the back of your parents car while traveling to grandma’s house that you would do anything to occupy your time. Well the go-to game that helped make the trip easier to handle, was the license plate game and it just got better! If you go to www.scholastic.com you can actually download free license plate bingo cards to print out for your trip and the kids will love them. I promise!
Travel Tip #10: Who has Time to Send Postcards while on Vacation?
So I know that it is such a buzzkill, taking time out to find a good postcard, writing a message, and mailing it out to your family while you’re in the middle of surfing lessons or kissing a dolphin. Well have no fear, the future is here! You can now go to www.touchnote.com and send your postcards in 1,2,3! It only cost $1.99 per postcard, and it will save you tons of time, so you can use that time getting more acquainted with the dolphins.
Travel Tip #11: Gas Prices add up!
While going on a road trip gas prices can definitely add up. I remember one time, my family and I were on our way to Myrtle Beach, SC and we were so excited about how cheap gas was, so the first place we saw, we stopped. After we got back on the road, a few miles down, we passed a gas station with gas prices almost 20 cents cheaper than what we had just paid. So seeing that was disappointing, but we learned a valuable lesson in the process, always plan ahead. This tip is to help you not make the same mistake we did. AAA has a program that allows you to find the cheapest gas in the area (Click here:Daily Fuel Gauge Report), also if you want something a little more cell phone friendly, you can download the app Gas Buddy, as well.
So these are just a few tips and tricks that you can use for those long road trips, that are well deserved. Just remember “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu. So when you make your plans to go on your family trip try using some of these suggestions and I promise you won’t regret it. Enjoy!
