There is nothing better than some quality time with your family. Your kids and spouse have been waiting for this moment for a long time so they can enjoy family time. Present-day families do not get much time together anymore as they did 50 years ago, so we must appreciate the time we get.
So a great way to enjoy the time together is to go on a great family adventure by taking a road trip. Now, these road trips can be a memory making event in a significant way, but it can also take a turn for the worse and make a road trip into a nightmare as well, it all depends on you.
So after taking countless road trips with my family across North America, I have found that several things can make or break a road trip. So before you jump in the car with your family for that next fantastic adventure take a look at this list and see how you can make your next fun family road trip even better than it was before!
Under $200 budget
This tip all depends on how many people are traveling with you. Of course with our family, we will not go on a road trip if our budget is less than $500 due to how many people we have in our family (we have a family of 8) and what you are planning to do on your road trip.
If you are planning at staying at the Renaissance and go out to eat for every meal, then a $200 budget might be cutting it too close for comfort. So the best way to know how much money you need for your trip is to do a budget.
That way, both of you are on the same page.
Knowing your finances will also save a disagreement or miscommunication after the trip has begun. Money issues cause many arguments, and it is the second leading cause of divorces in the United States, according to Dave Ramsey’s company Ramsey Solutions. So save yourself the headache and the horrible time of arguing on a road trip and do your budget realistically for your trip.
No charge cords
I honestly can not think of a single person that would forget their charge cord going to the grocery store much less on a road trip. You know the importance that every person has for their electronic devices.
That is why if you forgot one you must pick one up at the gas station that you will overpay for substantially, but at least you will have one. A great solution to this problem is to go onto Aliexpress or Alibaba and order extra phone cords for your vehicle.
Charge cords are only $20 at the gas station; that is because they know you will forget yours and they will be there to profit from your forgetfulness. If you have never shopped online with Aliexpress you can find a charge cord for your phone on there for $2- $4, so make sure you order a couple extra and put them in your glove box.
Ordering your charging cords online will save you money in the long run and prevent the extra spending on your road trip. This way, you can keep to the budget you set.
Prevent yourself from being stranded on the highway with an overheated vehicle. Here’s my article on How often should I replace my car’s thermostat?
Improper road trip prechecks
Why put many tips we all know are the necessities of a road trip, check your oil, check your fuel, bring extra socks, and so on. We all know these pre-checks we must check every time before a long trip, but it wouldn’t be a great tip if everyone did them.
Keep it simple for yourself when it comes to pre-trip checks. You need to check, fluids, fuel, wallet or purse, tires, kids, and luggage. Yes, I put kids in there because even though some of us parents would like to leave our children behind on a vacation that would be wrong and in most places illegal so don’t forget your children. They have been waiting to spend time with you.
Tire pressure is the leading cause of tire failure on road trips and commuting in general shown by Firestone and their decades of experience. Tire pressure is a simple check but mostly overlooked by many drivers.
So while you are fueling up before your road trip take a few extra minutes and pop your hood so you can check your fluid levels, then when you are done fueling up make sure you pull over to the air pump and make sure all of your tires are at the proper air pressure.
An easy way to check your air pressure is to look on the sidewall of your tire and see the max pressure. All of your tires need to be five psi under your max pressure and equal with each other. This way all tires are at the same air pressure, and you will prevent additional wear and tear to your tires due to improper inflation.
Not loading up EZ Pass
I have to add this tip only out of my own experience can I say this will make you push your budget out of line quick. Here is a great example, if you were to use the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Gateway exit using your EZ Pass which is the tollway payment system on the East coast, you would pay $22.90 if you do not have the cash on your EZ Pass, or you do not have an EZ Pass at all then you will be charged $32.30.
These toll costs were taken from the York Daily Record site, and you can always check up to date prices on the toll calculator for the PA Turnpike here on their website. That is for one toll! You could have saved $9.40 on that one toll by using the EZ Pass system!
Now if you do have your toll road payment system no matter where you live to make sure you put your money on the system no less than 72 hours before your departure. This will give the system enough time to load the funds on your account, so you do not have low funds on the system as I had on one road trip.
No batteries in headphones
As I said before, my wife and I have six children and if you want the most peaceful road trip you have ever seen, put headphones on all of your children and turn on a movie. A movie will keep them all quiet and not talking to each other, because for some reason if they get to speak to one another for countless hours, they are bound to fight and argue.
To prevent this altogether with batteries in your headphones, if you do not have headphones or a DVD system in your vehicle at all then I highly suggest you look into one to save your sanity.
Now, this is a crucial tip to having this DVD system and headphones, you must keep an extra pack of batteries in your vehicle for emergency purposes, and a great indication of an emergency on a road trip is, mommy or daddy my headphones stopped working.
RED LIGHT right here!!! This is an emergency! Take your extra batteries out and replace the dead batteries ASAP! Now I know what you are thinking, that would cost a lot of money in batteries keeping those on standby like that. Most of the time it would but here is a money-saving tip.
Find your local Harbor Freight and find out what batteries your headphones take. Then you are going to look online for Harbor Freight coupons and out of the 12 months in a year, 8 of those Harbor Freight has a free battery coupon.
So buy something super cheap and use your free battery coupon. Doing this will get you a big pack of whatever batteries you need for that next road trip!
It is always vital to keep your vehicle running strong for you for years to come. Check out my article highlighting the 12 Crucial Maintenance Things to Check on your vehicle to keep your vehicle running strong for you!
Construction on the route
This year alone, the construction industry in the United States alone is doing over 1.2 billion dollars in construction projects. With knowing this and having the experience of driving in your area, you know like I do that there will be construction going on somewhere in your commute to work.
Put a road trip into the mix, and you will be going through some form of construction along your journey. You need to have a rough idea where construction is taking place on your route.
Doing this is vital if you are looking at saving time and maximizing your fuel economy as much as possible. The way I keep up to date with construction projects and saving time is by using Google maps, this will give you the best route for the shortest distance and shortest time frame. So make sure you use your GPS program!
Improper road conversations
If you have been married for a while, you know what you can and can’t bring up on a road trip. If you want to ruin your journey quick and make it into an argument, bring up something that is a susceptible subject for you and your spouse and watch the firework show!
Now that can be your road trip, for mine I want a nice peaceful trip so whatever you and your spouse were arguing about lately do not bring it up on the trip. If you were trying to teach your child a life lesson but you do not feel like answering all the what-ifs and why is this, you know those questions that children think up, then do not bring it up on your trip.
You are on this trip to relax and spend some time with your family. They have been waiting for this trip to mend their relationship with you. So put down the game system and the phone, and do something with your family. Events and conversations are what make memories, not the location itself.
Let’s drive straight thru!
Whoever thought of the idea to not stop at a hotel and sleep. Maybe even take some downtime was crazy and needs to rethink their vacations. Think about it: what happens when you get tired?
You get restless, moody, and your focus starts lacking. All the things you do not want to experience on a road trip, you are in a closed space with other
people for hours on end. You need to get away from them to gain your patience back.
So make sure you stop for the night, get some sleep, eat, and have a shower. You will notice a substantial difference in your mood. Want proof?
A tired brain can have the same functionality as a brain with a blood alcohol limit of .05%, and that was shown in a study done by the CDC. So do yourself and your family a favor and make sure you get to rest on your trip, it is a vacation after all.
Traveling pets
It does not matter if you are a cat, dog, bird, fish, or a koala bear; it does not matter! What does matter is you taking care of your pet on your road trip, that’s nice you wanted to bring Mr. Mittens along but if he doesn’t go to the bathroom in his litter box, where do you think he will go on a road trip?
Pets need a break too, and when you think your pet has the same size bladder as you then that is when your vehicle will start to smell or urine and pet feces. I do not have to tell you how amazing that will make your trip to have that sweet smell taking over your vehicle on your 12-hour road trip!
It is shown in the study done by Livestrong, showing that children have to go to the bathroom around 12 times every day. So if children have to urinate roughly every 2 hours, then you need to take your pet out around the same time as well. Be humane and civilized to your pet; they are family too!
Have you ever wondered why the auto parts store wants to sell you the more expensive brake pads? Check out my article on the 6 reasons why you should pay more for your brake pads, and you might be surprised!
Dirty interior of the vehicle
Now if your children are anything like mine, they will make a mess during a road trip. But that doesn’t mean you don’t clean your car because it will get dirty anyway. Think about it like a chalkboard, even though you know you will put markings on it again do you not wipe it clean to start fresh before you put chalk on it again?
You have to treat your vehicle the same way, clean the car so everyone can put their luggage in, and you start your road trip with a clean smelling vehicle. This will not only keep your vehicle looking great for the long run, but it will also give you great peace of mind for the trip itself!
In Conclusion
So there are ten tips to give you an awesome next road trip! Hopefully, you will consider these tips when taking that long trip with your friends and family!
As Americans, we drive over 13,000 miles every year on average, so let’s make sure the miles we have with our friends and family are safe and memorable! Please share this post on your social media, and let’s show everyone how to have a fantastic road trip!
Thank you for reading my article! I hope you found it beneficial and enjoyable. Check out my Youtube channel for more DIY auto repair and car flipping videos. Thank you again!
