Road Trip Preparation

Road trips are truly exciting adventures, different every time they are experienced. Though you may take the same route every year on a planned vacation, chances are, you'll wind up with a unique experience every time you go.

Proper planning and thinking ahead is a must. It may seem ridiculous, but try to plan for the unexpected. Most of us plan for flat tires, running out of gas, or getting stranded for whatever reason. We have cell phones and roadside assistance to use for those cases. We don't think about running out of water when we're driving through the desert, or going ahead and spending an extra fifty cents per gallon at the gas station, because there won't be another one for 75 miles. Many of us live in the city where gas stations abound, water isn't scarce, and modern conveniences are, well, conveniently located. We need to bear in mind that different locations offer different services, whether we like it or not. It may seem like a lecture on the surface, and maybe it is, but remember that the price of being ill-prepared can be a hefty one.

I recently traveled from Ohio to California with a family member. We took four days to make the trip because I did all of the driving. Luckily, my cousin and I get along very well, we had plenty to talk about, and we had music when our throats were too dry to speak. We made a pit-stop about once every three hours, sometimes more often, sometimes less. Having no deadline for arrival made the trip that much easier to manage. We traveled the southern route, through the desert, and we only got lost once along the way. This was a major accomplishment for me, since I am so easily lost in my home town. I had my car checked before we departed; tires, tune up, oil change, air filter replaced, and windshield wipers. We definitely appreciated the new windshield wipers, which I had installed myself and was very proud of despite their one-step instructions. Driving through the constant downpour of Oklahoma would have been impossible without decent windshield wipers. It was barely done with the brand new, quality, wipers I had. Gas was expensive, but what's new there? We made up for some of the cost by budgeting our meals and staying at inexpensive lodging facilities, that often turned out to be really decent, despite their inexpensive cost. It goes to show that you don't always have to spend more to get something half-way decent, and there was only one place we stayed at that was only half-way decent. The rest were better. We took advantage of the free breakfast that was offered at each hotel, and thus saved opening our pocketbooks one more time, per day. I look back on the trip and see it positively. We experienced no major breakdowns and had only the one minor setback of being lost in St. Louis for about 20 minutes. This was the 5th and best time I'd made the journey.

All in all, it's better to be a bit over-prepared than it is to spend an entire trip realizing you weren't prepared at all. If it's supposed to be relaxing and/or fun, why not make sure it will be by doing your homework ahead of time? Give yourself enough time in advance to make sure everything is in check before you go. Trust anyone who's been on road trips before, there will be enough adventures even the most avid traveler wouldn't have prepared for. You'll appreciate the little things you did ahead of time once you're out on the road.

Happy traveling!