If going on long flights is completely off the cards for you right now, a road trip is one of the best approaches to ensuring that you get to see the world. But whether you are driving with family members or friends, it’s important to remember that stress is something that can be overwhelming when you are on the road. Let’s show you a few things to make sure that your road trip is less stressful.

Mental Preparation

You can prepare yourself for a road trip by getting an itinerary ready, but you also need to make sure you understand what the potential problems might be when you get out onto the road. If you’re driving with children, you may want to make sure they are occupied. But you also need to make sure that you are mentally ready. This can mean reducing your stress triggers, but also ensuring that you are, very simply, well-rested. Every car crash lawyer talks about the perils of driving distracted and driving fatigued. A great rest is so important, especially if you plan on driving long distances.

Staying Hydrated

You might be surprised as to how important it is to stay hydrated because even a slight dip in your water intake results in fatigue. If you are not replenishing your fluid intake, you could experience brain fog, which is not useful when you are on the road. It is a good idea to have frozen lier bottles of water for each passenger to make sure that no one gets dehydrated while on the road and the worst symptom of dehydration is a headache. And we all want to avoid those in a closed space like a car. It’s vital to make sure that you are staying hydrated on the road. One of the best ways to make sure that you are getting enough is to pack fruit and non sugary drinks that you can consume as you are driving. 

A Safety Plan

Are you traveling alone? Does anyone know where you’ll be? Are you checking in regularly with someone back home? Ok, it all sounds like typical questions your mom would ask but, that is because it is good common sense. Give a trusted someone your route and breakdown of your trip if you stopping at hotels. I mean where do I start with the reasons why you should do so? Even if it is a message left on a voicemail as to where you headed or if you are making changes along the way, all your loved ones will sleep easier knowing that you’ve checked in.

Preparing the Vehicle

If you want to have a very strict itinerary, you aren’t getting the benefits of going off-road. There are great reasons to venture off the beaten track on occasion, but if the car is not ready, you could cause yourself more problems. When in doubt, make sure that you change the tires, and make sure that they are ready for all manner of weather. It’s so important to go off the beaten track on occasion because it will make for a more enjoyable journey. A fresh oil change, a tune up, fresh transmission fluid, jumper cables, a large bottle of water, are all handy to have just in your car’s trunk just in case.

Update Your GPS and Plan Your Route

Sounds pretty logical, right? But if you forget to update your apps and use your phone as your GPS you can run into construction and roadwork that could have been avoided. Also, if you adventuring on a road trip in another country updated maps are essential and you may not have data or cell service depending on the terrain . So, if possible try to save your maps offline or have an old fashioned paper map handy andan extra car charger with an external battery. Hey, it can’t hurt to be prepared!

The Importance of Breaks

You need to make sure that you are getting out of the car very regularly. Part of the problem we all have when we are on the road is that sense of monotony. And it’s so important, especially if you have family members with you to break that monotony. You need to make sure that you get out of the car and throw a ball around, find a park, and do some deep stretches while eating your lunch. This is especially important for children so they can burn their energy off, meaning they are more relaxed when they get back into the car and you can focus on the road. Switch drivers if possible, change seats, set the vents to circulate fresh air into the car to keep you all alert and breathing clean air. After all we are still in a pandemic.

Road trips can be quite stressful, but they don’t have to be. These are a few simple things to make sure that they are less stressful. Get these things right, and you will have a great road trip.Got any hacks from your road trip experiences? Let me know in the comments.

Until our next rendezvous…

XOXO

Trudy