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Everyone loves a road trip. There is a feeling of freedom as you get started, knowing that you can do as much or as little as you like. But it is important to get ready for your trip to ensure you are prepared for most eventualities. Here are five tips to ensure you are ready to get started and get home safely.
1. Car Preparation
Ensure your car is serviceable before you depart. This means that your car should be within its servicing period, and the oil and filter should have been changed recently. All of the water reservoirs should also be full. Check your tyres to ensure they will remain within their wear limits during your trip and purchase and install new tyres if required.
If you will be driving a long distance also consider getting your wheels aligned before you go as this will save on tyre wear later on. If you drive on any unsealed roads while you travel you should also plan to get the wheels aligned again after you return (lesson learnt from our road trip last year – we did not do this step and had to replace all four relatively new tyres within 12 months).
If you will be hiring a vehicle have a close look at the quality of vehicle that they offer and support they will provide.
2. Route Plan
The biggest killers on the road are fatigue and alcohol. Before you depart you should quickly research a rough plan of your route including the driving times and distances. If you will be stopping to sightsee en route you should plan a maximum of four hours of driving in a day. If you have a long distance driving day you should plan to have a non-driving day afterwards to recover. Make sure you don’t drink alcohol and drive.
Allow an extra day or two so you can be flexible if you decide to stay longer in a place or decide to break a longer drive into two shorter driving days, or if something unexpected occurs. Also do some initial research into sightseeing options along the way so you know where you are interested to visit and can build these into your plan.
Online tools such as Google Maps enable you to quickly put together a route plan.
3. Maps
If you are using a GPS ensure you have the latest map update before you depart. It is also worthwhile to purchase a large hardcopy map to enable a bigger picture view of your trip.
4. What Ifs
Ensure you plan for ‘What Ifs’ while you are on your road trip.
- What will you do if your car breaks down? Have you got suitable roadside assistance for your destination? Will your vehicle hire company provide roadside assistance?
- What will you do if you have a car accident? Do you have suitable car insurance or travel insurance for your destination? Have you purchased insurance which will reduce your hire car excess?
- If you have a problem in a remote area how will you communicate? Will you have mobile phone coverage on your planned route, or is it a major road with a lot of traffic who should be able to help you? Should you take additional communications equipment such as a satellite phone, a two way radio or an EPIRB?
- Have you got a current first aid kit in your car and do you know how to use it?
- Should you pack some additional bottled water and food in case of break down or traffic stoppages, particularly if you are travelling in remote areas and the weather will be hot?
- If you will be travelling in a very cold environment do you have appropriate safety gear?
5. Entertainment
Long boring roads require entertainment. If you have children in the car consider if you have a DVD player or other handheld electronic games which the children can use in the car. Ensure you can recharge or power the equipment using the car engine and battery, which may require the purchase of additional equipment. Consider how many items you will want to plug in at once and purchase additional equipment such as double adapters etc.
Think about whether you like to listen to music as you travel. Ensure you have the equipment to play your own music through your car radio. Pre-purchase some new music prior to departure to enjoy along the way.
Also be prepared to play some car games with children so they do actually look out the window sometimes!
Enjoy Your Road Trip!
Once you have gone through these road trip preparation tips you will be ready to go. Have a great road trip!
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Have you got any additional road trip preparation tips or road trip experiences to share? Please share your experience in the comments below.
Pretraveller 
All of them wonderful, great tips. It’s good to have a check list like this before leaving…
Laura, thanks for your comment. Hopefully the checklist can help many people to be well prepared when they next plan to head off on a road trip.
Before going for long drive, preparing your car is very important. Driving a well-maintained and prepared car will reduce the effects of wear and tear from long driving. You need to check all parts of car very carefully. Check the fluid levels such as brakes, power steering, automatic transmission fluid, engine oil, water and even the wiper soaped water. For more information on Car Safety Checklist, visit http://blog.quoteme.ie/2013/01/car-safety-checklist/
Thanks for your comment. For someone maintaining the car themselves your link has some good information on the step by step process.