I love road trips! To me, road trips are fun and exciting, no matter why I have to take them. Regardless of how you feel about road trips, it’s always good to prepare before you embark on one. To fully maximize your recreational time with your loved ones, here are essential road trip tips on how to prepare yourselves for that perfect summer getaway.
Visit your car dealer or personal mechanic
It is a hassle to have your car conk out on your way to your destination. Before driving off to parts unknown, have your car checked thoroughly from the electrical system, oil levels and lubrication, the brakes and mechanical bits like the steering and suspension system. Also have your cooling and climate control system checked because noontime to mid afternoon temperatures tend to add more stress into our physical function and the car as well. You may also check the tire’s depth if its safe for a long drive. Countless accidents have been caused by a blown tire while traversing the expressway. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
Clean up your car
Now who would want to ride in a car or SUV that smells like used socks after a basketball game. For the sake of your companions, have somebody detail your car. Personally, I trust my detailing duties to the guys at Sonax Ph. As the World’s most trusted brand in automotive preservation and paint maintenance, Sonax line of waxes and car polishers has been weather tested to repel dirt and chemically engineered to protect the car’s paint against aggressive environmental and weather damage. Feel good, smell good and look good when you drive out to your destination.
Plan the route
Now that you’re set on driving to your destination, it’s time to plan your route. In the past, I’ve already told you about several tools for planning fun road trips, which include apps like Waze, Google Maps among others. There are several aspects to planning a road trip, and in the end it all comes down to personal preferences and priorities. Is saving money your first priority? Perhaps travelling in fair weather is most important to you? Do you want to see lots of attractions on the way? Or maybe you just care about getting there quickly?
Having directional apps is a God sent for most travelers because they provide the best and fastest route to your destination and they also have locations of gasoline and fast food restaurants along the way. To me, food is the most important part of any road trip. You don’t necessarily have to plan ahead for this – just stopping at a random out-of-the-way diner can be an experience by itself – but sometimes there are places along your route you just don’t want to miss, like the Lomi houses in Quezon Province or Beef Shank places in Batangas.
Entertainment to cure boredom
Now is a good time to finally listen to all of those 80’s, 90’s and Bruno Mars music which you downloaded on Spotify recently. Load up on music because if you are planning a trip to Bicol or the Ilocos province, that will take a lot of music to cover the 12-hour drive. You can also stock up on some old CD’s of the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Perry Como if you are travelling with a senior citizen. If he likes OPM’s like Mike Hanopol or Ric Segreto, good luck because it’s going to be a torturous 12-hour ride.
You may also bring your power banks like Mili. MiLi is a brand synonymous to automotive and travel chargers. As mobile phones get more data storage and faster almost every year, battery life does not seem to get any better. Just an hour or two on 4G mode or using it to browse the internet is enough to drain the battery of your iPhone, Smartphone, Tablet or any other USB powered device. If you’re a heavy social media user, then what you need is a power bank to stock up on “juice” along the way.