Road Trip Essentials
Nothing beats a car journey with the windows down, playlists blasting and snacks on the ready! – unless you’re in the driver’s seat… Whether you’re the one watching the speed limit or being the designated DJ, there’s plenty of ways to get comfortable!
1. Chargers are a must!
We don’t know about you, but road trips can either be a recipe for heartfelt bonding, or arguments over anything viable! There’s only so many games of eye-spy and not enough gossip for the road, so it can be a good idea to have enough charge to watch a movie or beat your high score on Candy Crush – this is for the passengers only… Once the motorway shenanigans hit, teamwork might not be enough for clear directions either. For the driver’s sake, a bit of Google maps on speaker can park the tension so you can make it to your destination without any emotional wreckage! This is the iPad kid generation after all!
2. Comfy Shoes
Long drives are the equivalent to a day spent in stilettos – pain. No offense to the passenger princesses, but a good comfy trainer is much more valuable than having someone yap your ear off while you’re trying to focus… The obliteration of your toes should be avoided at all costs, so you can walk around your destination and sightsee without blisters leading the way! Everyone’s feet deserve enough support for the moles ahead. Don’t save a seat for pins and needles either with crushing boots or tight laces – unless you’ve bartered with the passenger for foot massages over petrol money… We stand ten toes down for driver’s support!
3. Blankets
This one’s for our delightful passengers! – congratulations on dodging designated driver… As you journey into the unknown – or wherever the GPS says, it’s a good idea to get comfy no matter how long the estimated miles are! You might just be arriving at the place of your dreams! Blankets in the car are like carrying a piece of home with you, no matter how far you roam. If the driver likes the air con blasting and windows down, you might be better off comprising with a blanket too – you’re not driving after all… Whether you opt for a soft fleece throw or a classic patchwork quilt, blankets elevate the road trip experience from ordinary to extraordinary, one snuggle at a time. Sometimes it’s good to put your passenger road rage to rest.
4. Portable Cameras
The long road ahead of you, the countryside out the window, it’d be criminal not to snap a picture of the scenery! With only so much to do as the satnav screams directions at you, a good use of your time as the non-driver can be to capture the moment as much as possible! Of course, everyone on Facebook wants a reminder of what cows look like in the open fields! If you prefer to get pictures of the nappers and dribblers in the backseat as leverage, make sure you do it with high-quality! It could be the thing you need to blackmail them out of taking the front seat on the way back. A road trip isn’t complete unless you’ve gotten 50 photos of the same blue sky to flip through at the petrol station stop anyway – or grey sky if you’re cruising through the UK…
5. Snack Pouches!
If you’re not keen on spending an arm and a leg on petrol station munchies, make sure to plan! Having your own live scenery entertainment is a brilliant part of the road, so you always need snacks as you watch the cars pass by and the same road signs you’ve seen over and over when you get lost… With a handy little snack pouch, you can keep the goodies organised and the wrapper-filled floors to a minimum – it’s best to keep the driver fed and happy! If you’re travelling with small kiddies, be prepared to hear their declarations of hunger every 20 minutes, sometimes less. Small stomachs on the road need something to do besides the colouring book they finished two hours ago! Food is always the answer…