Hopping in a car and cruising down the highway by yourself or with your loved ones is everyone’s ideal vacation. Just thinking of exploring hidden caves, witnessing breath-taking landscapes, and sleeping in a new place every day is enough to make you jump in joy.
Unfortunately, the reality of road trips is not as simple as it appears. It does, however, necessitate extensive planning, particularly for multi-day trips covering hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres.
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Tips for First Road Trip
Lucky for you, we have pulled up the following parameters for you to follow when planning your first road trip.
1. Choose the Right Car
Some cars are simply not designed for extended journeys. Sports cars, fuel-efficient vehicles, and SUVs are all excellent choices for road vacations. Many people have this misconception that hybrid vehicles are the greatest choice. While it has excellent fuel efficiency, finding a repairer that can perform hybrid auto maintenance may be challenging.
Imagine breaking down your car in the middle of the desert with no electricity supplies to help your car? Many also believe that smaller vehicles save more gasoline. However, contrary to popular belief, practically every automobile company in the market now offers at least one, if not an entire range of fuel-efficient cars. Some examples of such manufacturers are Ford, Honda, and Nissan.
2. Consider Suitable Seats
Inflexible and unsupportive seats can cause excruciating pain and discomfort on a lengthy road journey. So, be sure to choose vehicles that cater to your preferred adjustments and, if possible, lumbar supports. Also, be careful about the seat fabric as it can significantly impact your interior comfort.
Leather is better for long rides than cotton since it helps you move far more easily. Colour is also an important factor to consider: If you are travelling somewhere scorching hot, you may want to opt for lighter-coloured seats. The coolest colours are white, silver, and light blue, which reflect about sixty per cent of sunlight.
3. Make Safety Your First Priority
A small or extremely light vehicle is always at a disadvantage in any collision. This is because these vehicles do not provide a similar level of protection to how a larger, heavier vehicle does. This does not indicate that you must buy a full-size pickup truck, but simply that you should avoid tiny and light cars in favour of more standard-sized vehicles.
Here is a fun fact you might not know: big and standard-sized vehicles are designed to act as a protective barrier that holds up well in all but the most severe collisions. Some of them even have side-curtain in addition to frontal airbags as an extra layer of protection. If you have already purchased a car for your trip, make sure to incorporate antilock brakes. Sometimes abrupt breaking cannot be avoided. These antilock braking systems will help you maintain maximum control over your steering wheel.
4. Download Useful Apps
The beauty of travel lies in the ambience of your new surroundings, so surely you would want a tool to help you ease your journey, right? Well, good news! The key lies just in the device that is in your pocket. It is about time you make use of your Android phone and load it up with an array of handy apps.
You may pass through several cities on your way to your destination, so a city guide app and an offline map may be exactly what you need to get there. If you were lost in an unfamiliar city with locals speaking a language you don’t understand, Google Translate might come in handy. Or, if you have trouble finding someplace to eat, get gas, and use the restroom, an interstate exit guide app is the one for you.
5. Bring Entertainment
A 7-hour long drive accounts for an infinite pit of boredom as you stare at the monotony of the road lines. Not only that, but sigh after sigh passes through the nasal of your nose as your mind wanders through the portals of your imagination. It does not sound much like an ideal road trip, now does it?
This is why you should always pack up those little joys in case something like this happens. A portable speaker, DVD player, and audiobooks are all necessities on the road that you never knew you needed. Be sure to download a good selection of playlists or audiobooks to keep you occupied. Even better, download them before leaving as the internet connection can get spotty in new places.
6. Decide Your Destination
Before deciding on your final destination, you should question yourself the how’s and what’s. Know that a month-long journey is not the same as a weekend tour, and taking shorter hops is not the same as spending more time at a place. So, your first step is to determine how many days you have. Then figure out how many hours you plan to travel each day and double that by half to account for unexpected stops.
What are your plans for your road trip? Consider what you actually want to see and do when planning and establish a list of things that get you excited about travelling. Are you curious to learn about Mona Lisa’s history or capture as many picturesque vistas as possible? Make sure to compare the criteria to what each location has to offer as you look for potential places. Finally, ask yourself what will the weather be like? This is a huge factor to consider when choosing your vacation spot. You might not want to head to the desert or the mountains during wet seasons.
7. Get an Insurance
Travel insurance is not just for luxury getaways. Expect your health insurance card to be worthless if you become injured in another country because foreign medical facilities want immediate cash payment and will never accept your local insurance. So be sure to purchase trustworthy travel insurance on your HP laptop that includes emergency medical, dental, and international coverage.
One of the most compelling reasons to purchase travel insurance is the peace of mind knowing that relief is only a phone call away. You can always ring the 24-hour emergency hotline if you have a serious emergency, a misplaced passport, a stolen item, or if you are hit by a natural calamity while travelling.
The bottom line is, that travelling can be far more complicated than picking up a destination or booking a hotel ticket. But with these seven listed tips, you can finally hit the road with assurance and have the best road trip of your life!
