Touring Car Tips
- Get ready for a long car tour.yellow car, a honda japanese sport car model image by alma_sacra from Fotolia.com
Before heading out on your car tour, you may have double and triple-checked your packing list, secured all medications, phoned ahead to make your reservations, set your alarms and taken care of your pets. In all the excitement and rush associated with leaving on a long car tour, a few things may have slipped your mind. To ensure you make the most of your travels, make sure all bases---from yourself to your kids to your car---are covered. - With so many people staying connected to the Internet via their cell phones and electronics, chances are you may have someone on your road trip with online access right about the time when your tank is telling you its time to fill up. Save money for your next tour attraction tickets by taking advantage of a gas price aggregator. Gas price checkers comb areas by zip code, reporting back the addresses and prices of the nearest gas stations. Sites, such as Gas Buddy, list gas by regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel, with options to sort by price and create maps on the screen to take you right to the pumps. If you're driving in a new town or have been on the road a while and are not quite sure of your zip code, gas websites can provide prices by city and state as well.
- Fuel isn't just for your car. Before heading out to tour the open road in your car, make sure you recalibrate your own engines and fuel your motor for the trip. Although it may seem exciting to want to get right on the road, a few minutes of preparation before leaving may make for a better, more satisfying trip. The Independent Traveler website advises against consuming caffeine, which may lead to a crash or agitated feelings. A simple, filling breakfast, such as cereal and milk or a bagel and peanut butter, may make the difference between driving for a longer stretch and having to stop for junk food at a rest stop. You can even shave time off your morning breakfast by preparing food the night before you leave on your trip; pack peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or pile fiber bars and bottles of juice or water into a bag you can grab on your way out the door.
- You may be hopeful that your kids will be lulled into sleep in the backseat with the scenery passing by, but the last thing you want to happen is to be trapped in the car on a long trip with bored kids. With a little bit of planning ahead, you can prepare games and activities to keep kids busy for the entire tour. Simple counting games (number of cars, number of signs, number of deer) can create an atmosphere of excitement as kids watch for their next number. Another option is handheld games, whether it be portable electronics or small, magnetic versions of board games, such as checkers and chess. Kids can also use their car trip as a way to expand their brains; educational games such as crosswords, number puzzles and history facts and stats may pass the time.
