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5 Tips for Your Next Family Road Trip

If you’re planning a long distance drive with the family, make sure you make it a trip to remember with our 5 road trip tips.

It’s no secret that travelling can be stressful, and travelling with family… even more so; but as stressful as a family road trip can be, it can be equally just as fun! All it takes is a little planning ahead.

Plan Your Route

This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but with the modern convenience of satellite navigation, the act of planning a route prior to setting off is becoming redundant. Many of us will simply enter a destination into our sat-nav and start up the car without a second thought. However even with the aid of this intelligent technology, it’s still wise to take a look at the roads and routes you’ll be travelling on. You may find you want to tweak your journey a little to avoid road works or other possible obstacles.
If you’re in no rush to get to your destination, you may want to take a look at what attractions are on your route too. You could be surprised at what you find.
Lastly, when planning your route, consider where you’ll be able to take a break when you need it. This is a must for when travelling with children. By planning proper rest time into your journey, you’ll be less likely to need to make an emergency toilet stop with the little ones, and in turn you’ll find yourself less stressed.

Practice Packing

If you’re travelling with a lot of cargo, you’ll need to make sure everything fits in safely and securely. Don’t leave it ‘til the day of your trip to load up the car, as you may find that you don’t have room for certain items, or your items don’t fit in safely.

One thing that is very important when you’re driving, is that you have a clear view. Over packing your car can result in additional blind spots, or prove fatal in the event of an accident. By doing a practice pack in preparation, you’ll have time to consider other options. You may find you need to eliminate some non essentials or intevst in/hire a roof box or trailer to accommodate all of your items.

Make a playlist – or several

If you’re travelling with children, you’re likely to get tired of nursery rhymes very quickly. Create a playlist containing everyone’s favourite songs, and set a ‘no song skipping’ rule. This way there’s no need to fight over the radio channels.
If you’re the designated driver, make sure at least one passenger knows how to work the media player before setting off. Whether it’s a phone, ipod or classic cd, trying to explain technicalities whilst driving can prove too much of a distraction, and you certainly don’t want to use a handheld device when driving yourself.

Don’t Rush

If you do need to get to your destination for a certain time or day, that’s ok! You can still take it easy and be punctual. By planning for the unplanned you’re much less likely to become stressed on the road. Travelling with children (especially very young children) creates a list of reasons for a delayed journey. Make sure to give yourself plenty of extra time for toilet stops, nappy changes and mealtimes. Lots of service stations and roadside restaurants have play areas too. Allow your youngsters to burn off some energy en route, and you’ll find they’re a lot less restless in a traffic jam.
Remember you need to rest too. If you find yourself becoming tired, restless or bored while driving, it’s time to stop or allow another licensed and insured adult to take over the wheel.

Pack Healthy Snacks

Just because you’re heading on a road trip doesn’t mean you need to jam a lunchbox full of sweets, crisps and biscuits. Avoid sugar crash tantrums by packing some fresh fruit, healthy sandwiches and salads, and you’re likely to find both you and your children will feel more energised and refreshed whilst travelling.
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