Five Road Trip Planning Commandments

~ By Tara Waechter

Many people think that all it takes for successful road trip planning is a couple of good maps or a GPS system, a car, and the urge to hit the road.

Wrong!

Without taking the road trip planning steps necessary, you could find yourself in a world of hurt when you were expecting a good time.

Obeying these five commandments will ensure that not only is your road trip trouble-free, but it's also truly fun!

The Five Commandments of Great Road Trip Planning:

Commandment One

Thou shalt not bring the wrong passengers

It seems like a no-brainer, but being a part of the road trip planning world, all I ever hear about are disasters where someone goes on a road trip with someone they barely know, or someone they know well and also know they argue with constantly, or a family member that's involved in an ongoing feud.

Before you select a destination or buy a guidebook or do a search for hotels online, figure out who you're going to bring. If you don't have a choice (it's a family or couples trip) do two things: 1) have everyone participate in selecting the destination so everyone's enthusiastic and 2) sort out any ongoing feuds or other arguments before you go. Trust me, those underlying problems are going to pop up like some demented jack-in-the-box when you're cooped up in a car together every day, and if everyone's not psyched about the destination, it will affect the trip.

Have a choice about who to bring? Select someone you know well enough - not that acquaintance from work or that neighbour you chat with occasionally. Even if you're bringing your best friend, make sure that everything is great between you (or sit down and have it out ahead of time).

Commandment Two

Thou shall avoid the Hellish Haul at all costs

A Hellish Haul is when you try to get to your destination as fast as possible, spending six or more hours behind the wheel every day. You may end up having more time at your destination, but the journey itself will simply be physical, emotional, and psychological torture. Does that sound like a vacation to you?

How to avoid a hellish haul? There are a lot of articles on my website on how to plan a road trip without ending up on a haul, but to simplify drastically: don't pick a destination that's too far away. You'll want to spend no more than four and a half hours behind the wheel every day. If you can't get there with that much driving per day and have time to enjoy your destination, either select a closer destination that appeals or fly there and skip taking a road trip this time.

Commandment Three

Thou shall Achieve Universal Destination Agreement

One pointer I made earlier about selecting a destination everyone is interested in for a family trip also applies to all road trips. You and your travel companion(s) absolutely must agree on the destination, and I'm not talking about a lukewarm agreement here. I'm talking psyched!

How do you do this? Sit down with everyone going on the trip and have everyone vote on various destinations (that are achievable without a Hellish Haul) until you find somewhere that everyone really wants to go. Now you'll have a group of really happy people and you'll need that when you get lost, or if a tire blows, or when anything goes wrong. When you're excited to go somewhere, those things really don't bother you as much (unless they just keep happening and ruin your trip, but that won't happen if you've put some time into some comprehensive road trip planning).

Commandment Four

Thou shalt not ignore thy car

An oil change is just not going to do it. Sorry! Take the time to have your car checked out thoroughly. Must-check items include:

• Tires (replace any old tires now, not on the road), alignment, rotation.

• Top off all fluids and have oil changed.

• Have belts and hoses as well as the brakes checked.

• Get new air filter (unless you just had it replaced).

• Check your manual. In it you will find a maintenance schedule for your car. Have all maintenance items taken care of before you go - getting it done on the road will not only potentially ruin your trip, you'll also be at the mercy of the garage that ends up holding your car hostage (you'll have zero leverage).

Also, make sure to get a roadside emergency kit and pack it along with other items you might need in case of a breakdown including extra water, snacks, and a blanket. I highly recommend you get a AAA membership* - not only for their great roadside assistance program, but also for the many travel discounts available through membership.

Commandment Five

Thou shall remember to pack everything you will need

Sure, you can get things on the road. Do you really want to spend your vacation, driving around trying to find these things, though? Wouldn't it be easier if you just had them along in the first place? It's not like you're flying and you're limited to one bag and one carry-on!

Start a packing list at least two weeks before your trip. Keep the list handy to you with a pen nearby. Every time you think of something you'll need, write it down. Look up general packing lists and packing tips online to help you remember everything. By the time you've got your suitcase out and you're ready to pack, you'll be in much better shape than anyone who didn't take the time to create a list and it will be highly unlikely that you'll forget something. What's even better, you won't find yourself an hour or two down the road experiencing that uh-oh feeling you get when you realize you forgot something important.

These road trip planning commandments will transform your vacation from one where everything goes wrong to one where everything (within reason) goes right and you can relax and have a wonderful time!

*AAA (American Automobile Association) Membership. In Australia you could join the Royal Automobile Association (RAA), or the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), and other state based associations. Many countries have similar national automobile associations providing roadside assistance to travellers in need.

Tara Waechter owns http://www.planning-fun-road-trips.com - a website that covers every aspect of road trip planning including mapping tips, packing lists, road trip games and songs, trip ideas, recipes, tools, and in-depth articles. Tools offered include a road trip budget calculator and a printable checklist of to-do's to handle before you depart on your trip.

Tara has travelled extensively in the United States as well as abroad, and has learned the knowledge she passes on in her website through the "School of Hard Knocks". She is also an office manager and meeting and event planner. She resides in Cary, North Carolina with her husband, Ash.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tara_Waechter

Image: Lost Highway #3

Photo: Jim Lesses

Travel – Getting the Full Experience

~ My recent review of The Texas Cowboy Cookbook prompted a friend to ask: Why on earth is a travel blog reviewing a cookbook? And a Texas cowboy cookbook at that?

So today I thought I would explain my rationale for reviewing the cookbook (and other publications), in the hope that it will encourage readers and prospective travellers to expand their reading list and broaden their research before they hit the road.

For me, travel is not only about ancient monuments, famous landmarks, lying around on the beach getting sunburnt, or taking yet another golden sunset photograph. It is also about all those other things that go into making travel experiences truly memorable and unique.

Things like trying to gain insight into the culture and history of the countries I pass through. It’s about digging deeper into the morés and traditions of the people that make these countries what they are. And it’s about immersing myself in the travel experience, so that I can hopefully come away from my latest journeying with a deeper understanding of the world and the peoples that inhabit it.

I am a firm believer that you don’t have to actually be travelling to immerse yourself in the travel experience. The travel experience for me begins with research, with reading a wide range of books about the countries I plan to visit. With gaining a basic understanding of the language of the people so I can deepen the connection with them as I interact with them on a daily basis.

Most people, when preparing for a major journey, confine their ‘research’ to general country guides or location specific guides like the one for New York City previously reviewed on this site (Knopf MapGuide: New York), or Road Trip USA (Road Trip USA). As good as they are, these guides, by their very nature, cannot provide you with the deep background insight into a nation you get from reading good travelogues, biographies of important national figures, and the histories of the people, places, and nations you are planning to visit.

Hence my recent review of Robb Walsh’s 2007 publication, The Texas Cowboy Cookbook, Bill Bryson’s Down Under, A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins, and Bypass by Michael McGirr – to name just some of my book reviews.

Actually, I have also wanted to include reviews of feature films, documentaries, and television series on this blog as well, but I just haven’t had the time to devote to this. I believe there are many films and TV programs that help provide another level of insight into the travel experience. For instance, the brilliant documentaries of Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The War, etc), the travel adventures of Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor (The Long Way Round, and Long Way Down), and the journeys of Michael Palin (Sahara, Himalaya, and Full Circle, etc), all come to mind.

Then there are great feature films like those of the director Werner Hertzog, whose wonderful films, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, and Fitzcarraldo fuse drama, stunning cinematography and magnificent landscapes to transport you to a world that is both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. Or the more recent Tulpan, by Sergei Dvortsevoy. This film, which won the Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, looks at the fast disappearing world of nomadic sheep herders in Kazakhstan, and combines comedy, drama, and documentary style film making to show us a landscape that few city dwelling westerners (or ‘easterners’ for that matter), will ever get to see.

In fact, just writing this entry has prompted me to start putting aside some time to watch these movies, and television programs and write reviews of them. So look out for these in the near future.

I hope this brief rationale for my reviewing policies also prompts you to broaden your research parameters, and gets you thinking ‘outside the box’ about ways you too can get the full experience out of your travels.

NOTE: To see a full list of all the books reviewed on The Compleat Traveller, click on the ‘In Review’ label below.

Image courtesy of Gregor Books…

Sunday Supplement 01

~ Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert seems to be experiencing problems with his luggage, in this comedy routine recorded from an unnamed Australian television broadcast. The clip is from YouTube.

- - o 0 o - -

And then there is David Holmes, who works for America's Southwest Airlines. David has achieved fame (as only the internet and YouTube can bestow it), as a rapping flight attendant who knows exactly how to get his passengers to pay attention to the pre-flight announcement that all airlines include at takeoff.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

And a Happy Father's Day to everyone celebrating this day in Australia and elsewhere.