My Top Tips On How To Survive A Road Trip

I have done many road trips in my lifetime and love or hate them, they are a necessity of the travellers life. I remember my first ever road trip was when I was around 2o years old and a bunch of us drove to Cornwall for a long weekend and it was the best time ever. The only problem was how boring the drive was down there, mostly motorways and it was a pretty long way, so we had to come up with ideas on how to keep ourselves entertained. Since then, I have been part of many road trips whilst travelling around Australia and South Africa. So, hopefully I qualify in sharing my top tips for you drivers, passengers and backseat drivers on how to keep the party going on an epic road trip. Let’s get to it:

Quick Disclaimer – The photos are super old and are from when I was travelling Australia – Enjoy 🙂 

Pack Essentials

Make sure you pack all your essentials in advance as you don’t want to be left panicking on the day of a road trip. The essentials clearly being, your passport (if you’re leaving the country), driving license, credit cards, money, clothing and of course SNACKS! Other essentials will consist of toiletries etc but let’s face it, if you can buy it along the way, it’s not the end of the world and if you’re a true traveller you will live by this moto.

Creating a Road Trip Playlist

Music for me is the way of life, I listen to music every single day and it always makes me feel good. To be honest, I can’t do a road trip or any kind of drive without listening to music. I mean who even are these people? I would put together a few playlists so you don’t get bored and make sure there is something for everyone, as many people have different tastes in music. Luckily Gareth and I have the same taste in music apart from my love for RnB which he’s not so much of a fan of, but hey you have to compromise right?

Check Your Car Beforehand

If you’re renting a car or van for your trip, make sure you check everything inside and outside of the vehicle as you don’t want to be charged for any scratches etc that were already there. If you’re hitting the road in your own car, make sure to check your oil, tires, petrol etc. There was a time that Gareth and I were driving from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and we had just reached a traffic jam, where we noticed the petrol sign come on and little old me was desperate for a wee. It was one of the worst times ever but luckily we survived and found a petrol station nearby. Always check your petrol kids! I have panicked about this way too many times. But we live and learn.

Plan Your Trip

You can only plan so much of your trip as you don’t know if there will be road blocks or diversions but I can truly say that a Tom Tom, Sat Nav or even just using a free map app on your phone will be your best friend. I personally have no sense of direction and rely heavily on either someone telling me where I need to drive or a device of some sort. It just takes all the stress away. It’s also fun to be a little spontaneous on your trip and if you don’t have a plan that is also ok. I tend to treat road trips the same way as I do life, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

No Campervans were hurt during the photo taking and at the time the companies encouraged us to take these style of shots 🙂 

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