Road trips in the United States are quite popular, but these also present a variety of pros and cons. The distances of highways throughout the USA can be staggering. Some of them are lazy luxurious drives, while some are filled with dangerous curves and others are straight-aways so lengthy you could fall asleep at the wheel easily.
No matter if your road trip is for a weekend bender or months of American sightseeing, these simple rules of the road will make the journey go safer and saner. Listen up and take note to these basic road trip tips for crossing the USA.
Travel in Threes
Many will probably argue that two is the perfect number of people for a road trip, but it really is three. Traveling in threes allows for people to share driving or catching cat naps, without anyone having to drive alone in silence. It makes for better vehicle coordination, as the backseat person can always be navigator. Plus three people are much better for playing road truth or dare games and there is always a free hand to change the radio. Travel in threes to achieve safety, have fun and be more organized.
Have A Mechanic Check Your Car
This is a must do. Always have a mechanic check your car before leaving on road trips.
Have them check the battery, transmission fluid levels, brakes, tires and everything else that could possibly go wrong with your vehicle. It is too late, once you are on the road. Plus if you do break down on a road trip, it will be much more expensive to get servicing wherever your vehicle ends up. It’s also not a bad idea to have AAA or some other reliable road assistance service to call on.
Use Your Cruise Control Settings
Ask any state trooper and they will tell you this, using cruise control will help to avoid getting speeding tickets. It is a feature so many cars have, and nobody seems to use it. Using cruise control also saves money by decreasing gas consumption. It makes good common sense, plus makes the road trip driving all the more enjoyable. Try it the next time you go cross-country.
Always Bring An Ice Chest or Cooler
The everyday ice chest is the best way to carry drinks, food and other items in on any vehicle road trip. Getting some bags of ice and a drink cooler is a minimal investment that pays off, once your trip is well under way. It can be stored in the trunk most of the time, and it keeps anything that potentially can smell up the car locked away. Unless of course, your fellow road trip friends decide not to shower for a day or two, then an ice chest can only do so much.
Be Sure To Have All Your Documents
Don’t think you will never get pulled over, it happens all the time. When traveling in other states, it is important that you have all your driving documents safe, easily available, but put away. This means a copy of your driver’s license, all automobile insurance cards and all current vehicle registration documentation. All drivers must have copies of these, and everyone should have their state ID with them, whether they are driving or not. Make this tip a priority, you don’t want your trip to end with you being detained or arrested inadvertently.
Plan Time For Unexpected Delays
Finally, remember the best laid plans of drivers and friends, always need to count on unexpected circumstances. Delays happen because of traffic, vehicle accidents, highway construction and a list of other possible unforeseen events. Sometimes the unexpected happens, so it is easiest just to plan for it. Make your road trip schedule open with time to get anywhere, but still allowing for delays that might slow down traveling. It is the smart thing to do. So your road trip adventures will always come to their most fun and fulfilling beginnings and endings.
Have fun while traveling the USA with these tips in mind. Good luck America.
Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Documents International LLC, a leading apostille service for individuals and businesses.