On road trips, dedicate a small bag to trash.
Even people who normally do not eat or drink in the car will likely do so when driving all day long, and the trash piles up quickly.
Bonus points for a separate recycling bag.
[Photo: Flickr | shioshvili]
On a road trip, you just can’t stop everywhere that looks interesting or fun. And of course, what would appeal to an 8-year-old girl might lead to the eye-rolling of a 14-year-old boy. An easy solution: every family member gets a “stop” card daily.
No questions asked, no arguments — if a family member pulls out their “stop” card, the whole family stops. You can put a cap on cost ahead of time, and no complaining allowed as each gets a turn.
It’s fair, fun and very interesting to see the type of stopping points chosen.
[Photo: Flickr | Rich Anderson]
When you pull into a rest stop to refresh, include a 3-5 minute jog or brisk walk.
It helps relieve the stiffness from sitting in the car and gets the blood pumping. It also provides children an opportunity to run and scream.
When you finish, do a quick stretch. Now you can be awake and alert for the road.
[Photo: Flickr | MikeBaird]
One of our favorite aspects of road tripping is building in time to go “off route” to small town bars.
No matter how small, most towns have a townie bar. Walk in, count the number of heads that swivel around and stare until you pick a seat. Choose a seat at the bar and let the heads turn back to their normal position while conversation returns to local gossip.
Your benefit from a trip to a small town bar: a cold brew break and a slice of Americana right before your eyes.
[Photo: Flickr | Darwin Bell]
Being without internet access makes a road trip seem desolate. Here are two simple tips for getting online for free:
1.) Wifinder is a good site to find public wi-fi hotspots, and people can submit them as they find them during their road trips.
2.) Getting a wi-fi detector is an easy way to find a hotspot, because not everyone posts a sign that says that free wi-fi is available. There are a lot of companies that offer signal detectors. For example, the Mobile Edge MEASL1 is on a keychain, which is a good way to find a hotspot and measure signal strength when stopping in new towns along the way.
[Photo: Flickr | Florian]