Preparing For Your Summer Driving Season Road Trip

From Memorial Day to Labor Day every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans take to the roads to explore our country’s beautiful parks, quaint towns, and epic scenery. This has become such an institution—almost a right of passage—that the impact on gas consumption is sizeable and is often cited as a bellwether for the country’s economic strength.

With the scant few days of PTO we do get, it is important that when preparing for your summer driving season road trip, the experience goes off without a hitch and that you do not spend time dealing with mechanical or bureaucratic issues.

With that, we have pulled together a few notes to consider based on recommendations from several organizations as well as our own road trip experiences.

Choosing Your Itinerary

Naturally, one of the first things to consider is what you want to do, what you are working with, how much time you have, and where you want to go. 

It may sound obvious, but it will inform your decisions. Perhaps aiming for a New York to LA road trip is not advisable if you only have a week to complete it. Maybe flying to Las Vegas and renting a car with a point-to-point drop-off could be a better option. 

In our experience, packing an itinerary that involves driving 500-800 miles per day is simply not restful and does not allow you to take in the scenery. Less is definitely more, in our view.  

Route Planning

Gone are the days of massive fold-out maps or trusted route guides – our phones are able to point us in the right direction 95% of the time. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to plan your route out, at least to give you the best bang for your buck in terms of what you see when and where, and if nothing else, to stop yourself from doubling back on yourself and wasting crucial time.

Mechanical Inspection

When putting your car to the test over hundreds, potentially thousands, of miles and a variety of physical demands from extreme heat and tire wear to your own comforts, it is important that you ensure that your trusted car, SUV, or truck is up to the task. If oil and fluids are due a change, it may make sense to bring that forward. At worst, you’ve spent a few bucks to give you the piece of mind that there is nothing immediately and manifestly wrong with your car before you set off.

Meeting Those Requirements

Your route may also take you across international borders, which may have its own complications. Mexico is a relatively easy one, simply requiring identity, proof of ownership, proof of insurance, and possibly a temporary import permit (don’t quote us on these). 

However, if you take your trip on the road – literally – to Europe, you may have to contend with issues like:

• What side of the road are you driving on? The UK has right-hand-drive cars and drive on the left, whereas the rest of the continent does the opposite. 
• Does your rental company allow you to take your car from one country to another, and is the car set up to drive in other countries (e.g. UK cars have to change the direction their headlights point to avoid dazzling oncoming cars on the continent and may require a UK sticker somewhere on the car).
• Does your insurance cover international driving? 

Also, in our experience, driving with pets can be a logistical nightmare – from vaccines, vet certificates, and notifications to mundane things like – will my dog pee outside his or her comfort zone?

Travel Essentials

Of course, you have to have whatever documents you need for your trip (as mentioned previously). However, it is worth considering if YOU will be able to function normally in this setting. We recommend:

• Carrying credit cards and cash—as the world moves towards contactless payment, you may come across that ONE place in Pennsylvania that only takes cash – be safe, and keep a few Benjamins floating around for such an event.
• Connectivity and charging paraphernalia—particularly if you are relying on your phone as a sat-nav and entertainment center, the last thing you want to do is run out of juice or be unable to connect. Redundancies are the key, so keep plenty of cables and maybe a power bank, too, in case your car does not support fast charging.
• Water—Stay hydrated and avoid overpriced gas station slurpees by carrying a few choice bottles of water in the car. This will also reduce the number of stops you have to make just for fuel stops and comfort breaks.
• Layers—For a range of changing temperatures, it is also a good idea to wear several layers of clothes that you can put on or peel off as needed. 

Last Minute Things

Before setting off, consider letting someone know your plan as a fail-safe, particularly with summer forest fires and other natural disasters. With that in mind, also keep an eye on the weather—naturally, there is not much that you can do about heat, wind, or rain, but if flooding, landslides, or maybe even muddy conditions can threaten your good time, then don’t be afraid to change course or be better prepared if you can.