6 Tips for Making Your Road Trip a Success
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6 Tips for Making Your Road Trip a Success, A guest post by Kyle Rutten, of B&B RV Inc.
There are few experiences in life that can challenge a person like the time-tested road trip. Throw a bit of bad luck into the mix, however, and that asphalt adventure can go from renewing to miserable in an instant. In this post, we will outline a handful of tips that will protect against some of the more common inconveniences on the road. Let’s dive in.
1. Making Your Road Trip a Success: Tools are Your Friend
Traveling in a machine that has been put together using parts that are manufactured specifically to need to be serviced using common tools leaves us with an obvious necessity; a tool kit. Not having tools on us is begging the bad luck gods to strike with something super easy to resolve. Believe it or not, sometimes you pop the hood and the issue is obvious and simple to correct. Carry a tool kit.
2. Making Your Road Trip a Success: Learn to Change a Tire on Your Vehicle
Changing a tire is a simple operation. However, the process can vary significantly from vehicle to vehicle. Even if you’re experienced working on cars, this one is worth a practice run on the vehicle you will be traveling in. You’ll want to make sure you have the necessary tools on hands, you know how to use your jack, and you know how to access your spare.
3. Making Your Road Trip a Success: Subscribe to a Roadside Assistance Service
These are surprisingly useful services if you have a big trip planned. For the worrisome, the peace of mind alone that comes with this service is enough to justify the cost. For those less inclined to worry about possible setbacks, a single experience where this service saved the day will hook them for life.
More Ways for Making Your Road Trip a Success:
4. Rent an RV Before You Buy
If you’re planning a long solo trip in an RV, renting 2 or 3 different rigs for little test trips is a very good idea. For starters, this will teach you the cadence of life on the road in an RV and help you properly prepare for the big trip. However, the real value is getting to select a style of RV that suits you best. Plenty of RV Dealers also have a rental fleet so do some testing, you’ll be glad you did.
5. Master the Art of the Boondock
It might sounds strange, but sleeping in your vehicle overnight is illegal in many places. It’s necessary, therefore, to be very intentional about where decide to go to sleep. There are many areas that allow dispersed camping for free, but you have to find them. There are trackers around the web that list and rank free spots to spend the night.
6. Talk to Strangers
If you find yourself in a store or restaurant, take the opportunity to talk to the locals about the area. This will often turn you on to the best places to eat, where to go for fun, etc. You’ll also tend to get advice that allows you to avoid overspending on a meal or experience. Plus, you never know, you might just make a lifelong friend. (As a solo, of course, you need to use good judgment to stay safe, especially when traveling away from home.)
The meta skill that all of these suggestions draw on is preparation. By making a sincere effort to plan for your trip, you will significantly reduce the likelihood of a bad situation. We hope this list has helped to get the gears turning on how to best prepare for your trip. Now get out there and see the world!
See also: Ways to have adventure vacations as a solo traveler.
For tips on packing, budgeting and tracking travel expenses, check out our free Solo Sherpa available at the App Store and Google Play Store.