With Thanksgiving officially behind us, the holiday season in St. Louis, Missouri, is officially in full swing. Not only does this mean extra time with family, bellies full of good food, and an overall joy felt across the community—it also means busier roads, more time spent in the car, and cranky children. But don’t let the perils of traveling diminish the joy of the holiday season! The attorneys at Finney Law Office, LLC have created a website devoted to providing Holiday Travel Tips. Face it: we could all use a little bit of travel guidance this holiday season.
Eliminate “Forgot” from Your Vocabulary
The first thing that you will find on this site is a list of traveling essentials during this holiday season. The last thing that any family needs is to finally hit the road only to have to make an emergency stop to stock up on something that someone had forgotten to pack. The key to packing for a long road trip is to be attuned to the idea of preventative maintenance (and this doesn’t just mean for your vehicle!). It is better to over-pack and to not need everything that you have packed than to need something that you have forgotten to bring along. This means packing things like pain medicine, sunglasses, motion sickness medicine, and many other things that you may not think that you need at the time of packing. (For a full packing list, visit our Holiday Travel Tips website.) A good road trip begins before you even get in the car, so make sure to pack responsibly!
“I’m bored!”
Once you are packed and have actually hit the not-so-open road, it will most likely not be long before somebody begins to complain about being bored. Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to combat this dreaded road trip symptom. However, being prepared is key. Did you remember to pack snacks? How about games? Is your phone loaded up with the best applications and games so that you do not have to use your cellular data to download them when away from an Internet connection? Is there enough music to keep your company interested the entire trip? These are questions that many families wish they had asked themselves before getting into the car. Luckily, you can also find some suggestions surrounding these questions on the Holiday Travel Tips site as well.
“I see an Alaska plate!”
Even if you don’t have time to go out and buy actual car games before you start your trip, there are plenty of travel games that you and your family can play without any actual props or game pieces. For example, there is the classic license plate game. For those readers who have never played this game before, it is very simple. The participants make a list of the 50 states. The goal is to cross every state off of the list by the time that you reach your destination. In order to cross a state off the list, someone in the car must spot a vehicle with a license plate from that state. This can be played collaboratively with everyone in the car working together or it can run on a point system—the player who spots the most unique plates wins! Of course, the license plate game is not the only road trip game that can be played without any previous purchase. For a more detailed list, visit the travel games section of Finney Law Office’s Holiday Travel Tips website.
Combatting the Inevitable “I’m Hungry”
No matter how many games and ideas you come prepared with, crankiness is inevitable. However, the best that you can do is to try to be prepared for whatever complaints may come from the back seat. One of the common complaints begins when stomachs begin to rumble and you begin to question why you packed the cooler in the trunk.
When packing snacks for the car ride, it is important to make sure that not only are you bringing food that everyone likes, but you are bringing road trip-appropriate food. Do not pack anything that needs to be refrigerated or kept frozen. Some good ideas for snacks include things like trail mix, popcorn, beef jerky, and nuts. If you have a cooler that is manageable (no one wants to deal with a leaky cooler!) this can open up your list to things like cheese and deli meats. No matter what you choose to bring, pre-packed snacks can save time, money, and some sanity.
Technology Can Be Your Friend
Most of us would agree that vacations are times when we should put down our phones and computers and spend time with family. However, this does not mean that technology should be completely thrown by the wayside when taking a holiday trip. In fact, using technology in the right way can save a lot of headaches and make your trip even more enjoyable. Put the old map in the glove box and get a GPS app on your phone, such as Waze or Google Maps. These applications not only tell you the directions to your destination, they alert you of traffic jams and provide you with the quickest alternative routes.
Other smart phone applications that can prove to be very useful on these types of trips include weather apps, such as The Weather Channel, and roadside assistance apps, such as AAA or Allstate. Being prepared for anything that life may throw your way can make the drive less worrisome—so you can focus on your family. Embracing technology can be a good thing, just make sure that you are using it in the right way!
Get Your Minivan Jingle Bell Rockin’
The right playlist can turn a boring road trip into a rockin’ road trip! Whether your family loves to get in the holiday spirit by listening to things like “Let it Snow” or “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” or if they prefer something more mellow like movie soundtracks, it is always a good idea to have a playlist ready. If you do not like to store music on your phone’s memory or if you do not have the appropriate CD collection (because what’s a CD anymore anyway?), applications like Spotify allow you to stream music for free over their Internet-based database. To listen to some playlists that have already been created, check out the Travel Tunes section of Finney Law Office, LLC’s Holiday Travel Tips website.
Safety Should Always Come First
None of these road trip preparations matter if you are not safe throughout the trip. With the nature of holiday travel, the roads will most likely be more crowded than normal and the weather conditions may be less than ideal. Unfortunately, a significant number of accidents occur during the holiday season due to these types of circumstances. It is important that—even with everything going on in the car—the driver is always focused on the road. After all, the perils of the road trip will be for not if you and your family cannot even make it to your destination safely. For a detailed list of safety tips, read more here.
However, if you or someone in your family is in an accident during this holiday season, do not hesitate to contact an experienced motor vehicle accident attorney at Finney Law Office, LLC as soon as possible. We want to help you get the financial compensation that you deserve following an accident due to the negligence of another driver. Do not let your holidays be thwarted by a collision. The attorneys at Finney Law Office, LLC will worry about the legalities so that you can focus on enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family.