Hello, I'm Jake Benatar. I have spent hundreds of hours behind the wheel of an automobile and I have managed to discover some great tips on how to get the most out of your vacation. Okay, lets start out first by you know that I'm going to focus on road trip style vacations, so if you are only interested in travel by air this article may not be of much help to you. First things first 1. Make sure that your car is up to par. If you know for a fact that it is having some sort of trouble it should go in for service. Always get your vehicle tuned up by a trusted professional before you embark on any trip. this just makes sense. Placing you auto on an extended trip at high interstate speeds will certanly place undue stress on any part that is close to needing replaced. If you can afford it I would recommend a rental car. A lot of companies have specials a lot of times they are not as exspensive as you might think. It also keeps the extra miles off from your car.
2. Here is something that is quite simple that you might have not thought of. Leave on a friday. That way you don't use up all of your vacation time. Two days will be on the weekend and you can save your vacation days for another trip!
3. With gas being as expensive as it is, you may want to use your gas card. This is a great idea, but try to limit yourself. Because most gas cards have huge intererst rates and you should only use them every other fill up. To try and save as much as you can don't rule out getting yourself a WalMart gift card. WalMarts are EVERYWHERE and the gas card saves you 3 cents on the gallon. This may not sound like much but when you are having to fill up several times during oyur trip it can add up.
4. Before I forget using Mapquest is great, but I have noticed some problems from time to time with it. I would go and buy myself a good atlas they are usually only about $6. Even if you think you know the way you can save yourself and your travle companions some grief and also time and gas if you just go and pick one up. Trust me on this one I speak from experience.
5. I think I might have gotten a little ahead of myself, Lets pack up your ride before we start tearing up the hiway. You should try and prepare yourself for the worst to happen and pack for it. Take the following: Flashlights(with new batteries), Fix-a-flat, portable air compressor, cell phone, tire gauge, brake fuild, coolant(anti-freeze), check washer fuild, blanket, check wiper blades, take extra power steering fuild, extra quart of oil.
6. Okay, now for the fun stuff that you should take: a cooler with your favorite drinks and ice of course this is much cheaper than having to buy it at the gas station. Also, to save time and money take your other quick snacks as well: Chex mix, beef jerky and the like.
7. Take some mix CD's that you may have or make some just for the trip it will really help. If you don't already have XM or sirrus radio you may want to invest in that.
8. Get some disposable cameras for the kids they love these! They can take pics of what they think is important.
9. Speaking of kids have them some activities for them or some hand held video games or something if you don't they may get bored and fussy quicker than you'd like.
10. Now here is something that you may not have thought of and I try to do it as much as I can. I try to squeeze as much into on vacation as I possibly can. What I mean by this is and I will give you some examples of what I have actually done in the past. I love going to the Mississippi coast. It is not very expensive and has a lot to offer especially if you love the beach as much as me. Whenever I'm in Biloxi or Gulfort ( these are very inexpensive places to stay) On one of the days that I'm down there I get up early and I head on over the Pensacola and Destin Florida. I drive over and have a great time. You get to pass though some of Alabama as well and get to see the Battleship and submarine they have on display there. Once we have our fill of Pensacola and Destin I head back to Biloxi. You get to take in the site and some of the activities without the huge hotel bills. It is about another two hour dive but it is all interstate so it goes by pretty fast. Another time my wife and I went to Port Aransas Texas again another costal area. It's great down there. You can stay in Aransas Pass for cheap and then take the ferry over the Port aransas. Then maybe the next day you can hop back on the interstate and cruise on down to South Padre Island. Once again spend the day down there and once you've had your fun head back to Aransas Pass.
11. Last tip, before you go always book your room in advance never head out thinking that "You'll find a room" Sometimes that is not the case.
12. Have a safe trip!
Stay tuned for more travel tips in the future!
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Please stay tuned here for some more tips, plus I will also be giving you reviews for some of the places that I have visited over the years. I of course did so on a modest shoe-string budget.
About the Author
I was born in Arkansas and have lived here my entire life, but I have traveled all over the country by automobile. I have racked up more miles than you can shake a tire pressure gauge at. My family travled every year by car and now I continue on the tradition with my family. Over the years have come up with not only ways to get the most for your money but also to get the most from it in other ways too. Not to mention tips to help you along the road.
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